Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato says electric Quadrifoglio model possible
He also talked about the possible revival of the Spider and GTV badges, if Alfa Romeo can eke out more market share.
Alfa Romeo is preparing to hop on the exclusively battery-electric train in a few years -- by 2027, to be exact -- but its first fully electric offering will come well before that, in 2024. This is news on its own, but Alfa being Alfa, we were expecting to hear about higher-performance versions of this new electric Alfa and, thanks to an interview with Alfa boss Jean-Philippe Imparato that Autocar published Thursday, we're not disappointed.
In his interview, Imparato outlines his grand plan to release one new Alfa model per year between 2022 and 2025, the first of which will be the several-times-delayed Tonale SUV followed by another, smaller SUV. That's all well and good -- Alfa could use more than two models, frankly -- but the more exciting part to us was his discussion of multiple electric drivetrain options for this first BEV.
Having multiple performance levels in an EV is pretty standard, and Alfa Romeo's decision to go down that path makes sense. The performance version, though, could be pretty performative indeed if it carries the brand's legendary four-leaf clover badge and Quadrifoglio designation. Just look at the difference between the regular Stelvio and Giulia and the wild, fire-breathing, utterly bananas QF versions.
Now, to be clear, Imparato didn't directly say that there will be a Quadrifoglio EV, but he did confirm that it's a possibility, and it seems likely given the brand's focus on performance and driver engagement. Plus, we're really just trying to put that vibe into the world and manifest it into happening. We've gotta try, right?
Other significant and decidedly exciting possibilities hinted at by Imparato are a revived Spider model, which would be electric, as well as a revival of the legendary GTV badge. However, he hedged these hints by saying that their future was contingent upon Alfa gaining market share in volume sales markets, and given how the brand has fared thus far in America, we wouldn't hold our breath.
We asked Alfa Romeo for comment but didn't hear back in time for publication.