Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce (2024-) Review

Introduction

Alfa Romeo has had a turbulent couple of decades, and the motoring press constantly questions whether the next product will “save” the company. But though uptake of the (brilliant) Giulia and Stelvio models has been slow at times, the company is still here and it’s still pumping out new products. The Tonale may have been a bit of a disappointment in some ways, but the new Junior is here to provide an even more compact offering at the foot of the Alfa Romeo range.

Though it’s set to be offered in electric and hybrid forms, the electric versions will clearly be among the more intriguing, and particularly this top-of-the-range Veloce version. Though electric vehicles have rewritten the rules when it comes to performance, Alfa is promising more than just straight-line speed from this driver-centric version of the Junior. With its own suspension and powertrain, Alfa’s engineers have clearly put a lot of work into the ‘hot hatch’ of the Junior range, but has that effort paid off?

At a Glance

The Junior may be the smallest model in the Alfa Romeo range, but it’s still an attractive thing, with a cool nose and a pert rear end, all of which ensure it still feels like an Alfa Romeo. Admittedly, the effect is magnified in this Veloce form, which adds black trim with red pinstripes and a cool triangular grille cover with the Alfa logo in it, as well as big wheels and red brakes.

Inside, the car feels equally sporty, with a cabin that’s distinctly driver-orientated. The touchscreen, for example, is angled towards you and there’s a cool steering wheel that isn’t quite circular, as well as a digital instrument display housed in a kind of double binnacle. There’s lots of sporty microsuede upholstery, too, and you can even have body-hugging sports seats. Material quality is a bit iffy in places, thanks to the costs associated with compact electric cars, but most of the parts are fairly robust, having come from elsewhere in the Stellantis Group (which owns Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Citroen and Vauxhall, among others) line-up.

Interior space is reasonable, too, and the technology works well enough, but the highlight is the way the Junior drives. Admittedly, the Veloce model is expected to be significantly better than the lesser Elettrica models, but with its clever front differential and impressive suspension, it’s the best front-wheel-drive electric car for keen drivers by some margin. It’s spectacularly good.

And though it’s also quick in a straight line, it isn’t so fast that it ruins the range. Sure, less powerful models will go further on a charge, but an official range of 207 miles is acceptable for something this fast and this compact. And it charges fairly quickly, which is a bonus.

Key Features

Design will always be a key part of any Alfa Romeo’s appeal, and the Junior delivers spectacularly with its new look. The way Alfa has integrated its fabled shield grille with an electric car is laudable, and though the lights have a little Renault about them for some reason, they have kept Alfa’s hallmark three-light design. Combine that with a clean-looking rear and the sporty design tweaks that adorn the Veloce models, and you’ve got a good looking compact electric vehicle.

But for all the design’s attractiveness, nothing draws us to the Junior Veloce like the way it drives. We didn’t have high hopes, given the car’s close relation with the adequate but unremarkable Fiat 600e, but the Veloce model’s bespoke suspension set-up and its ingenious front differential make it sensational on the right road. Few front-wheel-drive electric cars can be chucked into a corner with such abandon, and even fewer reward you for doing so with great balance, body control and steering. If you thought small electric cars weren’t going to be fun, the Junior Veloce will show you the error of your ways.

Range & Batteries

Under the floor, the Junior Veloce has a battery with 51kWh of usable capacity. That isn’t a huge amount, but then the Junior is not an especially big car. In total, it equates to a range of around 200 miles on the official economy test, and about 150 or so on the motorway. But we’d defy any customer to steer clear of the addictive punchiness of the electric motor, which makes achieving such range quite tricky at times. That said, those in search of more range will likely find it from the lesser Junior Elettrica models, which get much the same battery but far less power and far less temptation, albeit not quite so much excitement.

Performance & Drive

This Veloce version of the Junior stands alone at the top of the range, offering a slightly different powertrain from the lesser models. Every version comes with a lithium-ion battery slung under the floor and offering a usable capacity of 51kWh, but whereas the basic models send just 154hp to the front wheels, the Veloce gets a bespoke motor with 280hp, and though it too feeds the front wheels alone, it does so through a clever miniaturised front differential.

