Alfa Romeo, struggling to establish a solid luxury foothold in the U.S., is developing a fast-recharging battery-electric flagship stateside that will hit showrooms in 2027.
Speaking at the launch of the Tonale CUV in Japan, Alfa Romeo chief Jean-Philippe Imparato says the BEV will be larger than the Stelvio and have a big suite of tech and performance features. Alfa says all of the vehicles in its stable will be EVs by 2030.
Imparato says the vehicle under development is “targeting the BMW X5,” which is 10 ins. (254 mm) longer than the current Alfa Stelvio. The standard-range battery pack is expected to power motors producing 300-800 hp, while the Quadrifoglio top-of-the-line trim pushes up to 1,000 hp.
Alfa will be playing up an 18-minute charging time, as fast charging is becoming as big a hot-button among BEV buyers as is total range. Today, the BEV infrastructure is seen as unreliable and too spotty to bring reluctant BEV buyers into the market. And the current chargers can’t support that fast a recharge.
The fastest possible charge today is longer than 20 minutes. But the federal government, the states and automakers such as General Motors, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and others all are building a broader charging network in the U.S. based on population and geographic clusters of BEV sales.
Alfa Romeo currently sells two models in North America: the Giulia sedan and Stelvio CUV. The Tonale CUV is coming this year, and will be sold only as a plug-in-hybrid. The new flagship will give dealers a full complement of vehicles to sell heading into the BEV era for the Italian automaker.
“We see an opportunity to increase our business in the U.S. as we get deeper into the EV market,” Vincent Noirbent, vice president of marketing and product for Alfa Romeo North America, tells Wards. “(Parent) Stellantis is doing a very good job of integrating the engineering of vehicles across brands and businesses, while letting each brand create unique designs inside and out, as well as unique brand identities.”
Alfa Romeo in the U.S. today has 135 dealerships in the U.S. Florida is the biggest state for the brand with 19 sales points, or 14% of the whole. And they must be good dealers; Alfa topped the J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Survey this year, beating traditional leaders including Lexus and Cadillac.
Alfa’s fortunes are bright going forward. Stellantis just said it is adding a second shift at its factory in Pomigliano, Italy, to increase output of the Tonale while cutting a shift at the factory for the Fiat Panda minicar.
The Tonale production bump is due to increasing orders for the CUV from export markets. European sales of the Tonale began last year, while deliveries to the U.S. will begin in the second quarter of this year. Sales of the Tonale have begun in Japan as well.
