Alfa Romeo Milano baby EV spotted in public one month before official debut

It’s just over a month to go until the official debut of the Alfa Romeo Milano, yet we’ve already spotted the Italian maker’s first electric car out and about testing on public roads.

Sharing its nameplate with the American-spec Alfa 75 of the 1980s, the Alfa Romeo Milano is a small SUV that’s based on the same underpinnings as the Peugeot E-2008, Vauxhall Mokka Electric, Jeep Avenger and the new Fiat 600e SUV. 

As you can see from the test car’s exhaust pipe in our latest spy photographs, the Milano will be offered with a petrol engine in Europe – likely the 1.2-litre unit found in the Jeep Avenger Altitude+. However, Alfa boss Jean-Philippe Imparato has told DrivingElectric that the Milano will be electric-only in the UK.

This being the case, we expect the Milano to use the same 51kWh (usable) battery that was first seen in the facelifted DS3 E-Tense. The Jeep Avenger has a claimed range of up to 248 miles and we expect the Alfa to match this figure.

Yet despite sharing many of its parts with pretty unassuming small electric crossovers, Imparato has previously assured DrivingElectric that the brand’s upcoming ‘sporty urban vehicle’ will “have the driveability of an Alfa”. 

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The Milano has been developed at the maker’s proving grounds in Balocco, Italy and by the same engineers that worked on the likes of the Alfa Romeo 4C and 8C sports cars. This should mean, along with the dual-motor powertrain that’ll be standard-fit at launch, the Milano should be pretty handy to drive.

When the Alfa Romeo Milano first goes on sale, buyers will be able to choose from either the Veloce or Special Edition specifications. For those looking for something a little more exciting, Alfa’s boss couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility of a high-performance Quadrifoglio version, either; he told DrivingElectric: “We have a launch version of Milano and afterwards, based on customer feedback, based on what they are ready to pay, we will open the next step in Quadrifoglio compatibility of the car.”

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As you can see from a previously-leaked image, the Alfa Romeo Milano marks a slight departure in terms of design compared with its petrol-powered predecessors. While it's difficult to make out the brand’s iconic ‘trefoil’ grille on the highly camouflaged test car, we can see a sleeker, reworked version of the tri-LED headlight cluster that made its debut on the hybrid-powered Tonale.

These latest spy photographs also reveal the Milano’s heavily raked rear end, as well as its large boot spoiler which, while impressive, we doubt will be anything like as large as the giant rally-style rear wing on the newly-unveiled Abarth 600e. The Milano will also have its rear door handles concealed within the C-pillar, giving the Alfa SUV a sporty three-door appearance.

Little is known about what the inside of Alfa Romeo’s first electric car will look like, but we expect it to feature the same Uconnect infotainment system which appears across the Stellantis lineup, including in the Fiat 500e city car. Leaked images show the car will get a digital instrument cluster, likely paired with a 10.25-inch touchscreen – as in both Fiats, the Jeep and the Tonale.

As mentioned, the Milano is due to make its full public debut on 10th April, before going on sale in September. Pricing is hard to pinpoint, but given Alfa’s positioning as a premium brand and the Milano’s dual-motor powertrain, a starting figure of around £40,000 seems reasonable.