Automakers

How Alfa Romeo made the sporty Junior Veloce EV 'fun to drive'

Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce side 2024 Arc
The Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce has larger 20-inch wheels than the standard Junior EV, and a lowered ride height among other suspension-oriented modifications. (LUCA CIFERRI)
July 10, 2024 06:43 AM

BALOCCO, Italy – Alfa Romeo wanted to make the Junior Veloce, the most powerful version of its small SUV, the “most fun to drive” model in its segment, working heavily to improve handling under lateral acceleration.

Even though the full-electric Veloce has an output of 281 hp and a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) time of 5.9 seconds, it might seem underpowered compared with similarly sized premium rivals. The Smart #1 Brabus edition, for example, has 428 hp and a 0-100 kph time of 3.7 seconds; the top version of the Volvo EX30, which shares a Geely platform with the Smart, has similar specifications.

Alfa Romeo executives say that straight-line performance is not their benchmark for the Junior Veloce.

“With an electric car, it is relatively easy to come up with stunning acceleration, but faithful to Alfa’s DNA, we wanted to make the Junior Veloce the most fun car to drive in its segment, no matter which type of powertrain used,” Domenico Bagnasco, the head of vehicle dynamics, said in an interview in Balocco, Italy, this month.

The Veloce edition joins a number of other high-performance premium EVs that are just now entering the market, in addition to the Smart Brabus edition, Renault’s Alpine brand will soon launch the A290, a sporty version of the Renault 5.

Bagnasco said that “fun to drive” comes mainly from how a car delivers power while cornering, especially its ability to remain stable stable and predictable as lateral acceleration increases.

To deliver what Bagnasco calls “outstanding” drivability when cornering, Alfa Romeo made a number of substantial changes for the Junior Veloce.

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The five-door Junior is based on Stellantis’ eCMP2 architecture, which accommodates internal-combustion and full-electric drivetrains. The latest development of this PSA Group-born architecture is also shared with the Jeep Avenger and the Fiat 600. The three models are built by Stellantis in its plant in Tychy, Poland.

The Veloce, which means “fast” in Italian, debuts a new 281-hp motor developed by Stellantis in cooperation with Japanese supplier Nidec. The standard full-electric Junior comes with a 156-hp motor also supplied by Nidec, and also used by the Avenger, 600 and other Stellantis European models.

Alfa Romeo Veloce Junior alt side 2024 Arc
The Junior Veloce is expected to have a range of 330 km, compared with 410 km for the standard full-electric Junior. (ALFA ROMEO)

To safely transfer a power output that has been increased by 125 hp, the Veloce features new, stiffer front suspension struts and a specific, more direct steering case and a Torsen mechanical limited-slip differential.

Bagnasco said that this is the first application on a front-wheel-drive electric vehicle of the latest Torsen “D,” an evolution of a differential used on the Alfa Romeo 147 Q2 in 2006.

“The Torsen is a simple and effective solution, now further improved in terms of lightness and efficiency in its new D generation,” Bagnasco added.

The Torsen system distributes torque between the front drive wheels according to driving conditions and road surface, and also by continuously talking the “same language” with electric power steering also supplied by Japanese supplier JTEKT. JTEKT bought the Torsen technology – short for torque sensing – which was patented in the early 1960s by an American, Vernon Gleasman and originally manufactured by the Gleason Corporation.

Bagnasco added that stiffer suspension struts and antiroll bars, coupled with the Torsen “D,” significantly increase road holding, traction and stability on release, as well as mitigate understeer during acceleration, electronic control interventions and vibrations on the steering wheel.

A test drive of a pre-production unit of the Veloce at Stellantis’s proving grounds in Balocco, near Milan, mixed twisty hill roads with two laps on the Formula One — certified high-speed track, demonstrating in practice that the Veloce really behaves as a truly fun to drive car.

Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce interior 2024 Arc
The interior of the Veloce edition, which starts at about €48,000 in Italy. (ALFA ROMEO)

Nevertheless, as in any electric car pushed to the limit, the Veloce consumes a disproportionate quantity of energy in sporty driving. The trip computer showed an average of 42.7 kilowatt-hours per 100 km in a 45-minute, 45-km long test drive. Put in another way, when driven hard, the Veloce’s range drops to barely 120 km.

In fact, the Veloce uses the same 51-kWh (usable capacity) lithium-ion battery pack as the standard electric Junior, which has a range of 410 km (255 miles) under the WLTP homologation cycle. The Junior Veloce has not yet been homologated, but Alfa Romeo predicts a WLTP range of around 330 km (205 miles) or roughly 15.5 kWh per 100 km.

The 125 added hp cuts the Junior’s 0-100 time to 5.9 seconds from 9.0 seconds for the standard model, and raises the top speed to 200 kph from 150 kph.

In Italy, the Junior Veloce will start at €48,000, compared with €39,500 for the full-electric base model and €29,900 for the base 136-hp, 1.2-liter mild hybrid gasoline.

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