Review | Alfa Romeo Tonale - Alfa Romeo dips a toe into the electrified market

It’s a rarity in the Alfa range for the simple reason that, in terms of their mainstream products, the car doesn’t rely 100 percent on conventional diesel or petrol power. There’s a battery-powered electric motor helping things along in what is described as a mild hybrid…an MHEV.

What is it?…well it’s a compact SUV aimed at the premium end of the car market…and we think it’s rather good-looking. Others may disagree.

Alfa are bullish about sales. They reckon that the Tonale will appeal to more punters. In fact, they say it’ll cover more of the UK car-buying public than both the Stelvio and the Giulia combined. Alfa also predict that the car will appear to a younger audience as well as to more female drivers. We’ll see.

A bit further down the line there’s a plug-in hybrid PHEV version…due early next year …developing a healthy 271bhp and all-wheel drive…but this is a mild hybrid, front-wheel drive SUV with a self-charging battery, although most of the oomph comes from a turbocharged 1.5 litre petrol engine. Everything goes via a 7-speed automatic gearbox. The fairly small battery joins the party to help you run silently at town speed, creep away from traffic lights, or for some urgency when you need to accelerate. Add both of the outputs together and you end up with a total of 158bhp. This translates to a 0-60 time of 8.8 seconds, a top speed 131mph, and a reasonable fuel economy figure close to 50mpg.

Okay, it’s not the quickest but, as you’d expect from Alfa Romeo, it handles really well and the ride is surprisingly cushy. The steering feels sharp and can take a bit of getting used to, and the power delivery at lower speeds gives you the sensation that you’re holding the car back, but once you get moving beyond town speeds, this Alfa feels relatively sporty. The quicker you travel the better it feels. If you go for the top spec model, you also get adaptive suspension which improves the handling even further despite the car coming with bigger wheels.

Next year’s PHEV model, by the way, has a 1.3 litre petrol engine and a bigger electric motor. The engine’s power goes to the front wheels while the electric motor drives the rear wheels hence you get all-wheel drive. Performance is markedly improved with 0-60 coming up in a shade over six seconds. It will also manage up to 50 miles on battery power alone.

Prices start at £38,595 for the TI model….while the higher spec Veloce comes in at £42,495.

Every model is well equipped with sat nav, climate control, powered front seats, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, adaptive cruise control, 10.25 infotainment screen, LED matrix headlights, a powered tailgate, and Alexa voice command. There’s also a good quality look and feel to everything. It’s roomy too; tall passengers won’t have any trouble getting comfortable in the rear seats.

The Alfa Romeo Tonale has a really good character to it. A lot of family-sized SUVs are understandably aimed at making things as easy-going as possible and keeping a family brood content on a long journey. However, the Alfa Romeo Tonale is aimed at someone who really does enjoy driving. Okay, a short test drive won’t show the Tonale in a good light because it takes a bit of getting used to, but try to borrow one for longer than just a trundle around the block and you’ll soon discover the car’s hidden depths.

All in all, the Alfa Romeo Tonale is a very welcome addition to the compact SUV marketplace. It deserves to succeed and will hopefully go a long way to restoring the company’s reputation in the UK which has so far been a tad patchy.

Words by Graham Courtney.