Alfa Romeo: the start of a new era

Even before the first test drive, the Alfa Romeo Junior created a big stir. It was actually supposed to be called the Milano, in homage to the fashionable city where the brand was founded in 1910. Just a few days after the world premiere, the manufacturer had to row back - because the model does not roll off the production line in Italy, but in Poland, it cannot have an "Italian-sounding" name. A law says so.

So now it's called Junior - customers won't care. More importantly, the electric crossover looks good, proudly bears the "Scudetto" on the front and is clearly recognizable as an Alfa with its distinctive daytime running lights with three LED strips on each side. This is crucial, because after all, the Junior is another offshoot of the huge Stellantis Group with its 14 brands and is technically closely related to various models from other brands. The 4.17 meter long crossover also stands out from the Citroën C3, Peugeot 208 and co. in the cockpit.

The Veloce brings it

Like its Group cousins, the Junior is available with electric drive in two versions as well as a mild hybrid with a 1.2-liter petrol engine. We took it for a test drive in purely electric form, both in the basic version with 115 kW/156 hp and as a Veloce with 207 kW/280 hp. And the latter is particularly interesting: while the entry-level model with its leisurely acceleration and uninspired chassis set-up hardly arouses any emotions, the Veloce gets the pulse racing, as you would expect from a real Alfa.

The lively drive, but above all the chassis with mechanical limited slip differential, makes the Veloce a top-class driving machine. However, this comes at a price - twice over: instead of the 410 kilometers range of the base model, the Veloce only gets 315 kilometers out of the 54 kWh battery. And the Veloce also leaves its mark on the wallet: just under 50,000 francs is a lot for such a small car. The mild hybrid starts at 31,490 francs, the basic electric model at 41,490 francs.