No Milano? Alfa Romeo Junior confirmed after a hasty renaming

• All-new small SUV
• Electric and hybrid options
• EV range of up to 255 miles

Alfa Romeo is set to enter the EV market with an all-new SUV – and it will now be called the Alfa Romeo Junior. The sudden change from its initial launch just last week comes after complaints from the Italian government, causing its original Milano name to be scrapped.

With a focus on style and sportiness, the Junior packs the Italian brand’s latest electric tech into a small SUV package, offering buyers a choice of single and dual-motor setups alongside a hybrid variant. 

In a statement, Alfa Romeo said: “Despite Alfa Romeo believing that the name meets all legal requirements, and that there are issues much more important than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo has decided to change it from Milano to Junior in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding.” Part of the cause of the controversy could be down to the fact the Junior will be produced in Poland, rather than Alfa Romeo’s home city of Milan, Italy.

While most mainstream manufacturers first dipped their toes into the EV pool some time ago, a fully electric model has been absent from the Alfa Romeo lineup until now. The Junior arrives at a time when the electric car market is rapidly expanding, with fresh-faced competition appearing from relatively unknown brands and established carmakers alike, so it’ll need to deliver more than just Italian flair if it’s to stand out.

What are the important specs for the Alfa Romeo Junior?

Underpinning the Alfa Romeo Junior is the same platform used by the Jeep Avenger and Peugeot E-2008, both similarly-sized SUVs from mutual parent brand Stellantis. The same 54kWh battery and 154bhp electric motor are carried over, delivering up to 255 miles of range in the Junior ‘Elettrica’– marginally more than both of its sister cars. Charging speeds top out at 100kW DC, enabling a 10-80% recharge time of under 30 minutes.

18

Alfa Romeo claims that the Junior has been developed with sportiness as a top priority, and as such will offer the Junior Elettrica in a more powerful ‘Veloce’ trim with two electric motors – something you won’t find in the Jeep or Peugeot. The front and rear motors combine to produce 237bhp, with lower sports suspension, bigger brakes and high-performance tyres keeping the Junior Veloce in check through the corners.

Alongside the electric models, Alfa will offer the Junior as a mild hybrid, labelled ‘Ibrida’. The system combines a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with a small 48V, 28bhp electric motor. It’s a setup used by several new cars from Stellantis, delivering 134bhp to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. When fitted to the Jeep Avenger, this powertrain returns around 57mpg, so we expect the Junior to achieve a similar figure. A four-wheel drive variant will be offered at a later date, as well.

What about the Junior’s exterior and interior design?

At 4,170mm long, the Junior is the smallest car in Alfa Romeo’s range, but that hasn’t stopped the designers in Turin packing plenty of character into its diminutive footprint. The nose is dominated by the brand’s traditional triangular grille, finished in a chrome mesh for hybrid models or blanked off with a giant Alfa Romeo crest for the EV. It’s flanked by a pair of LED matrix headlights, while a black horizontal band houses the LED tail-lights at the rear.

18

There are some neat styling touches inside the cabin, too, most notably the pair of front air vents that mimic the brand’s cloverleaf emblem. The big instrument binnacle is a throwback to the gauge pods found in 1970s Alfa’s, although here the analogue dials are replaced by a 10.25-inch digital display.

Another 10.25-inch screen sits in the centre of the dashboard to handle infotainment duties, while cabin temperature and ventilation are controlled by a separate bank of physical buttons below. Behind the rear row of seats, you’ll find a 400-litre boot, which Alfa Romeo claims is the largest in its class of EVs.

How much does the Alfa Romeo Junior cost and when can I buy one?

UK pricing for the Alfa Romeo Junior has not yet been announced, but the hybrid model is expected to be the most affordable model in the brand’s lineup. Electric variants of the Jeep Avenger and Peugeot 2008 cost upwards of £8,000 more than the equivalent hybrid model, so the same could be true for the Junior. Considering the electric Avenger starts from £34,800, we’d expect the Junior to command a small premium.

Order books will open first for the launch edition Junior Speciale, available with either the 134bhp Ibrida hybrid engine or the 154bhp Elettrica setup, although Alfa Romeo has not yet announced an official date for reservations.

Interested in a small SUV? Read our top 10 list of the best currently on sale…