ALFA ROMEO TONALE
We’re coming to terms with a PHEV powertrain that initially troubled us
MILEAGE 7825
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT
To see how well Alfa’s new PHEV small SUV balances rationality and emotion
One of my colleagues described an early Tonale as “the worst car I’ve driven in years”, in reference predominantly to its plug-in hybrid powertrain. It was flippant, intended to get a laugh, but there was some truth in there too.
Road test editor Matt Saunders was kinder than that writer, who shall remain unnamed, when he said in our long-term ‘hello’ report: “The Alfa’s slightly noisy combustion engine and a note of underlying uncouthness of its hybrid powertrain both disappointed me. But it takes practice to engineer in the kind of slickness that the best purveyors of PHEVs can now conjure, and Alfa hasn’t had much experience.”