New Alfa Romeo Junior: prices, specs and launch date

All eyes were on the Alfa Romeo Junior after the brand was forced to change its new car’s name a mere five days after unveiling it for the first time. Now it’s in the spotlight again as Alfa has finally revealed the price of the baby SUV formerly known as the Milano.

The Alfa Romeo Junior is going on sale with three trim levels to choose from: Elettrica, Speciale and Veloce. The line-up will start from £33,985, which is over £10,000 more than the Vauxhall Mokka Electric and Fiat 600e with which it shares the same Stellantis-sourced e-CMP2 architecture. The Alfa actually manages to undercut its Peugeot E-2008 sibling, though, as this kicks off from over £35,000. 

To keep it feeling a bit more upmarket than its relatives, the Alfa Romeo Junior comes with a decent helping of standard equipment and a sporty-looking design both inside and out. Every Junior comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED lighting and a 10.25-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There’s also a good amount of safety and driver assistance kit thrown in, such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and Alfa Romeo connected services. A heat pump is also standard-fit.

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Moving up to the Speciale bumps the price to £35,695, but this brings in extras including unique sports styling tweaks, an electronically-operated massaging driver’s seat, keyless entry and a hands-free electronic tailgate.

At the top of the list is the Veloce. Along with exclusive styling highlights and kit, this variant also comes with a more powerful 240bhp powertrain. This will set you back by £42,295.

The pressure is on for Alfa Romeo’s first-ever electric car to be a success, but the Junior has already experienced a shaky start. The Italian brand was forced to bow to legal pressure from the Italian government to change its original Milano name. Although Milano was the resurrection of a moniker from Alfa's past, a legal storm erupted over the car being named after the city of Milan even though it’s assembled in Poland. In response, Alfa's executives thought a name change was the path of least resistance, so Milano was changed to Junior just five days after the car’s initial launch. 

Designed primarily as an electric car, Alfa’s small SUV will also be available in mild-hybrid petrol form and sits below the Tonale in the brand’s line-up. Alfa Romeo says the Junior is meant to bring loyalists of previous compact models like the Giulietta and Mito back to the brand while also attracting new customers in the competitive compact electric SUV sector.

Designed by Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, the Junior maintains many of the elements familiar from Alfa Romeos of the past while incorporating modern from the current range. The Alfa Romeo Junior features slim headlights and a unique 'shield grille' embedded with the Alfa Romeo logo, while its bold lines, pronounced wheel arches and short tail add a muscular look. .

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The Italian brand is doing more to persuade buyers to get into the electric versions of the Junior (known as the ‘Ellectrica’). Every EV comes with a free wallbox and a Free2move charge card. This card will allow access to at least 600,000 charging sites across Europe.

Built on the Stellantis e-CMP2 platform, the Junior will be available in both electric and mild-hybrid variants. Every version of the Junior Elettrica is fitted with a 54kWh battery, and maximum claimed range and power output depends on your chosen trim. 

The entry-level and Specialie variants produce 154bhp and claim up to 250 miles on the WLTP cycle. The range-topping Veloce pumps out 240bhp, but its battery range is reduced to 215 miles as a result. Every Junior has a peak rapid-charging speed of 100kW, which means a 10-80% top-up can be completed in around 30 minutes.

The Veloce also comes with a host of toys to help it feel more dynamic on the road. A Torsen differential at the rear of the car is accompanied by a wider track than we’ve seen used on this platform previously. The ride height is also decreased by 25mm, and the chassis set-up is custom made for this model. To top it off, 20-inch alloys reminiscent of the old Alfa Romeo ‘cookie cutter’ wheels cover up the big brake discs which measure 380mm at the front.

Inside, the Junior stays true to the design language of the larger Alfa Romeo Tonale SUV while maintaining elements from Stellantis’s e-CMP2 hardware. At the centre is a 10.25-inch touchscreen which is tilted towards the driver and, although a lot of the technology has been shared with other Stellantis models, Junior is still intended to feel like an Alfa. Details like the ‘cloverleaf’ air vents, a pronounced cowl and the curved dials show that some careful thought has gone into the overall design.

While we haven't even touched the car yet we can safely assume that it should have enough room for family use. Other models based on the same platform offer plenty of space despite their compact size and Alfa Romeo has stated that the Junior has 400 litres of boot space plus various cubby holes around the car for storage.