Motoring Discussion > Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Boxsterboy Replies: 23
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 Mon 11 Nov 24 17:14 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Boxsterboy
My wife drives little - mostly local trips to the shops or gym and I have long said that an EV would suit her use well. She recently incorporated her business, and I suggested she replace her 18-year old Mercedes CLK convertible which has an increasing number of electrical and other faults with an EV for the obvious Company Car tax reasons. The fact that her work premises is next door to our home means that we can run a cable from her work and charge an EV for free. Win win, so to speak.

She wanted a convertible which in the EV world means either a Fiat e500 or MG Cyberster - a veritable chalk and cheese choice!. Having dismissed both and looked around the multi-car dealer we plumped on an Alfa Romeo Junior - the dealer's first sale of this new model. Yes, there is clearly shared Stellantis switchgear inside, but at least the rest of the car is quite different from its stable-mates (unlike say VW group cars). The first Alfa in our family, so at least we have fulfilled Jeremy Clarkson's edict that all car enthusiasts should own an Alfa at some stage in their life (although I'm not sure if this applies to an EV?)

The car has 154 bhp, 54kW battery and a range of WLTP range of 250 miles, Charging at 100kWh means 10-80% can be done in less than 30 mins. There is a hot Veloce model on the way with 278 bhp, uprated and lowered (stiffer) suspension, limited slip diff, etc. but with the same battery which means the range drops to WLTP 208 miles. Nice but we decided the standard model is enough for us.

EVs are entirely new to us, so a steep learning curve lies ahead. At least the dealer is throwing in a free 7kWh wall charger for overnight charging. 0% Business PCP with 25% deposit means monthlies of less than £300, and as I said free electricity should make it the cheapest car to run that we've ever had.

Being an Alfa we had to go for red (metallic, with a black roof). Picking it up on Saturday - will keep you posted on our experience.
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 Mon 11 Nov 24 19:56 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - legacylad
Self confessed petrol head but never owned an Alfa. Friend of mine was an indie Alfa specialist so often got to drive Suds and occasionally a 164 and GTV back in the day.
Think I’m too old now to own an Alfa, unless it was a classic. Sad.
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 Mon 11 Nov 24 22:24 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - bathtub tom
If she does so few miles, why on earth would she need 154BHP?

Perhaps a mobility scooter may be more appropriate?

I did suggest this to my SIL that did 150 miles a year, it didn't go down well.
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 Wed 13 Nov 24 21:38 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - carmalade
Alfa Junior is a Fiat e500 underneath . Along with similar Stellantis vehicles.
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 Wed 13 Nov 24 21:55 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - legacylad
>> Alfa Junior is a Fiat e500 underneath . Along with similar Stellantis vehicles.
>>
Alfa GT Junior 1300cc from 1966 > 1977.
Pal of mine got picked up from skool in one by his mum. Both gorgeous…I was young and impressionable.
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 Wed 13 Nov 24 22:08 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - zippy
>> >> Alfa Junior is a Fiat e500 underneath . Along with similar Stellantis vehicles.
>> >>
>> Alfa GT Junior 1300cc from 1966 > 1977.
>> Pal of mine got picked up from skool in one by his mum. Both gorgeous…I
>> was young and impressionable.
>>
>>

images.app.goo.gl/TXRDdipx36hAfXg1A


Lovely shape.
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 Fri 15 Nov 24 08:46 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Lygonos
>>Alfa Junior is a Fiat e500 underneath . Along with similar Stellantis vehicles.

500e came with 24 & 42 kWh packs.

Other Stellantis cars are generally 50kWh, or more recently 51kWh (Corsa) or 54kWh (everything else).

No idea if they use the same BMS control gubbins though.
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 Wed 13 Nov 24 22:41 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Zero
Not the most reliable or long lasting of things. The battery packs are notoriously short lived,
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 12:23 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Boxsterboy
>> Not the most reliable or long lasting of things. The battery packs are notoriously short
>> lived,
>>

3-year lease, so if that is an issue it won't be our issue.
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 16:53 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - CGNorwich
Not seen anything supporting that. The battery will have an eight year guarantee like most EVs
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 17:33 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Zero
>> Not seen anything supporting that. The battery will have an eight year guarantee like most
>> EVs

