By Gareth Butterfield

Copyright newsletter

Giving the Fiat 500 the Abarth treatment always turned it into the yobbish teenager of the car world. The sort that would wear its cap backwards and its jeans would sit significantly below the waist.

You’d think, then, that removing the peppy turbocharged engine and replacing it with a battery and an electric motor would tone it down, forcing the unruly teenager into a calmer adolescence.

I’m thrilled to report it does nothing of the sort. I’ve just spent a week in the Abarth 500e, and it’s still an absolute nutcase.

And you’re reminded of its naughty side the minute you open the lurid yellow door and sit inside. The sculpted seats are textbook Abarth, as is the Alcantara steering wheel.

Of course, the dash-mounted gearstick is gone, as is the conspicuous turbo boost gauge pod. But the recipe’s definitely all there. At least until you start the “engine”.

Obviously, there’s no gruff exhaust note now. You do get a funky synthesised guitar strum, but the whole experience of starting the car is now deflatingly mundane. That is, until you find a setting buried in the menu that switches on a sound generator.

It’s a surprisingly close copy of the classic Abarth exhaust note, emitted from a speaker on the exterior of the car. Your neighbours will hate it, the people around you in a supermarket car park will hate it, but if you like an Abarth, you’re going to love it. Probably.

Electric cars have no gears, of course, but the sound generator does follow the pace of the car, and the faster you go the more it increases its pitch. You can obviously tell it’s fake, but I must admit, it’s rather cool.

There are other things I like about the Abarth 500e, too. While it’s no lightweight, it’s not as heavy as you’d expect, and it’s wonderfully agile and energetic in the corners. It feels like the Abarth magic is definitely still dialled in. It’s still a lot of fun.

The interior is nicely set up, too. I’m never going to be a fan of a push-button gear selector, but the driving position is so much better than the early 500s, the central display is bigger and more responsive, and the driver’s display is simple but brilliant.

The version I tested was the “convertible”, which has a roll-back roof that adds a little more sense of occasion on a sunny day, and it’s well worth the upgrade because it brings hardly any compromise. The boot’s pretty small anyway.

There are downsides to the Abarth treatment, though. Range is down a bit, on an already underwhelming battery life. Range, according to WLTP is 157 miles but you should expect more like 130 if you’re having fun.

In Scorpion Track and Scorpion Street driving modes, it feels lively, entertaining, stiff, and willing, but with 155bhp it’s not actually all that fast. Especially not compared to the hefty power outputs of the outgoing petrol versions.

Of course, the instant electric shove makes up for the shortfall a bit, but you do feel like there should be more to give from time to time. It’s always an absolute hoot, though.

And that’s where it becomes a bit hard to pigeonhole the Abarth 500e. Fans of the brand certainly shouldn’t be disappointed with the move away from petrol. Sure, you’ll miss the pops and bangs, and firing it through the gears, but you’ll still get the rewards of driving something exceptionally well-suited to B-road blasts. It’s still one of the most entertaining compact hot hatches out there.

But it’s hardly a practical proposition. On a lengthy commute, it might become tiresome, and the short range could be an issue. And while it does have some statutory driving aids, it’s not exactly suited to long motorway jaunts.

It’s best suited to being a toy, then. A wonderfully silly toy you’ll never tire of, but something of an extravagance given prices start at just shy of £30,000.

But when has an Abarth 500 been any more than a plaything? I will always miss the petrol versions, but their spirit lives on in spectacular fashion.