Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Speciale 2024 review | First Drive

Alfa Romeo has been absent from the hatchback market since the Giulietta ceased production in 2020, while its departure from the small car segment was longer ago still with the demise of the Mito in 2018. With the Junior, it hopes to win back those customers with a package that’s a bit more 2024 – and by that we mean higher riding and with battery power.

To make things easier for buyers to make the transition to Alfa Romeo’s first all-electric car, it’s offering a complimentary Wallbox for home charging. And for those who are not ready to make the leap, there will be a hybrid version of the Junior in 2025.

Given the constraints of a tall two-box shape with an upright front end, Alfa Romeo’s stylists have made a good job of imbuing the Junior with Latin spirit that elevates it from its Stellantis siblings, the Peugeot 2008 and Vauxhall Mokka. There’s definitely some more flair here, and there are some styling cues that are evidently borrowed from the 33 Stradale, which is no bad thing.

The front end is dominated by the new grille treatment. It can be toned down by having it finished in black if you don’t want it to over-power the styling, but there’s no doubting that it makes a statement. The powerful looking haunches back it up, too, but perhaps even more striking than the front air intake is the rear light treatment. Looking like a moustache at the back of the car, it effectively creates a Kamm tail effect that’s a nice call-back to historic Alfa Romeo racing cars. It promises some extra visual zhuzh for the school run and contributes to a kind of three-storey appearance at the back of the car.

In other areas, the Junior conforms to the norms of the small crossover genre. Plastic wheelarch trims emphasise the car’s bulk when compared to a conventional hatchback. Overall, though, it’s reasonably handsome by the standards of oversized hatchbacks.

Our Speciale test car shares its power output with the entry-level Junior Elettrica, which means you get Stellantis’s 158PS (116kW) electric motor with which to propel the car. The only way to access more power is with the range-topping Veloce, which we drove in Italy earlier this year. 

The power output might not write any headlines, but Alfa Romeo states that the Junior is the lightest car in its class, tipping the scales at 1,545kg. While we’re used to EVs that have startling performance, that isn’t the case here. The 0-60mph sprint takes 9.0 seconds while the top speed is 150mph. In other words, perfectly adequate performance for a family car and an approach that balances range with performance in a sensible way.

Alfa Romeo makes big claims around the Junior being the most sporty car to drive in its class, aiming to bring its Italian flair into the electrified age. We certainly came away from driving the Veloce with the impression it had lived up to the promise. The question is, can the cooking car, with less power, a different steering set-up and no clever limited-slip differential, serve up some of the same magic?

The test route for the UK launch happened to take place in roads we know well, and one of them is about as challenging as B-roads get: steep gradients, blind crests, adverse cambers and iffy pothole repairs all conspire to give the Junior a pretty tough workout.

In the main, it took what we threw at it well. There’s a fundamental balance to the chassis that makes it easy to exploit and it responds well to being hustled along at a decent pace. Push beyond where it’s comfortable, though, and things do begin to unravel. As with many high-riding cars, there’s a sense that you’re slightly remote from what’s going on at ground level, as if everything is happening beneath you.

And as speed builds, the numb steering becomes more of a problem; you never feel fully connected to what’s happening at the front, but it’s by no means unusual for a modern car. The worst part of the dynamic make-up, though, is the brakes. Feedback through the pedal is inconsistent, and every now and then you find yourself having to make up for a lack of braking effort with an extra prod. You can drive around it, but the brake pedal never feels as if it’s on your side.

We don’t mean to be too down on it, though. It’s important to remember that the Speciale is not the sporty member of the family. If you want to drive the Junior like it’s a hot hatch, that’s what the Veloce is for, which is a much more driver-focused package thanks in no small part to its revised steering and LSD. If you want your kicks, Alfa Romeo can provide them.

View this mid-range offering in the correct context and it makes a lot of sense. It’s brisk enough, rides well (although it can be a bit choppy at times), and it’s quiet and comfortable. It’s a well resolved family car that doesn’t embarrass itself if you want the occasional bit of fun on a B-road.

There’s a sombre tone to the Junior’s interior that’s a contrast to the lively Brera Red metallic paint of our test car. Black plastic dominates, as you’d expect for the class, and some of it feels a bit low-grade. There’s a lot of Stellantis parts-bin borrowing going on – not to a greater extent than you would expect – but it all works well enough. 

Most functions are buried in the touchscreen, and as ever you need some time to familiarise yourself with what’s under which menu. There’s a physical button for the home page and the car’s settings, which is handy. The instruments take the form of two round cowls that shroud the digital display.  

The cabin is spacious enough, and the 400-litre boot contributes to what is a suitably practical package for a five-door crossover.

The entry-level Junior Elettrica is priced at £33,859 and comes with a generous list of equipment. Notable extras that apply to the £35,695 Speciale include adaptive cruise control, heated seats and an upgraded stereo (with six speakers as opposed to four). Perhaps the most useful addition is that the 10.25-inch screen includes EV mapping, so the car will work out where best to charge along your route. It’s another way in which Alfa Romeo is looking to make the switch to EVs as easy as possible for first-timers. 

There are some car-makers for whom the move to EVs is more difficult. For those Alfisti who need a Busso V6 to make sense of their Alfa Romeo passion, the first step towards an all-electric future may be a difficult one to take. Especially when its rendered as a C-segment crossover rather than a flighty hatchback or purposeful saloon. But the reality is a lot better than the dread.

While the Speciale may not have all the flair and driver appeal of its more expensive Veloce sibling, it does nonetheless offer a satisfying driving experience that has shadows of the range-topper, if not its final level of resolve. The take-home here is that Alfa Romeo has worked hard to apply its core values to a package for the second quarter of the 21^st century, most blatantly in Veloce form, and for that we should be grateful.