The battery pack has a failure of the balancing processor, happens at about 5 years, and FIAT is refusing to honour the warranty in many cases citing "improper charging"
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 18:12 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - CGNorwich
That’s interesting. Can you point me to a source. Tried googling but can’t find anything.
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 18:37 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Zero
No idea why you cant find it, plenty of cases on social media, technical forums, youtube videos of people "fixing it"

Problem is, it manifests itself as poor range looking like degraded batteries, but in effect its just been balancing badly for some time, taking the pack apart, changing this part, charging it a few times, magically fixes it and range goes up near to spec (well not spec but real use ranges that people get from near new)
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 18:51 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - CGNorwich
A link would be great. Particularly interested in Fiat rejecting claims due to “incorrect charging” . Intrigued to know how you can incorrectly charge an EV.
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 Thu 14 Nov 24 19:07 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Zero
Check out the fiat 500 owners forum, google fiat 500e rejected warranty claim, check reddit,
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 Fri 15 Nov 24 08:43 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Lygonos

FIAT 500e doesn't use the 54kWh pack - the rather bloated-looking 600e does.

Chat on the EV forums suggest the 54kWh pack is a lot better than the older 50kWh Stellantis pack found in Pug 208, Vx Corsa, Cit C3/C4 etc.

Of course, if it's good enough for Vauxhall, it's not for me!
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 Mon 18 Nov 24 15:01 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Boxsterboy
Yes, the Alfa has the 54kWh pack.

Picked it up on Saturday and ... I like it! Much more comfortable than I expected an Alfa to be! Nice steering/handling too.
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 Wed 20 Nov 24 12:41 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Lygonos
Nice one BB.

Saw a Jeep Avenger EV this morning - same deal with that too.

Cold weather doing its thing though - my 84kWh Ioniq5 was showing 282 miles range at 100% this morning (354 mile WLTP).

Problem with the massive battery and cheap overnight leccy is I don't drive it very efficiently which doesn't help...

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 Thu 21 Nov 24 10:00 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Boxsterboy
Forgive me if it's a dumb question Lygonos (new to this EV lark!) but if the temperature recovers before you use your car, would you expect the battery range to recover a bit or is it a case of once the cold has shortened the range, that's it!
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 Thu 21 Nov 24 10:16 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - zippy
AIUI, it may take time for the change in temperature to affect the battery (it's big), but yes, as the temperature rises, resistance reduces and therefore range increases.
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 Thu 21 Nov 24 11:19 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Zero
>> Forgive me if it's a dumb question Lygonos (new to this EV lark!) but if
>> the temperature recovers before you use your car, would you expect the battery range to
>> recover a bit or is it a case of once the cold has shortened the
>> range, that's it!

If you mean permanently reduced? no. range is dependent on the prevailing temperature at the time of use, its electrical physics in practice at all stages (battery, wiring, motors) Repeated freezing (and overheating) can damage battery packs, but they have temperature management in place to prevent that (Tesla is very very good with their power pack management)

In short the better the temperature management, the less the effects of physics, the better the management of temperature the less the effects on range in cold weather, but its always going to be worse in winter (or if you live in death valley in summer)

Oh and of course, human environmental factors (heating, blowers, wipers, air con) increases power use
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 21 Nov 24 at 11:23
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 Fri 22 Nov 24 12:07 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Lygonos
>> but if the temperature recovers before you use your car, would you expect the battery range to recover a bit or is it a case of once the cold has shortened the range, that's it!

As mentioned it does come back - and once driving the battery starts to warm up and the overall range can actually improve a bit.

Part of the problem is cars are just less efficient when it is cold: higher air resistance (cold air is denser) and higher rolling resistance (especially with wet road surfaces) mean you gets less miles per unit energy anyway.
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 Fri 22 Nov 24 14:02 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - CGNorwich
For most people who charge at home and charge their EV at a cheap rate a reduced winter range doesn’t really matter. My car reduces from a summer range of 220 mile or so to about 180 in winter. Like most drivers I seldom drive more than a fifty mile return trip so apart from a few pennies more in the cost of the electricity it’s really not an issue. For the few times I make a long trip I might have to fast charge slightly earlier in the winter but no big deal.
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 Fri 22 Nov 24 18:48 
 Alfa Romeo - NEW CAR TIME - Biggles
Preconditioning while plugged in to a wallbox should increase the range as it warms the batteries.
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