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5 November 2024
Written by Wheels magazine
At $77,500 (excluding on-road costs), the Alfa Romeo Tonale Q4 Veloce PHEV is $21,000 more than the existing Tonale Veloce hybrid. But it’s also a very different beast to the regular hybrid which runs on a 118kW 1.5-litre petrol engine that drives the front wheels and results in a vehicle that occasionally struggles to get out of its own way.
Although the Q4's engine is even smaller – a bambino 1.3-litre unit – hybridisation means that all four wheels are driven and the system output is a very healthy 208kW.
This plug-in variant also benefits from the otherwise optional Lusso pack as standard. This adds features including:
Perforated black leather seats; embroidered Alfa Romeo logo; eight-way electric front seat adjustment; driver's seat position memory; heated and ventilated front seats; heated steering wheel; heated washer nozzles; PTC heater; 14-speaker 465W Harman Kardon premium audio and dark grey double stitching.
The Q4 Veloce PHEV also bundles the following equipment over and above the normal hybrid Tonale: Sunroof, chromed exhaust tips, Elettro-Biscione logo on rear left window, Type 2 smart charging port and Mode 2 charging cable
Other features common to both Alfa Romeo hybrid models include: 19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels; Brembo brake calipers; 360° cameras with dynamic lines; adaptive cruise control; auto-dimming external mirrors; Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster; 10.25-inch central touchscreen; wireless charging pad; Road sign recognition; automatic full LED matrix headlights and aluminium pedal set.
While the Alfa feels quite cosy up front, if you get your seat into the right position and try to climb behind, you'll quickly come to realise that its 2637mm wheelbase is actually 30mm shorter than a Corolla's.
It's not impractically tiny, and there are both USB-A and USB-C ports to fight over in the back as well as air vents, a retractable armrest and a through-load ski hatch. It just feels a little dark with the high window line and black leather trim.
There's also a penalty to pay for the all-wheel drive system and that's a higher boot floor. This limits the storage space to 385 litres beneath the parcel shelf, although it extends to 1430 litres if you flip the 60:40 split rear bench down.
This vehicle is more about the front-seat occupants, however, and they're well catered for. Its dash design is typically Alfa, with flared cowlings above the instrument pack and dashes of the Italian Tricolore contrasting with some very impressive quality finishes.
The sports seats deserve special mention, as they are supportive, they look great and they're absolutely what you'd expect to find if you'd bought into the Alfa heritage. The instrument panel, with power meters and various other PHEV-specific gauges, can be a little confusing.
‘Does it feel like an Alfa to drive?’ It depends. Some elements of the Tonale's genetics feel very Alfa. It rides tautly, and it certainly has some spirit if you switch the DNA mode dial to Dynamic and clog the throttle. The little 1.3-litre four sings its heart out and it's all very invigorating. You could imagine zipping around the streets of Florence in one of these and feeling very pleased at having won the holiday hire car lottery.
But with an engine and two motors plus a 15.5kWh battery pack to lug up the road, the Tonale Q4 is a heavy car.
Not heavy by the standards of EVs, but at 1835kg it weighs as much as, say, a Mercedes-Benz GLC 300. You'll feel that heft the moment you throw it into a corner. Roll is generally well controlled, but the flip side is that the Tonale rapidly lapses into understeer, which the stability control system manfully tries to bring back into line.
The steering is also rather odd. The Tonale's feel is affected when the vehicle is switched into its fuel-sipping Advance Efficiency mode. Things improve by twisting the dial into Dynamic. This brings some additional weight to the wheel. You also get the option of switching the frequency-selective dampers into a softer mode, which helps improve grip a little on a twisty road. In this setup, the Tonale feels quite entertaining, but it's still hard to mask all that weight.
Images supplied by Wheels magazine. This article was written by an independent author of Wheels Media. Full disclaimer