The Alfa Romeo Junior didn’t exactly have the easiest start in life. On its unveil as the Milano, Alfa was forced by the Italian Government to change its name to Junior due to the car being manufactured in Poland, not Italy.
Awkward start aside however, this is effectively Alfa’s version of the Stellantis EV platform that also services the Jeep Avenger and Vauxhall Mokka with a 54kW battery and, in this Speciale model, 156bhp.
ALFA ROMEO JUNIOR – DESIGN
Alfa Romeos have always been renowned for their styling and this Junior is no different. Rather weirdly though, it looks very different in real life to how it does in pictures. That front shield grille that looks so dominant in 2D images is obviously still there, but its matt finish means it doesn’t stand out quite as much as you might expect.
In fact, the car itself is quite squat and muscular in appearance in the metal and we had more than a few people comment on its good looks during our time with the car. Oddly though, that doesn’t yet seem to have equated to sales as we haven’t seen that many other Juniors on the road.
We do particularly like the slimline LED headlights and the wide light bar at the back plus the five cloverleaf-style 18in alloy wheels. Either way, we think this is a handsome car.
ALFA ROMEO JUNIOR – POWER AND RANGE
With a 54kW battery, the Alfa Junior produces 156bhp which is enough for a 9.0 second 0 to 60mph time and a 93mph top speed. The official range of our particular car was 254 miles and overall claimed efficiency stood at 4.1mls/kWh.
With a 100kW rapid charge rate, it can also get from 20 to 80% in 30 minutes – decent for such a small car. What’s more impressive though, is just how the Junior performs in the real world. First, that 4.1mls/kWh efficiency is easy to match with normal everyday driving and while it does dip slightly with faster driving on motorways (understandably), we easily matched that overall during our six months with the car.
In fact, that average is helped on shorter journeys where we would regularly see it go above 5mls/kWh. There’s a justifiable argument that says that’s easy to do with shorter trips compared to longer ones, but all of those shorter trips add up and help to balance out those less efficient faster ones. On motorways through, the range is around 200 miles or so.
Another factor in the Junior’s armoury comes with that rapid charging figure. We did plenty of CCS rapid charging during our time with the car and it would regularly reach close to that maximum of 100kW which can’t be said of many EVs.
Even more unusual though is that the Alfa manages to retain a higher speed of charging for longer than most EVs we’ve encountered. While many tend to slow considerably after 80%, the Alfa keeps a faster rate of charge up to around 90% of battery charge – it makes a real difference if you need to maximise your range on longer journeys.
ALFA ROMEO JUNIOR – ON THE ROAD
If there’s any area where the Alfa might feel the pressure to perform, it’s here.
Ok, so perhaps not all recent Alfas have been as driver-centric as in years gone by, but there’s almost a double-whammy with EVs also frequently hardly being the most involving cars to drive (Hyundai Ioniq 5N aside perhaps).
Remember, of course, that there is a sportier version of the Junior with the Veloce model, but we found this to have an overly-firm ride and almost too sporty for everyday driving. So this Speciale model may well offer a good middle ground.
The first frustration from an EV point of view is that there’s only one level of regenerative braking available, which is strong but could be stronger still, then there’s three driving modes to choose from – Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency. While the latter is for maximum economy and reduces available power (and also slightly raises your range), Dynamic gives a sharper response to the throttle pedal and faster access to full power.
Does that Dynamic mode do the job? While there’s no question that this does improve matters for the Junior and makes things slightly sharper, the reality is that this isn’t a car that’s going to be driven with that level of urgency all that frequently.
That said, on the right road, the Junior can be hustled along with a good degree of urgency and driver involvement. The steering is sharp and direct enough and while it could do with more feedback about what the car is doing, you can still derive some enjoyment from it. The ride quality is especially noteworthy on the 18-inch alloy wheels, while road and wind noise are kept reasonably in check too.
Overall it may not be the most involving car to drive, but it’s not all bad and by the same degree, it would hard to find any EV at this level that betters it by much.
ALFA ROMEO JUNIOR – INTERIOR
If there’s any area where the Junior can live up to its Alfa badge, it’s here, with a stylish interior to match that exterior.
It manages it too. With a very driver’s focussed cabin, sporty individual binnacles around the dials and lovely old school eye-ball vents (which are also illuminated – a nice touch). Some of the plastics here and there are a little hard in places and we’re not a fan of the gloss piano black finish which shows up fingerprints, but overall it’s a smart interior.
The central touchscreen works well and it’s combined with real buttons beneath it which help. It’s also one of the few cars we’ve driven recently where Apple Carplay has worked on every journey without so much as a hiccup. We even love the dished style to the steering wheel, a nice nod to cars of old.
In terms of practicality, there’s a decent amount of head and legroom in the back, while there’s a little less space for adults in the back. It’s ok for shorter journeys, but anyone much beyond teenage years is going to feel a little tight for longer trips. Boot space at 400 litres isn’t ok for the class if not outstanding.
SUMMARY
It’s hard for us not to come away rather fond of the Alfa Junior.
Yes, it shares a lot with its Stellantis stablemates, so there is a degree of ‘Alfa-ness’ that is missing from previous generations to wear the emotive badge, but it does exactly what it says on the tin and we would argue offers more character than its close cousins too. It’s a reliable and efficient small EV that reasonably good to drive, is good looking and does all of the jobs asked of it.
As Alfa’s first full EV and in a busy marketplace, it stands out thanks to those looks and should certainly be on your shopping list.
FACT BOX
Model: Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica
Price: from £33,906
Power: Battery – 54kWh
Range: Up to 254 miles
Average efficiency: 4.1mls/kWh
Average charge time on a domestic wallbox: 7.5hrs
CO2 emissions: 0g/km
Rating: 9/10