Lancia Ypsilon: extravagant and more than 400 kilometers of range

Highlights Lancia Ypsilon

• Sister model of the Opel Corsa and the Peugeot 208
• Mild hybrid petrol engines, but also completely electric
• Up to more than 400 kilometers of range – up to 240 hp
• Extravagant inside and out

Lancia is back and the world will know about it. Although… In fact, the world already knew that and Lancia never really left. The previous generation Ypsilon disappeared from the Dutch market in mid-2017, but is still available in its home country of Italy. It is no longer a surprise that the brand new Ypsilon is the car with which Lancia is once again spreading its wings to European countries other than Italy. Lancia announced the arrival of a new Ypsilon a while ago. At the end of last year we received the first packaged test model for the lens, but before that a stickerless copy appeared in France. Literally even. At the beginning of this month, Lancia itself presented quite an extensive image. Perhaps Italy’s worst kept secret has now finally been officially revealed in full. Even on Valentine’s Day!

Design

For those who get complicated feelings in the gut of cars richly endowed with visual frills that thus ascribe to themselves a premium appearance, the brand new Lancia Ypsilon is a real sweetheart. Although the new Ypsilon shares its basis with Stellantis hatchbacks such as the Peugeot 208 and the Opel Corsa, Lancia has still been given the budget and the freedom to make it something very unique. Yes, in broad terms you can see a lot of the Corsa, among others, but there is a lot of its own. Just look at the front. The enormous Y-shape made up of three LED elements – a reference to the Greek letter after which the car is named – is a huge attention-grabber. As if that wasn’t enough, Lancia chooses to position the actual headlights one floor lower and noticeably far away from the corners of the car. Everything is topped off with vertical openings on the flanks and four rounded rectangles above the license plate and a brand name written in a large black plastic strip.

The Opel Corsa (above) and the new Lancia Ypsilon (below).

But there’s more. Much more. Also viewed from the side, the Lancia Ypsilon differs significantly from its French and German sister models. The Italian newcomer is the only one of the three to have handles of the rear doors hidden in the C-pillars. The rear side windows and the doors have a different shape and Lancia proudly prints its logo in the C-pillar. The new Y does have black plastic wheel arch edges, just like the 208. It is also clear that the rear screens are not interchangeable with those of the Peugeot and Opel. Just look at the bite that the rear lights take out and the way in which the tailgate of the Ypsilon partly extends into a fold above the rear wheel arch.

The visual party continues at the rear. The buttocks are mainly characterized by two round rear lights with a Y-shape. They are housed in deeper parts of the buttocks and are connected to each other by a black plastic strip. Here we see a hint of Stratos. Yes, in an Ypsilon. Anyone who has missed having a Lancia in front of them will be reminded of this in a very subtle manner by the Italians. The model name is written in cow letters between the rear lights. The model name is displayed quite modestly lower on the tailgate.

Lancia Ypsilon: also pronounced from the rear.

Many design elements of the new Lancia Ypsilon – including the Y-shaped elements and the rear lights – previously appeared in an enhanced form on the Pu+Ra HPE Concept. That study model broadly showed what you can expect in terms of design from future Lancia models. Are there more references to older models of the brand in the Ypsilon? Certainly. At least, according to Lancia. The brand can tell you that itself. Here we go:

“The bodywork has the soft, pure and sensual shapes of the Aurelia and Flaminia, combined with the most modern expressions of radicalism, inspired by the brand’s sporting history, embodied by the renowned Stratos and Delta and by the language of architecture, furniture and design and fashion. […] The ideal interplay between purity and radicalism is also emphasized by the Ypsilon letters on the back. The ‘handwritten’ characters are inspired by iconic and historic Lancia cars that symbolized purity, such as the Fulvia, Flavia and Flaminia.” Great prose, right? We couldn’t have done it Beta.

Dimensions

Just like the Peugeot 208, Opel Corsa and the countless compact crossovers from Stellantis in the B-segment, the Lancia Ypsilon is also on the (e-)CMP platform. The new Lancia is 4.08 meters long, 1.76 meters wide and 1.44 meters high. That makes it just under two centimeters longer than its sister models. At 2.54 meters, the wheelbase is the same as that of its Stellantis cousins.

The interior of the Ypsilon is nicely pronounced.

Interior

Of course, Lancia makes extensive use of available Stellantis parts. In the Ypsilon you will find many buttons and switches that you also encounter in other models of the company. Just look at the switch in the center tunnel with which you select the direction of travel or at the buttons with which you operate the electric windows. Yet Lancia has also turned the inside of the Ypsilon into something special. We see sleek horizontal lines, finishes in multiple colors and – it seems to be Lancia’s pride – a round, table-like ornament between the center tunnel and console. That tavolino According to Lancia, it is the first ever coffee table in a car. In any case, it looks special. Also interesting: Lancia uses velvet to finish things such as the seats and parts of the dashboard. Historically sound too.

The Ypsilon will be available in top form with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and an infotainment screen with the same diagonal. That display runs what Lancia calls its SALA (Sound Air Light Augmentation) software. A marketing team must have thought about that for a while.

At the table!

Up to 240 hp – more than 400 kilometers of range

Although the Lancia Ypsilon will also be available with combustion engines, the brand that has injected itself with a new zest for life will first focus on the fully electric Ypsilon. It will have the 156 hp and 260 Nm strong electric motor and the 54 kWh battery. This combination gives the 1,584 kilo electric hatchback a range of 403 kilometers. For the time being, Lancia has not said anything about the arrival of a 136 hp electric motor version. We do know that a much more potent version of the Ypsilon is also in the pipeline. Lancia has already announced the arrival of a 240 hp four-wheel drive HF version. That variant will most likely have all-wheel drive and will soon share its drivetrain with a sporty version of the yet-to-be-revealed Alfa Romeo Milano and Abarth 600e.

Many design elements from this Pu+Ra HPE Concept have been incorporated into the new Ypsilon.

Ypsilon and the Netherlands

The new Lancia Ypsilon is also coming to the Netherlands this year. What will it cost? We don’t know yet, but you can count on the electric Ypsilon being marketed slightly higher than the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa. These are available in the Netherlands from €36,470 and €34,999 respectively. A starting price of around 38 grand or more would certainly not be unthinkable, especially if you know that Lancia is introducing the Ypsilon in an introductory version limited to 1,906 units. It goes by the name Lancia Ypsilon Edizione Limitata Cassina and is the fruit of a collaboration between Lancia and the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina. The edition of 1,906 copies is of course a nod to the year in which Lancia was founded as Lancia & C. Fabbrica Automobili.

Lancia is targeting what it calls a young audience with the Ypsilon. Are they in their twenties? No, and not in their thirties either. The Ypsilon should mainly appeal to people between the ages of 40 and 45. Forties, the new young people.

Fun fact: the Ypsilon is by far Lancia’s best-selling model in the Netherlands – counting from 1983 onwards. More than 15,000 units were delivered in the Netherlands between 1985 and 2017. The Thema follows at a considerable distance with 5,820 cars delivered.

Even more Lancia

By the way, it certainly doesn’t stop at just a new Ypsilon. Lancia will launch a 4.7 meter long electric liftback on the market in 2026. It will be called Gamma. In 2028, the brand will sink its teeth into the C segment again for the first time in years. That year it introduced a new and fully electric Delta. Every new Lancia introduced from 2026 will be completely electric. The Ypsilon will therefore still be marketed with combustion engines.