Abarth 500E: the return of the hot hatchback? EV rivals rated

The petrol-powered hot hatchback is an endangered species. Once, if a manufacturer wanted to make an affordable sporting car, it put a big engine in its family hatchback and stiffened up the suspension. Ever tightening emissions and fuel consumption limits means that's no longer an option. You can't buy a Ford Fiesta ST, any Peugeot GTI, a Renaultsport Clio or Megane, and even since filming this video Hyundai has stopped production of the i20N and i30N. And there hasn't been an EV hot hatch to take up the mantle ... until now? We've got the Abarth 500E, arguably (and it's an argument our tester Matt Prior is prepared to make) the first proper EV hot hatch. So much the first that there isn't yet an obvious rival: so we've taken four other fun alternatives to test alongside it. Join us for the ride. The full specifications are below. Edited by Shreyans Chordia. Prices correct at the time of filming. Abarth 500E Turismo Price £38,195 One permanent magnet synchronous motor Power 153bhp Torque 173lb ft Gearbox 1-spd reduction, FWD Kerb weight 1410kg 0-62mph 7.0sec Top speed 96mph Battery 42.2/37.8kWh (total/usable) Range, economy 157 miles, 3.4mpkWh Cupra Born 58kWh V2 Price £38,395 One permanent magnet synchronous motor Power 201bhp Torque 229lb ft Gearbox 1-spd reduction, RWD Kerb weight 1736kg 0-62mph 7.3sec Top speed 99mph Battery 62.0/58.0kWh (total/usable) Range, economy 262 miles, 4.0mpkWh Honda E Price £37,395 One permanent magnet synchronous motor Power 152bhp Torque 232lb ft Gearbox 1-spd reduction, RWD Kerb weight 1520kg 0-62mph 8.3sec Top speed 90mph Battery 35.5/28.5kWh (total/usable, est) Range, economy 131 miles, 3.5mpkWh MG4 EV XPower Price £36,495 Two permanent magnet synchronous motors Power 429bhp Torque 443lb ft Gearbox 1-spd reduction, 4WD Kerb weight 1800kg 0-62mph 3.8sec Top speed 124mph Battery 64.0/61.8kWh (total/usable) Range, economy 239 miles, 3.3mpkWh Renault Megane E-Tech Price £39,495 One permanent magnet synchronous motor Power 214bhp Torque 221lb ft Gearbox 1-spd reduction, FWD Kerb weight 1708kg 0-62mph 7.5sec Top speed 99mph Battery 65.0/60.0kWh (total/usable) Range, economy 280 miles, 3.8mpkWh Visit our website at http://www.autocar.co.uk Subscribe to Autocar, and get access to our full 129 year archive: https://www.themagazineshop.com/autocar/ Autocar, the world's leading motoring magazine and website, delivers industry-leading news, the most in-depth car reviews and opinion from our team of experts. Our presenters include some of the world's top motoring journalists who have unrivalled access to the world's fastest, rarest, most exotic and most exciting cars on some of the world's best roads and race tracks. 00:00 Introduction 00:47 Cupra Born 04:00 MG4 EV X Power 05:59 Renault Megane E-Tech 08:00 Honda E 11:03 Abarth 500E