Last month, Abarth has confirmed in an interview that an electric 500e is coming. Now, a test mule has been spotted, giving us a preview of the upcoming electric hot hatch, courtesy of Walter Vayr on Facebook.
While the test mule appeared to be a typical Fiat 500e with its badging and other rather humble design details, a paper on the rear window showed a glaring piece of information. The paper rear "332 BEV ABARTH M 001." Apparently, "332" is the code for the project, while "M 001" tells us that it's indeed the first prototype.
Gallery: Abarth 500E Spy Photos
There aren't many details that come with Abarth's confirmation back in March, except for the fact that Abarth’s boss Olivier François was the one who confirmed so in an interview. François said that the tuned 500e is already under development and that final tests are underway, with the car set to be launched next year.
François added that the Abarth community played a crucial role in the development of the Abarth 500e – through the power of social media. However, the Frenchman added that the Abarth 500e is "more complicated to deliver than I thought." He further confirmed that the electric hot hatch will have retuned suspension and brakes, which are things expected from an Abarth.
Despite the lack of official performance details at this point, a previous report stated that the hot Fiat 500e will be able to sprint from 0 to 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) in around 7.0 seconds, while the top speed will be rated at 100 mph (160 km/h).
As mentioned, those numbers aren't official but we're expecting to know the real performance scores as early as the latter part of this year or early next year.
