The Abarth 500e opens up a new world dedicated to the scorpion brand. “We started by studying the customer and immediately realised that there are many new profiles (‘newcomers’), with different interests. Among them are the ‘gamers’, who have a different relationship with the car, they love sports cars but also the playful aspects. Then there are the ‘café racers’ and also the ‘premium racers’, who appreciate small, sporty city cars. The 500e is able at the same time to be an Abarth and to cover all these aspects,” says Francois Leboine, head of design at Fiat and Abarth.
The creatives worked not only on the exterior design that transformed the Fiat 500 into a sports car with large rims, spoilers and miniskirts, but they also thought about renewing the logo: “It had to tell and express the electrification of Abarth: heritage, but also evolution. That’s how we defined the electrified scorpion, which is also ideal for digital use and on many aspects of the car, from the rims with functional aerodynamic design to the laser-cut leather upholstery on the seats, or on the side where it stands out,” continues Leboine.
The styling work focused especially on certain details that defined the sporty image of the ‘all-spice’ citycar. The 500e Abarth is powered by a 113.7 kW (155 hp) front-mounted electric motor, fed by a 42-kilowatt-hour battery pack. “We have worked hard on the details to achieve a neat ‘pocket rocket’ dedicated to performance, it is an Abarth in its own right. And then on the colour with two new shades, Acid Green and Poison Blue. By contrast, the interior is full black, but black is a very versatile background, as you can see from the particular workmanship of the Alcantara from which the colour emerges”.
