Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce PHEV is full of La Dolce Vita

The Alfa spirit is captured perfectly in a sporty sedan or coupé, but does a PHEV SUV still fit the bill? Tonale PHEV took a while to endear itself to me, yet a few hours in the saddle revealed Tonale’s adorable best. Like many European vehicles, the Tonale range has a part-battery-powered driveline and the PHEV version takes it a step further.

Tonale PHEV takes a small 115kg battery with 15.5kwh’s worth of storage and gives it a twist. You can plug it into the power point in your garage at home and pack 60km worth of EV range away for use next day. Most of us don’t do more than that in a day so you could well achieve the claimed 1.5L/100k. The 90kw/250Nm motor spins the back wheels while the 1.3L turbo 4-cylinder takes car of the front wheels.

You can have any trim level you like, as long as it is Veloce.

Specifications here: tonale-my22-buyers-guide-december-2023

PHEV Charging:

Maximum charging is a modest 7kw and will take between 2.5 and 3 hours to fully finish. Doing the same thing in your garage will be an overnight affair, taking 12 hours. Tonale comes standard with a Mode 2 cable stored under the rear floor.

ABOVE: 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce PHEV

The Looks and cabin

The tasty exterior is unassuming yet lusty. It has a pair of slim LED MATRIX headlights, and a set of 19” cloverleaf wheels. Doors have smart locking and the tailgate has powered operation for added la dolce vita. Our Montreal Green test car was a slingshot back to being a 17yo driving Sister Mae’s Montreal Green Montreal in my after-school car wash business. Sister Mae always had something tasty in the carport in leafy Fairfield.

The standard Lusso packs adds fabulous black leather seats and stitching that are heated and cooled, and 14 speakers’ worth of Harmon Kardon sound. The latter could use more power as it lacks sparkle for true audiophiles.

The only giveaway that the Tonale PHEV interior differs from her lesser siblings is the “e-Save” button. Keen punters will also spot the difference in the Alfa serpent in the instrument cluster. Instead of the head of a snake it is a power plug. Italians are masters of frivolity and flair, especially after a boozy lunch when such a tiny touch can make you giggle like a 5yo.

Digital intrusions aren’t immediately obvious apart the LCD driver display and landscape style centre touch screen. You get more than enough information so the absence of a Head Up Display isn’t immediately noticeable.

Controls are easy to use after you’ve taken a quite moment to get friendly with them.

The drive:

Tonale PHEV is mighty frisky using its divine driveline in full flight. 208 glorious kilowatts move the little SUV to 100kph in a brisk 6.2 seconds and on to a top speed that is completely irrelevant.

Regardless of drive mode selected, the steering is light, giving the drive experience an ethereal feel especially when gliding along in EV mode.

Left to her own devices the Tonale PHEV uses 60km of stored energy to give you the blissfully silent electric car treatment. Many EVs are limited to a total output of 90kw but the Tonale PHEV adds a 132kw of dinosaur-drinking delight when you need it. You hear the motor kick in from time to time until the EV’s battery is deader than a dead dingo’s donger. From then on Tonale PHEV works like any other hybrid. The e-Save button preserves the PHEV battery should you need to, and will use the engine to recharge fully. It kills any hope of getting near your 1.5L/100k dream but is there should you need to enter an ultra-low-emissions zone.

The suspension is tied to drive mode selection but retains a button that switches between firm and slightly less firm at the driver’s whim. The ride can only be described as precise, and makes the Alfa feel every bit as sporty as those trendy little 60’s open-topped tourers.

She friskily changes direction as part of a playful toybox of tricks. The 1811kg vehicle is an SUV and there is no hiding that in corners. Nonetheless the Italian charisma oozes from every pore even at cruising speed.

Once on the open road the true joy of her techy goodness takes over.

The lane keeping is first class. There is a gentle insistance about following the road rules and a reassuring tap on the shoulder should you stray. The navigation and wireless CarPlay use voice commands, with the Alfa system further extending voice to changing temperature and radio stations. The latter came in handy when the Alfa stubbornly refused to reinstate the radio after making phone calls or sending messages.

All those driver and safety aids are the bee’s knees on longer drives. They relieve the overtaxed driver of onerous duties, ready to deploy backup systems should things go tits-up.

TOP TIP: Keep the warnings to visual-only mode and she’ll be Jake. Bells and bongs belong in the bin.

Although glorious exhaust notes are fast becoming things of the past, the drive is still a rewarding task. In this case there isn’t much of an engine note to speak of, so tunes streamed to the Harmon Kardon is sufficiently fab for most folk.

Download the specifications sheet for a full list of goodies:

Conclusion:

Tonale PHEV is pricey at $77,500 but worth every penny for those who appreciate design from the country that gave us the Colosseum, pasta, and espresso. Tonale PHEV feels like a tailored Prada suit on skates.

Its firm seats hold you with maternal care and nanny is there scold when needed. You might even get a spanking if you ignore her, so don’t, unless you enjoy a good spanking.

I might like to get a little man in to retune the sound system since an HUD is beyond asking, otherwise, Tonale PHEV is a sweet little ride that could charm the birds right out of the tree.

Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce PHEV