2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Tested: Lite Italian

We’re well past the point of handwringing when brands historically known for sports cars and sports sedans build SUVs. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to impart brand character into these vehicles; layer on electrification, and it’s even more difficult. Alfa Romeo, though, did pretty well with its first effort, the high-strung Stelvio. Now comes the Tonale—smaller, cheaper, and built on a shared platform using a partially electric powertrain. It’s no wonder the Tonale’s persona seems somewhat watered down next to its more flavorful showroom siblings.

With its triple-LED headlights, triangular center grille, and phone-dial wheel design, the Tonale’s design details say “Alfa Romeo” even if the utilitarian compact-crossover shape does not. The Tonale’s 103.8-inch wheelbase and 178.3-inch length exactly match that of its platform-mate, the Dodge Hornet, both of which are built in Italy. The Alfa comes in three trim levels: the entry-level Sprint ($44,590), the mid-tier Ti for $2500 more, and the top-spec Veloce at $49,590. With a full load of options, our Veloce tester rang in at $57,950.

Plug-in-hybrid powertrain

No matter the trim, in the U.S. market the Tonale comes exclusively as a plug-in hybrid. The powertrain includes a 180-hp turbocharged 1.3-liter four driving the front wheels through a six-speed automatic and a 121-hp electric motor sending juice to the rears. Net output is a robust 285 horses and 347 pound-feet of torque. The Hornet R/T uses a version of this same powertrain, for which it claims 288 horsepower and 383 pound-feet—although that max output is only available for 15-second bursts, via the PowerShot feature. Strangely, Alfa skips that.

Not that it matters. In our testing, the Alfa got to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, same as the Dodge. Its quarter-mile result was also identical: 14.2 seconds at 96 mph. And the Tonale’s passing performance—30 to 50 mph and 50 to 70 mph—bettered that of the Hornet by 0.4 second in each test. (Almost makes you think PowerShot is a gimmick . . .)

With 44 more horsepower than the BMW X1 and an additional 52 pound-feet of torque, you might expect the Alfa to beat the Bimmer to 60 mph, but no. Blame the Tonale’s 4291-pound curb weight. The X1, with no EV powertrain to cart around, is more than 500 pounds lighter. The e-motor’s instant torque, however, does effectively mask any lag from the Alfa’s tiny turbo four, as seen in the Italian’s 0.5-second advantage over its German rival in the 5-to-60-mph sprint. And the Alfa’s acceleration also outshines the Mercedes-Benz GLA250 and the gas-powered Volvo XC40.

Alfa’s three drive modes are D (Dynamic), N (Natural), and A (Advanced efficiency or EV mode). The modes also alter the steering, the adaptive dampers (Veloce only), and the brake regeneration. In the default N setting, the powertrain relies quite a bit on electric propulsion, and the motor is robust enough that it’s possible to stay in EV mode at highway speeds or during gentle acceleration. Dynamic keeps the engine running, but it still doesn’t have much vocal presence (and its voice is gravelly anyway); you’re more likely to notice the whine of the e-motor or the regenerative brakes.

EV range and brake regen

Speaking of regen, those supersized paddles that block the column stalks are only for manual shifting—they don’t alter brake regen. A higher-than-standard level of brake regen comes only with the Dynamic mode; otherwise, the base level is modest. Either way, the brakes are not hard to modulate. The Veloce gets rotors by Brembo, and they hauled the Tonale down from 70 mph in 165 feet, within a foot of the Hornet with the same equipment.

The Tonale comes with a substantial 12.0-kWh battery that provides an EPA-estimated 33 miles of electric range, and we got 32 miles in our 75-mph highway range test. The EPA also pegs combined, city, and highway gasoline fuel economy at 29 mpg across the board, and that’s exactly what we measured in our 75-mph highway test after the electricity was used up. Pressing the e-Save button on the console can maintain battery charge or have the engine recharge the battery up to a selected preset level.

Tonale driving and handling

With its adaptive dampers and Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires, our Veloce’s 0.86-g skidpad result was just 0.01 g behind the similarly outfitted Hornet’s and exactly matched the X1’s. The dampers have two settings, Comfort and Sport. Sport is stiff, with high-frequency, but not uncomfortably harsh, body motions. The base setting is more relaxed. In either mode, the handling is solid if not engaging. For blame, we look mostly to the steering. The helm heavies up some in the sportier setting but lacks sharpness and has little sense of straight-ahead. Hoping that Alfa might create a junior Porsche Macan? Keep dreaming.

The Tonale comes standard with a full panoply of driver assists, to which our test car added the Active Assist Advanced package ($2000), which brings a surround-view camera system and automated parking, among other items. That’s all well and good, although we noticed the blind-spot monitoring system lit up a warning whenever guardrails were present.

Alfa Romeo Tonale interior

Italian cars aren’t always known for their up-to-date in-cabin tech, but that’s not an issue here. All models have a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster housed under a twin-hump hood (shades of the classic Alfa Spider). It offers a choice of layouts—we were partial to the one featuring fonts from ’60s and ’70s Alfa gauges. The 10.3-inch center touchscreen offers a high degree of customization and can show one, two, or three tiles on the home screen, although the touch points are small. Wireless phone mirroring and wireless device charging are standard.

The interior shares its architecture with the Hornet and to its credit includes a real shift lever and physical buttons—the biggest difference is that Alfa puts the starter button on the steering wheel and the drive-mode dial on the console, a reverse of the setup in the Dodge. The seats are very firm, and the Veloce features red-accented Alcantara upholstery or optional leather. There’s textured silver trim—and the stuff on the dash glows red at night.

There are flashes of personality here, but the Tonale ends up feeling more subcompact-crossover than it does Alfa Romeo. Admittedly, this is a tough segment in which to create a scintillating driver’s car. But the Stelvio proves that an SUV shape doesn’t preclude a vivacious feel. Alfa just needs to figure out how to get more of that character into a smaller box.

Deputy Editor, Reviews and Features

Joe Lorio has been obsessed with cars since his Matchbox days, and he got his first subscription to Car and Driver at age 11. Joe started his career at Automobile Magazine under David E. Davis Jr., and his work has also appeared on websites including Amazon Autos, Autoblog, AutoTrader, Hagerty, Hemmings, KBB, and TrueCar.