That means the Veloce can put that 270hp down more easily, and it’s faster than its siblings as a result. Admittedly, a 0-62mph time of 5.9 seconds is quick, rather than rapid, but the Alfa feels faster than the figures suggest thanks to the instantaneous response of the motor. And the differential manages to ensure both front wheels transmit as much of the power as possible to the road.

It also means that despite the front-wheel-drive layout, the Junior Veloce is staggeringly good to drive. Motorsport enthusiasts will tell you front-wheel-drive cars aren’t always fast – mainly because the front wheels have to steer and drive the car forward, rather than sticking to one task or the other – but the Alfa Romeo differential and in-car software has managed to ensure that isn’t really an issue.

Of course, the differential is not alone in that. Alfa Romeo has given the Veloce its own suspension, its own brakes and its own steering set-up, as well as Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres that are designed for greater grip without sacrificing too much range. All together, the effect is remarkable, and it makes the Junior Veloce one of the best small EVs for enthusiastic drivers. Certainly, it’s the best compact, front-wheel-drive electric car to use on a race track.

The steering is razor sharp, the nose is defiant in its almost point-blank refusal to wash out in fast corners, and the grip is prodigious, while the differential means you can make adjustments to the car’s line in the middle of a corner using a feather-light tweak of the accelerator. It’s spectacular.

Unsurprisingly, some of this precision comes at the cost of comfort. To keep that body in check, the Veloce uses stiffer suspension that makes it quite firm over certain bumps, and the initial impact is quite noticeable. On the plus side, it deals with imperfections in the surface quite quickly, so any discomfort is short-lived and the car always feels stable. However, we’re expecting lowlier versions of the Junior to be more pliant on the road.

Charging

Because the Junior has a relatively small battery, at 51kWh, it only needs 100kW DC charging capability to allow it to fill the battery from 10% to 80% in half an hour, assuming you can find a charging point powerful enough to deliver that kind of charge. Still, it means you should easily have enough power to continue your journey after a short pit stop at the motorway services. And with fast AC charging capacity, the Junior can also make the most of the kind of 11kW charging points you find at hotels and other business locations, allowing it to fill in about six hours. If you’re at home and using a domestic ‘wallbox’ charger, expect the battery to be filled overnight.

Running Costs & Emissions

Thanks to the Veloce’s electric motor and charging systems, running one shouldn’t be as expensive as running a similarly powerful petrol car. Especially if you can make the most of cheaper off-peak charging at home. But even so, it doesn’t carry the expense of a petrol engine, and though charging at ultra-rapid public chargers will narrow the cost gap, the Alfa will still be relatively inexpensive to drive.

For company car drivers, it will make even more sense, offering a semi-premium vehicle and badge in exchange for a low, low tax burden thanks to the government’s electric vehicle incentives. It’s especially cheap for something with this much performance and this engaging a driving experience.

Interior & Technology

Alfa Romeo has designed the Junior’s cabin to be driver-centric, so the central touchscreen is angled towards the driver, and there’s a digital instrument display in a classically shaped ‘twin-binnacle’ housing. It’s full of neat touches, from the air vents designed to look like alloy wheels to the red-and-black colour scheme that’s designed to make it look more motorsport-esque. There’s black roof lining in this Veloce model, too, and there’s microsuede upholstery on the seats, which can be replaced with even more dramatic Sabelt sports seats that have massive bolsters and cutouts in the back.

But as sporty as it looks, it hides one or two minor issues. Chief among which is the sense that none of it is especially well stuck together, with some lightweight and flimsy plastics and a centre console that moves noticeably if you budge it with your knee. Some of the switchgear feels a bit cheap, too, although it’s all taken from other cars in the Stellantis Group, so it is largely proven. The gear selector, for example, is from a Peugeot 308, while the buttons on the steering wheel are from a DS 4.

