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Test Drive Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce: Junior Gets Wild!

The junior top model, with up to 280 HP and 345 Newton meters of torque, definitely belongs to the "young wild ones" – how does it fare among the small power electric cars?

The Junior Veloce delivers up to 280 HP and 345 Newton meters of torque. | Photo: Alfa Romeo
The Junior Veloce delivers up to 280 HP and 345 Newton meters of torque. | Photo: Alfa Romeo
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With Cupra Born VZ, MG4 XPower, VW ID.3 GTX, Volvo EX30 Twin Engine, Smart#1 Brabus, Zeekr x and others, a new segment of electrifying "Hot-Hatches" in the compact 4.2-meter segment is currently emerging. It’s clear that Alfa Romeo wants to join in as well. That’s why the Junior Veloce received a specially developed drive that offers up to 207 kW and 345 Nm and spins up to 15,200 revs. The Italians combined this with a mechanical (!) limited-slip differential at the front and an especially sharp steering, translated to 14.6:1 around the central position.

Additionally, stiffer shock absorbers and stabilizers were included, which also ensure that the Veloce sits 25 mm lower than its siblings. To ensure it comes to a complete stop within 35 meters, larger 382x32 mm Brembo stoppers together with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires assist. We were able to test this on the open road and can confirm good grip!

Even the Junior belongs to the electric lightweight category

The Veloce's light weight starting at 1,590 kilograms also helps, which is not only achieved because the Junior is on a diet but because all Stellantis products in the B- and also the C-segments are modest with a net 51 kWh battery, keeping the weights low. This applies to various Citroen, DS, Fiat, Opel, or Peugeot models. However, it is worth noting positively because the Junior Veloce is indeed very nimble to handle. We would have preferred the steering to be even sharper, but according to product manager Michael Meffert, they didn't want to overdo it since the car could become too twitchy and restless for many average drivers.

Elaborate: The mechanical (!) Torsen differential at the front wheels

So, on the former Alfa test track in Balocco, Italy, and the former Opel test ground in Dudenhofen, Hesse, one could play around with the Veloce to one's heart's content, and yes – the limit is very high. The Veloce only starts to understeer at the front wheels very late; if you lift the accelerator pedal, it eagerly turns in, and the front differential ensures that it almost never loses traction on the inner front wheel in tight corners – however, you will feel a heavy tugging at the front wheels, and the previously dominant neutral drive characteristics are gone. But: This threshold is very high and is seldom reached in everyday driving. And there is always more than enough power.

It shows a bit more restraint during acceleration: Here you can feel that it lacks a few horses compared to the Geely and Volkswagen hot-hatches – it accelerates to 100 km/h briskly but not catapult-like within 5.9 seconds. And it continues to accelerate up to a speedometer reading of 202 km/h. Even beyond 180 km/h, it remains as stable as a board. The goal: In terms of driving dynamics, they always want to set standards, which, in our opinion, was quite successful.

Firm tuning, firm sport steering wheel, and firm Sabelt sports seats: The Veloce is not for the faint-hearted

Especially since the knubby steering wheel, the tight Sabelt sports seats with high side bolsters, and the quite firm tuning inherently put you in an "attack mode": For this reason, one tends to drive the 4.17-meter short and 1.78-meter narrow Junior more swiftly compared to some sibling models. It therefore feels harder and a bit more nervous than, for example, the very balanced ID.3 GTX, which suits the Junior's edgy character well.

The 398 to 410 kilometers WLTP range of the base Junior Elettrica won't quite be achieved, we assume a realistic range of around 300 kilometers plus or minus – fair enough. It can charge at up to 100 kW DC, which is no longer incredibly fast nowadays, but it should manage the boost from 20 to 80 percent SOC in less than 30 minutes. AC charging maxes out at 11 kW, with Alfa citing 5 hours and 45 minutes for a full charge. For those who have to settle with 1.8 kW at home, the Junior should be fully charged in less than 27 hours. Even though the small battery saves cost and weight here, it does limit the charging speed somewhat… here, the Junior cautiously positions itself at the rear end of the hot-hatch field.

For this, it boasts - of all things as an Alfa Romeo - the largest trunk in its class, which at 400 to 1,265 liters is actually generously proportioned for a 4.17-meter car, and this also applies to the 495 kilograms of payload. But of course, there's also a caveat: In the rear, taller passengers will find little legroom, and the headrests press into the shoulder area so that anyone over 1.9 meters cannot really sit there at all! Up front, the Sabelt sports seats offer good support with plenty of adjustability but have hard integrated headrests. Their suede-look covers, which can also be found on the front door panels and in the passenger's visibility area on the dashboard, noticeably enhance the interior.

Red pencil instead of red paint: In the interior, the haptics have been noticeably economized

Otherwise, the red pencil rules here: The roof lining appears flimsy and thin all the way to the A-pillars, and the dashboard makes no effort whatsoever to conceal its composition of two obvious hard plastic shells. There are now very few vehicles in the segment that appear cheaper. At least the ice-cup instrument covers and the two 10-inch screens – the middle one dynamically inclined towards the driver – make up for it a bit. The center console controls and the steering column levers are familiar from their cheaper French relatives.

What we also didn't like: The still rather awkward infotainment system – during all the quite joyful driving, we lost the standard screen several times and could only operate the navigation or phone or sound. And the voice recognition remains rather mediocre – Stellantis has still not mastered this. Switching off the annoying assistants can be done in the submenu with a summary command ("turn everything off"), but: Alfa has chosen a quiet heartbeat as a "warning sound," which is hardly disturbing at all! Good idea!

And since we're nitpicking, we must also mention the pizza-box-flat cable storage under the hood, which opens elegantly with gas struts. Basically a great accessory, but even when we neatly folded the more robust standard charging cable and placed the plugs in the recesses provided for them, we couldn't close the "pizza box." A few millimeters more height and a bit more solidity would help here.

Because the Italian loves to celebrate the lightness of being, even in detail workmanship and haptics, where it takes a more relaxed approach. Much more relaxed than Volvo and Co., in any case – which of course brings expected pros and cons. And character. Which is very important at Alfa Romeo.

Which is why we can ultimately conclude that the brand remains very true to itself overall: The Junior drives crisply and with Italian flair, and this remains true even with digitalization and haptics. Whether this is worth the asked 48,500 euros is something each person must decide for themselves. The 111 kW base model starting at 39,500 euros will be available soon, with the Veloce expected to follow at the end of 2024/beginning of 2025.

What does this mean?

The Alfa Romeo Junior once again succeeds in setting its own accents. It looks good, drives crisply, but is somewhat lacking in infotainment and haptics. This means the brand remains somewhat true to itself. Thus, the Junior is likely to function as a volume booster – and it certainly enriches the segment of electric hot hatches, even though it doesn't reinvent it. We are excited!

Translated automatically from German.
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