Alfa Romeo Tonale: The Fast and the Frugal

Alfa Romeo has always made cars that feel a bit more special than the rest.

The Tonale is no exception. Yes, of course it’s an SUV but that’s what car buyers want these days. And it’s a fabulous looking one, swooping and curvy with perfect proportions.

The Tonale is a compact premium SUV designed to take on the Volvo XC40, Audi Q3 and BMW X1.

I travelled to Yorkshire where I spent a day driving the Tonale with its newest powertrain. The plug-in hybrid model combines a 1.3 litre petrol engine with an electric motor and 15.5kWh battery.

Fast but frugal

The petrol unit drives the rear wheels with the electric element sending power to the front wheels, making the Tonale four-wheel drive. With 271bhp there’s plenty of power. Put the foot down from a standing start and the Tonale will be sitting at 62mph just 6.2 seconds later.

Keep the battery topped up and you might go months without using a drop of petrol

It’s frugal for such a fast car – though perhaps not as frugal as the official figures suggest. On paper, the Tonale returns an astonishing 217mpg.

As is always the case with plug-in hybrids, economy figures depend entirely on how you drive. Make use of the performance and you’ll get economy in the low 30s on longer drives.

Keep the battery topped up and you might go months without using a drop of petrol.
The Tonale PHEV will cover around 42 miles on battery power, or 50 miles if you use it around town where it’s at its most efficient.

That should be enough for most people’s daily drive and makes the plug-in Tonale a cheap car to run if you plug it in regularly. It also has a low benefit-in-kind rate, making it an attractive proposition as a company car.

The drive

Alfa Romeo has a reputation for making cars that are sporty to drive and the Tonale does nothing to bring the family name into disrepute.

For an SUV, the Tonale handles beautifully. It grips like a limpet through tight bends and remains poised and unperturbed even with hard braking and sudden switches of direction.

Only a slight feeling of heaviness when switching direction hints at the extra weight of the PHEV version.

While firm, the ride is smooth and comfortable enough to make the Tonale a good long distance cruiser. On battery power the cabin is impressively quiet and even when the petrol engine kicks in there’s only a faint background hum.

Alfa’s DNA system gives you three different drive modes – natural, dynamic and all-weather mode. The first is the one you’ll use most of the time. Dynamic increases the engine and brakes’ responsiveness and reduces the role traction control plays, while all-weather works to maximise grip in poor conditions.

Cabin layout

The cabin layout is excellent. In addition to a large, clear touchscreen there are buttons for the heating controls, making them easy to adjust on the move.

Even base models are well equipped, with LED headlights, a reversing camera, powered boot, alloy wheels and digital driver’s display among the lengthy list of standard kit.

It’s a compact SUV so don’t expect acres of interior space. Nevertheless, leg and headroom in the rear is ample for adults.

The mild hybrid Tonale gets a generous 500 litre boot but the large battery in the plug-in hybrid eats into that space, reducing it to just 385 litres.

Mild hybrid versions of the Tonale start at around £38,000 and the plug-in hybrid model costs from around £45,000.

Alfa’s first fully electric car arrives next year and the company’s entire line up with be plug-in by 2027. The Tonale, then, heralds a great change for the storied car maker.

Judging by its capabilities the future of Alfa Romeo is in good hands.