If you can get past all that, though, the Alfa’s cabin isn’t all bad. The digital instrument display is clear and easy enough to read, and the touchscreen is functional and fashionable without being over-complicated. It’s quite an attractive cabin, too, with a design that feels deserving of the Alfa Romeo badge, if not necessarily premium.

Practicality & Boot Space

Although few customers will choose this sportier version of the Junior with cabin space at the forefront of their thinking, it will be a consideration for those picking the less potent variants, and the credentials will be more or less the same. Which is to say they’re respectable, rather than remarkable.

For those in the front, the space will be ample, with lots of headroom and a good driving position, though some customers might find getting in and out a little tricky if they choose the optional sports seats, with their enormous bolsters. For those in the back, things are fractionally less positive, although cutouts in the aforementioned sports seats make legroom acceptable while headroom is fairly generous.

Boot space is pretty generous, too, at 400 litres with all five seats in use. Admittedly, that’s only a bit better than the boot in a Cupra Born, but it’s an improvement on the Jeep Avenger. And Alfa Romeo has come up with a clever solution to prevent the charging cable eating into the space, installing a kind of oversized plastic lunchbox under the bonnet in which to store the wire. It’s especially useful if the cable is wet and grubby, because nobody wants that draped across their luggage or their shopping.

Safety

Euro NCAP, the European independent crash-testing organisation, is still yet to put the Junior through its paces, and its sister cars are still yet to be tested. Nevertheless, we’re expecting a strong showing from the Alfa, not least because the Tonale, Giulia and Stelvio models have all received five stars in their crash tests.

And Alfa has continued to include loads of safety systems in its cars, with the Junior getting all the usual features such as autonomous emergency braking that can stop the car automatically if a collision is imminent, and lane departure warning to help keep the car from wandering. A reversing camera and parking sensors are also there to prevent low-speed bumps, while intelligent speed limit warning tech is there to warn you if you accidentally exceed the speed limit.

Options

The Junior will, essentially, be offered in three forms, with the basic Elettrica joined by the Elettrica Speciale and the Veloce. All will get much the same battery, and the basic models will still come with rear parking sensors, push-button ignition and 18-inch alloy wheels, as well as automatic windscreen wipers and climate control. Adaptive cruise control and the two-screen cabin will be standard, too.

Speciale versions will add to that with a reversing camera and heated front seats, as well as a sports styling kit, but the Veloce goes a little further, with bigger 20-inch alloys, red brake callipers and a black contrast roof, as well as a sportier cabin and all the performance upgrades.

And that’s before you consider things like paint options, which will include Alfa Romeo’s hallmark red, and the Veloce’s optional Sabelt seats, which are set to command a hefty premium for customers.

Rival Cars

In this sporty specification, the Junior is relatively short on rivals. You might consider the MG4 XPower, which is faster but offers little in the way of handling upgrades, or the Cupra Born VZ, but that’s about your lot.

Perhaps the Veloce’s closest rival, therefore, will be the Abarth 600e, which is set to have less power than the Alfa Romeo but will be based on the same platform, and may well use some learnings from the Alfa’s development process in its suspension. Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but it’s thought that Stellantis won’t let the Abarth out-do the Junior Veloce when it comes to handling.

Lesser versions of the Junior, however, have plenty of cars to contend with. Not only is there the Fiat 600e and the Jeep Avenger, both of which are competent but not especially exciting, but there’s the roomy Peugeot E-2008 and the Vauxhall Mokka-e, as well as the forthcoming Citroen e-C3 Aircross. In short, the market for compact electric SUVs is growing all the time, and the Junior will have to push its driver-centric make-up if it wants to compete.

Verdict & Next Steps

The Veloce isn’t really much of a barometer for the rest of the Junior range, which is expected to be significantly more pedestrian. But as a symbol of what Alfa Romeo can still do, and what electric small cars are capable of, the Veloce is staggering. It’s equally staggering as a performance car, with brilliant handling and ample power, as well as enough range to be useful if you can resist the temptation of the accelerator. It’s a great car, and it’s easily one of the best compact performance EVs you can lease.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Alfa Romeo Junior.

**Correct as of 05/09/2024. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £3,907.98 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.