Over the last decade, we have seen the crossover market grow so expansively that even the sub-compact units weren’t small enough to meet the increasing demand. This also opened a portal for the premium sector to acknowledge a demographic they hadn’t targeted yet and thus the premium side of the sub-utes started a new trend that spiraled so out of control that even Alfa Romeo wanted in on the action. 

We know that it takes many years to develop a vehicle before it can be released to the market. But in the case of the Alfa Romeo Tonale, it is almost a decade late for the party. Afterall, similar competitors like the Mercedes-Benz GLA, BMW X1 and Audi Q3 are rolling through their second generation of development. However, while those brands have been in the game longer, one thing is for certain, they don’t offer the plug-in hybrid capabilities or performance that can be had in the all-new Alfa Romeo Tonale. 

Its only source of power stems from a 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine combined with an electric motor. With the turbocharged engine producing 180-horsepower and the rear axle mounted electric motor producing 121-horsepower, the combined total output makes for a hearty 285-horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque. On paper, the Tonale sounds like the little devil and angels we’d find on our shoulder. On one hand its 15.5-kWh battery carries enough storage to support 33-miles of electric range. Paired with its 11-gallon fuel tank and we get a claimed 300-miles total on both gas and electricity. On the other hand, if we switch the drive mode into Dynamic engaging both the electric and gas engines, the Tonale makes a sweet throaty Italian note from the exhaust just before it knocks our trousers off getting to 60-mph in just 6-seconds.  

Unless you’re someone that doesn’t play with the drive modes or don’t really understand what the D-N-A on the round knob means, the N stands for Natural mode is its primary home where the Tonale works like a traditional hybrid. When fully charged with electricity, it will solely operate on its own electrification until it either runs out of its electric juice or when we put our foot to the floor for maximum power. The A stands for Advanced Efficiency – which really is all in the name. The gasoline engine gets shut off completely and the Tonale only relies on its power from the electric motor and batteries. It’s an odd drive mode that won’t allow you to engage if the battery is nearing its depleted stage, but when working it acts like a traditional Eco drive mode that changes throttle responsiveness and manipulates the transmission shift points.  

The Tonale isn’t quite like its competition when it comes to behaving on the streets. Like an excitable puppy, it gets so happy when its owners want to play that it ends up peeing all over the carpet and play time is abruptly halted. When engaged in Dynamic mode, there is a sense of Italian finesse. The torque is so eager we can almost feel its tail wagging. Once we set off, the 6-speed automatic transmission sparks so much joy as if its happy someone is using its Italian performance properly, but after 60-mph, it’s almost as if it ran out of energy. Then there’s the transmission itself that is super finicky – one slight application of the throttle, and suddenly it thinks “play time” and were downshifting into the next gear. No, Tonale, bad, we are just trying to maintain speed and flow with traffic.   

Our example Tonale was sitting in the middle of the range in what is known as Ti. Unlike its top trimmed version, the Veloce, the Ti doesn’t get the fancy Koni Dual Stage Valve suspension system that allows you to adjust the different levels of comfort or firmness. But we’re okay with that. Tonale Ti was far more than appropriately controlled as the chassis felt tight and the suspension was the kind of suspension, we came to love in one of those letter sport vehicles like an F Sport or M Sport. Even the steering felt excitable with a tight feel and quick responsiveness – if anything, the steering was perhaps too tight under Dynamic mode.  

Putting the Tonale through a blind fold test, we would have never guessed the brakes were brake-by-wire… that was until we read the specs on it. Call us bamboozled because the brake pedal had proper feel. By doing a brake-by-wire, the braking can be quicker to respond and stop quicker while also sending regenerative energy to the batteries.  

Inside, there is a familiarity form to the newly released Dodge Hornet; after all, both Alfa Romeo and Dodge are platform sharing. The Tonale however kicks it up a nickel with a more premium cabin and semi-luxurious feel. It carries all the usual features of a premium name like wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto pairing, wireless charging, rain sensing wipers, heated seats and surround view camera. Setting it apart, however, was when the sun went down, and the ambient lighting came on revealing a uniquely designed backlite panel that span the dash.  

And of course, since the Tonale is targeting a younger demographic, we find all sorts of technology like the 12.3-inch instrument cluster that brings a little bit of history to life with retro Alfa gauges from the 60’s and 70’s… 1900’s that is. The 10.3-inch center display is a breath of fresh air – it’s an appropriate size that doesn’t overpower the interior, unlike others with their full tablet like display dominating the cabin. It also features Stellantis new Unconnect 5 software that keeps it down to the simple basics of user friendliness. Naturally we also find the host of safety suites that include Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Lane Keep Assist, Automatic High Beams, Emergency Forward Braking, Emergency Rear Cross-Braking, and Blind Spot Monitoring.  

A famous Automotive Journalist once said, “you cannot be a true petrol head until you’ve owned an Alfa and experienced the pain and agony of heart break.” – Jermey Clarkson 

To own an Alfa Romeo, one goes in knowing that the world is not perfect. And when it comes to the Italians, they are about as reliable as a coworker that shows up 30-mintues late to every meeting, if at all. You never really know. Our Tonale through all its joy also gave us a headache… with this writer being on the size of what some online dating apps would call “more to love” the Tonale really lives up to its sub-compact findings – the seats, while comfortable had a tall position that wouldn’t go any lower which meant our head scrapped the roof. The wireless Apple CarPlay would randomly disconnect from time to time. The digital instrument cluster decided to completely vanish on the last day in our possession. If the sun glares just right over the safety cameras, every warning light on the dash appears and our traffic jam assist would shut off. And on our second day of it being in our possession, the check engine light came on… go figure, an Alfa Romeo doing what it does best.  

But with all its quarks, it felt special. There were things about it that sparked life and joy in driving that also manages to be incredibly fuel efficient as we averaged over 36-mpgs – 7 more than the EPA rated 29-mpg combined. Something we don’t quite find in crossovers these days. And for some of the bad, there was also the good… like the level 2 autonomous driving system (when working appropriately) was at the top of its game. Even without the Harmon Kardon sound system upgrade, the base speakers had quality to them. And charge times were decently quick with a 0-100% charge taking 2.5-hours from a level 2 charging station or approximately 12-hours from a level 1 outlet.  

And despite the Tonale being late for the party, it is the first premium sub-compact crossover to support plug-in hybrid capabilities. Until now, if someone wanted a premium PHEV crossover, they had to look at the larger Lexus NX, Volvo XC60, or BMW X5. With the Tonale Sprint starting at $42,995 – it also comes in for a whole lot less.