Hard question to answer, of course. The fact is that Alfa Romeo has been given ten years by parent company Stellantis to prove itself. Moreover, the Alfa Romeo Tonale is only the first car of a model offensive. Because with only the outdated Giulia and Stelvio, the Italian brand will of course not come.
Let’s face it: it’s good that Alfa Romeo now falls under the wing of the Stellantis group. Because that means there is money and commitment to take steps. And that’s what the Italian brands need. Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Maserati: all of them have been badly neglected in the Fiat Chrysler era.
To use the example of Alfa Romeo. We can remember several presentations from the past ten years, in which major plans were announced. There would always be an extensive delivery program for Alfas, was always the message, but that never happened.
In fact, models were deleted for which no successor was ready, such as the Mito and Giulietta. And there was no budget to keep up with the technology race in which Audi, BMW and Mercedes are involved. Without a doubt, the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio are fine cars, but they have been around for seven and six years respectively.
Alfa Romeo Tonale already debuted as a concept model in 2019
So the new Alfa Romeo Tonale comes just in time. In the sense that we have been calling for it for a long time, because the first study model was already unveiled in 2019. In the meantime, the production version of the Tonale was also sent back to the drawing board by the new Alfa Romeo boss. He was not satisfied with the hybrid powertrain.
Hybrid and plug-in hybrid with up to 275 hp
When the Tonale comes on the market, it will be available as a 130 or 160 hp hybrid and as a 275 hp plug-in hybrid. There is also a 1.6-liter turbo diesel with 130 hp and 320 Nm, but we will be surprised when it comes to the Netherlands. The plug-in hybrid version (0-100 km/h in 6.2 counts) can reach a maximum distance of 60 kilometers on a full battery charge and is the only four-wheel drive.
Sporty SUV with fifty-fifty weight distribution
Alfa Romeo wants to put down a distinctly sporty SUV and has therefore paid a lot of attention to driving dynamics. According to the manufacturer, the Tonale has perfect weight distribution (50 percent front, 50 percent rear), the most direct steering in its class and an electronic differential lock as standard on the hybrid Tonales.
Tonale is 15 centimeters shorter than the Alfa Romeo Stelvio
We can now dream of the design of the Tonale. It remains close to that of the 2019 concept car and has already been seen in leaked photos. The latest Alfa naturally has features of the larger Stelvio, but also goes along with the trend of continuous light bars over the rear.
Speaking of the Stelvio: the Tonale is about 15 centimeters shorter (4.53 meters), 6 centimeters narrower (1.84 meters) and 7 centimeters lower (1.60 meters). Buyers can choose from a good selection of alloy wheels for their new SUV, in 17, 18, 19 or 20 inch sizes.
Dashboard is typical Alfa Romeo with two round ‘clocks’
The interior of the Tonale is recognizably Alfa Romeo, with two round ‘clocks’ for the driver (a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation), round ventilation openings and red stitching. Striking are the large paddle shifters behind the compact sports steering wheel. The infotainment screen on the center console is 10.25 inches.
Tonal with built-in Amazon Alexa functionality
It is of course not surprising that the Tonale has a whole range of modern electronic systems, such as semi-autonomous driving assistants (Level 2), a built-in Amazon Alexa functionality, a service where you can have packages delivered to your Alfa and much more.
What’s going on with Non-Funglible Tokens (NFTs)?
A bit of question is the application of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Every Tonale receives a digital NFT certificate, which links the car to the owner. The certificate stores all kinds of information from the car in the blockchain (Alfa Romeo says the info is confidential) and can be transferred to the next owner, so that they know that the SUV has been properly handled.
