Somewhere in the heart of Italy, you can feel the ground trembling. It is widely believed to be past Alfa Romeo purists turning in their graves after hearing that the new Alfa Romeo Junior is now available as a full electric vehicle. Through a logistical challenge, I got to drive an Alfa Romeo Junior for a weekend.
When I came back from my recent road trip in the Opel Grandland, and the driver came to collect the car, he was dropped off in an Alfa Romeo Junior. This was even before they were officially launched in South Africa. I was blown away by how this car looked. I wanted to drive one, just to experience what this car has to offer. As luck would have it, one of my colleagues had a double booking for a press car, and with no space in his garage for both, the beautiful Alfa got to spend a weekend with me. I was not complaining!
Being a motorcycle guy, I had to learn a lot of new car terms, and even more so with the electric powertrain. My dad always used to measure fuel consumption in miles per gallon, and I am used to kilometres per litre. Now I have to learn about efficiency as kWh/100. Also, you have to listen differently. When a petrol engine expires, you are well aware of the event due to the noise that will naturally follow the failure. But what can go wrong in an electric vehicle, and what noise do I have to look out for? Who knows… All part of the learning curve.
Wherever I went, people asked me questions I had to Google the answers to. From “What is the range?” to “How many kilowatts does it deliver?” I always find it curious that the first question asked about EVs is the range. Somehow, only electric vehicles seem to suffer from the situation where you run out of whatever juice makes it go. No one has ever asked me about range on a motorbike, unless it is electric, of course. That being said, I can confirm that you are constantly aware of the ever-decreasing range, and you do need to put a bit more effort into planning trips.
The Alfa Romeo Junior shares a lot of parts with the other cars in the Stellantis group, but the exterior is what drew me to this car in the first place. It has arresting good looks, and the finer Alfa touches are described in Italian. It has things like a “scudetto grille, the signature trilobo front, and a sleek coda tronca tail,” according to the press release. On the side, it has the biscionne emblem to further cement the Alfa heritage.
There are two variants available – the Elettrica and Elettrica Veloce – each featuring a single electric motor driving the front wheels. The Elettrica delivers 118 kW and 260 Nm of torque, while the Veloce variant delivers 207 kW and 345 Nm. This equates to a 0-100 km/h time of 9 seconds and 5.9 seconds, respectively. Top speed is given as 152 km/h and 200 km/h. Obviously, this will affect the usable range, which differs quite a bit between the two models. For the sake of those who ask, the standard Elettrica will do around 410 km, whereas the Veloce should be good for around 350 km.
We were lucky to get the Veloce, but sadly, it was not finished in red. It also came with the optional bucket seats and sunroof. The driver’s seat adjusts electronically, whereas the passenger seat is a manual affair. The seats are racing seats, so they provide a lot of support. Getting in and out of them takes some practice, and they are a bit on the firm side. In its rearward position, there is very little room left in the back, which means that this is not a good option for a family car.
Every conceivable driver aid is available, and I assume, once you have read the manual, you will be able to make sense of all the bings and bongs. This car has lane centring, adaptive cruise control, LED matrix headlights and even emergency braking for pedestrians and cyclists. A car that takes control of the steering wheel while driving is always a bit unnerving.
Once seated, you put your foot on the brake and press the start button. The dash lights up, and you can then select your desired direction of travel with a simple rocker switch. Incidentally, it is the exact same rocker switch that I saw in the Opel Grandland. When you depress the ‘petrol’ pedal, the car moves eerily forward in silence. A few fans are blowing, but there is no noise to give you a sense of speed or movement. The movement is felt when you bury the loud pedal in the carpet. The car lurches forward, pushing you back into your seat while the front wheels are fighting for grip. Everything is beautifully coordinated by all the electronics.
The car feels solid and planted, even though it carries a hefty battery pack with it. There are three driving modes to choose from – Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency. The letters spell DNA, which I quite like. You can also switch on regenerative braking, and in each mode, it sets the level of regeneration it will do. In the lowest mode, the regen is the most aggressive. So much so that you can basically drive this car without ever touching the brakes. This mode also makes the performance far more sedate.
Once the power is depleted, you have to recharge the car, obviously, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many charging stations were already in operation. I had heard many stories about charging stations being occupied by non-electric vehicles, but I was lucky that on both occasions I topped up, I had an open charging bay. The process itself is somewhat of a fiddly affair, but we managed. Charging at home obviously takes longer, but if you have a solar installation, it should be relatively cheap to top up the Alfa. This particular aspect of an electric vehicle always elicits negative comments, but you adapt. I can see myself coping perfectly fine with the options available to me. I had limited time with the car, so I can honestly not say if my power consumption was good or bad. But, we will drive more and learn more!
I was mighty impressed by the Junior, both in the performance and the fit and finish. It is definitely not a family car, as I already mentioned, but, as a daily commuter and something to have fun in, the Veloce version hits it out of the park.
They say that people cannot call themselves true petrol heads unless they have owned an Alfa at some point. To make the Alfa experience complete, I think the car must have an oil dispenser in the front to drip oil on clean driveways. The car must also randomly cut out, and before you can get going again, you have to open the bonnet and gently tap random parts with a hammer. I am obviously joking, but the world is evolving. Alfa Romeo has come a long way, and even if this new car probably had no input from an Italian in any way, shape or form, I think the Stellantis group has done a sterling job to give this car its own unique character. If you can get past the eye-watering price, you will have a lot of fun in this car.
The Elettrica retails for R799 900 and the Elettrica Veloce for R999 900. Both models come with a 5-year/100,000 km warranty and service plan. The battery carries an 8-year/150,000 km warranty.
