Alfa Romeo Tonale Quadrifoglio performance model, electric variant possible

Alfa Romeo is considering an expansion of its new 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale small SUV family to a high-performance Quadrifoglio model – as well as a battery-electric variant.

The first car in a multi-year new model onslaught, the Tonale will launch in Europe with pure petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid options developing up to 202kW — but Alfa Romeo engineers say there’s scope for a clover-badged performance version, along with an electric model.

Speaking to Australian and Japanese media, Alfa Romeo global product manager Daniel Tiago Guzzafame confirmed electric and performance versions are possible – with hybrid power in line for the latter – but that no decision has been made.

"The technical capability to have a full electric vehicle is there on Tonale, the platform is capable of that. We will see in the C-UV [small SUV] market [if] the demand will be there for this category of vehicles. If that happens then we will for sure introduce [an electric model].

"When we will be in the electric world [will be] with something relevant. For Tonale, whether that will be the case or not, will be dictated by the market. But the strategy for the brand is of course going in that direction."

Meanwhile, there's room for a high-performance Tonale Quadrifoglio, with Guzzafame telling media: "We have some alternatives, both with pure thermal [petrol engine] and in the electrification world.

"Again, we want to have something relevant, that is coherent with the Quadrifoglio emblem on one side, and also coherent and relevant with the market on the other side. Quadrifoglio will sort of be a brand within the brand, an umbrella to all of our programs [model lines].

"Each program will be offered with a Quadrifoglio version or not depending on the potential we have [with] that specific segment and vehicle."

When asked if a potential Tonale Quadrifoglio would use pure petrol, hybrid or electric power, Guzzafame wouldn't be drawn, merely stating: "Where we are going is what we were saying before: the future Alfa Romeo will be electric."

Said plans will see Alfa Romeo introduce its first all-electric vehicle in 2024, as a variant of an previously-introduced, petrol-powered vehicle – expected to be a new sub-Tonale city SUV, rumoured to wear the Brennero name, due in 2023.

"We will be launching the first BEV vehicle in 2024 – a different vehicle [from Tonale], we will announce it later on," Guzzafame explains. "The first electric-only vehicle [will launch] in 2025, and by 2027, we will be globally selling electric-only vehicles [exclusively]."

Details of what would power electric or Quadrifoglio versions of the Tonale are unclear – however should pure petrol power be adopted for the Quadrifoglio, one option could see Alfa Romeo retune the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine available in the standard Tonale in the US and Middle East.

While the Tonale's version of the engine develops 188kW, it develops up to 206kW/400Nm in the larger Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio.

Adding a mild-hybrid system in Maserati models boosts outputs to 243kW/450Nm, while the addition of two electric motors and a 17kWh battery in various Jeep plug-in hybrids ups the combined total to 280kW – just shy of a 294kW Audi RS Q3 or 285kW Mercedes-AMG GLA45 (not the 310kW S model).

The product manager's comments follows remarks from Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato last year: "For all [our] model [launches], I will always study the possibility to make a performance version of the car that will be fully consistent with the product portfolio message we send."

"If I consider that I’m not able to offer the right level of performance steps of Quadrifoglio, I will not do a Quadrifoglio version."

Meanwhile, should an electric model be green-lit, it would take the fight to small luxury electric SUVs including the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, Audi Q4 E-Tron, Lexus UX300e, Mercedes-Benz EQA and upcoming BMW iX1.

Rather than adopting one of the Stellantis group's modular STLA electric platforms, the electric Tonale would adapt the current car's chassis – which can trace its roots back to former parent company FCA's Small Wide platform, first launched in 2012 (but with significant upgrades for the Tonale).

Given the 2027 deadline for the sale of Alfa Romeo's last petrol-powered vehicle, an electric Tonale would need to debut before that date, should the model look to have a life cycle of more than five years.