Although the company is still keeping information about the car under wraps, what we do know so far is that it will feature active front air intakes, vertical daytime running lights, LED taillights, a coupe-like lower hood, a slanted windshield, and an aerodynamic body that creates a drag coefficient of just 0.24.
The published photos show the car covered in camouflage with the number 750 on the sides, which points to a range of 750 kilometers (WLTP).
For now, it is not known when the car will be officially presented.
“Abarth is officially giving up the internal combustion engine,” said Gaetano Thorel, head of Fiat and Abarth in Europe. This means that after 75 years, the Italian carmaker will become an all-electric brand.
This is no surprise as Abarth started phasing out its models with combustion engines a year ago and replacing them with all-electric ones, and in 2023 we saw the introduction of the first all-electric models based on the Fiat 500 e and Fiat 600 e. It seems that the company wants to take advantage of the growing popularity of small city cars.
Cars with combustion engines have become expensive to maintain, so Abarth wants to focus on simpler options, which means rejecting hybrid models as well.
In an interview with Autocar, Thorel said: “Is it fair if we can offer customers an electric hot hatch that behaves in the same way, offers the same level of enjoyment and equivalent performance? All at the same price? I think it’s better to offer electric cars.”
He also mentioned another piece of information that is not in favor of the users of cars with a combustion engine: “If you produce a hot hatch with a combustion engine that emits 180 g/km and you are in Italy, every year you have to pay between 1,000 and 2,000 euros in road tax.”
It seems that Abarth has no intention of producing its own models in the future either, because they want to stay true to the original idea of their founder Carlo Abarth, who focused on reworking existing models into powerful sports cars.
Dutch ultra-lightweight carmaker Donkervoort has unveiled the last car to be powered by an Audi engine, the Donkervoort F22 Final Five. That doesn’t mean they’re giving up on internal combustion engines, but it’s not known which engines will replace the Audis.
The F22 Final Five is powered by a 2.5-L 5-cylinder engine with 500 hp (368 kW) and 472 lb-ft (640 Nm) of torque, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission that sends power to the rear wheels. It can reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of 290 km/h (180 mph). The same engine powers the current generation Audi RS3, as well as the most powerful version of the retired TT.
It is equipped with a carbon body with removable roof panels, a titanium exhaust system ending in front of the rear right wheel and lighter carbon-ceramic brakes, so it is not surprising that it weighs only 716 kilograms. It is mounted on 18 and 19-inch carbon wheels.
When it comes to price, the Donkervoort F22 Final Five costs 315,000 euros and only 5 units will be produced.
