Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio EV due with 1000bhp
Alfa boss gives details of Giulia replacement, due as firm’s second EV in the coming years
The Alfa Romeo Giulia will return as an EV with up to 1000bhp and a range of 435 miles, the Italian firm’s CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato has confirmed.
Set to evolve from its conventional saloon shape to cover multiple segments, it is expected to arrive around the middle of the decade, no longer offering combustion power as the firm pushes to offer a solely EV range by 2027.
Power will start at near-345bhp in entry-level form, with the more powerful Veloce offering around 790bhp. A hardcore Quadrifolio variant is also confirmed, which will offer “around 1000hp” (986bhp) – almost double the 503bhp offered by today’s twin-turbo V6 car.
This most powerful variant will likely be a four-wheel-drive proposition, rather than rear-driven as is the current car, and could get a set-up similar to Stellantis sibling Maserati’s upcoming Granturismo Folgore, which uses three motors – one on the front axle and two at the rear – with torque-vectoring functionality.
As well as confirming his power ambitions for the electric Giulia replacement, Imparato also suggested that the EV’s range will be up to 435 miles on the WLTP cycle, so owners see it as a “substitute” to their current cars, not a downgrade nor forced switch. That figure would match the electric successor to sibling brand Peugeot’s 3008 SUV, which will use a variation of the same STLA electric vehicle platform.
Imparato was keen to emphasise the importance of a rapid electrification programme for Alfa: “We switch because we must,” he said, “if not, Alfa Romeo would be dead.”
He added: “We will switch in a real concrete substitution mode. I don’t want you [customers/owners] to suffer from anything [because of] the switch; I want you to love it.”
Design-wise, the Giulia will look like “the Alfa Romeo we all want,” added the CEO, who described the current design proposals as “very cool”.
He previously told Autocar the successor to today’s Giulia would get a less conventional shape, possibly straddling the saloon-estate boundary with a view to attracting more buyers.
Imparato also confirmed the Giulia will be equipped with 800-volt architecture, as with other upcoming EVs on Stellantis’s STLA platform, meaning a ‘substantial’ battery top-up (likely 10-80%) could be completed “within 18 minutes”, he hinted. “We don’t want you to spend hours charging your car”.
There has been no indication yet of what size battery pack the electric Giulia could use, but Peugeot’s rakish, low-slung Inception concept – revealed earlier this year – touts a theoretical range of 500 miles and is said to house a 100kWh unit in its chassis - meaning the Alfa could, too.
Imparato also updated Autocar on Alfa Romeo’s future plan, revealing that a B-segment SUV (tipped to be called the Brennero) will be launched next year as its first fully electric car – although it will still offer combustion power in the form of a mild-hybrid petrol engine. It is not yet confirmed whether this petrol option will be limited to overseas market, as is the case with the technically related Jeep Avenger.
The firm’s first electric-only car will arrive a year later, as either a saloon or SUV – although Imparato “won’t disclose” which – followed by a second pure-EV which will also occupy the same segment but in a different body style. It is likely that an electric successor to the Stelvio will arrive in 2026 as a sister car to the electric Giulia.
Finally, a larger electric saloon in the vein of the Porsche Taycan or Tesla Model S will arrive in 2027 as a crucial step towards bolstering the brand’s popularity in the US and China. Funding for all cars has already been allocated by Stellantis management, Imparato said.