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By Jonathan Crouch

The Abarth 500e looks cute in Convertible form, but could you live with one? Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 34

The Abarth 500e is perhaps at its most endearing in this pricey convertible form. Range is limited. So is the extent of open-topped motoring it can offer. But fun is high on the agenda.

Backgroundword count: 96

Are we having fun yet? That is, after all, what an Abarth 500e is supposed to be all about, an ethos double-underlined by the open-topped Abarth 500e Convertible version of it that we're testing here. You probably know the basics here but just in case, we'll tell you that this Abarth is a sporting, re-badged version of the electric Fiat 500e, so like that car can be had with the fabric folding top that features in this case. There's quite a premium to get open-air motoring in this smallest Abarth. Is it worth it? Read on.

Driving Experienceword count: 296

As you'd expect, everything here is just as in the fixed top version. Sound is what sells an Abarth. Always has. So to be successful, the 500e has to sound like no EV ever has. It does. The brand has installed a set of speakers beneath the car to faithfully reproduce the engine note of one of its rorty petrol powerplants. And the speakers are linked to the throttle so that as you accelerate, the sound builds, just as it would in a 595 or 695. It sounds remarkably realistic too - and you don't have to take our word for it; a sound generator on the Abarth website will play the powerplant to you. You might dismiss that as a gimmick, but you can't argue with the performance facts here. Namely that the 500e is an all-round faster car than the 595 petrol model it replaces - which doesn't initially seem very likely given that it's much heavier and has 20bhp less in total output. Set against that though, is that the full 152bhp output is of course available immediately, rather than hampered by the turbo lag you'd get in the petrol versions. That instant torque (234Nm of it) propels the car from rest to 62mph in just 7 seconds flat. Even more significant is the 25 to 37mph overtaking increment time of just 1.5 seconds (a full second faster than the 595). 12 to 25mph takes only a second (50% faster even than the 695). Abarth says the car is a second faster around Alfa Romeo's Balocco test track than the 695. There's the usual single-speed EV auto transmission and you work it through three drive modes - 'Turismo', 'Scorpion Street' and 'Scorpion Track' - which can alter brake regen strength and power output.

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