New electric Alfa Romeo Junior is cheaper than a Jeep Avenger

• All-new small SUV
• EV range of up to 255 miles
• Prices start from £33,895

The new Alfa Romeo Junior has landed and we now have confirmation of UK specs and pricing. The entry-point to the range kicks off at just £33,895, a price tag that undercuts both its Peugeot E-2008 and Jeep Avenger sister cars.

That competitive starting price will be sure to divert attention away from the Junior’s hasty name change that happened a matter of days after its initial reveal. The original ‘Milano’ nameplate was dropped following complaints from the Italian government, who were somewhat disgruntled by the use of an Italian city’s name for a car built in Poland.

In a statement, Alfa Romeo said: “Despite Alfa Romeo believing that the name meets all legal requirements, and that there are issues much more important than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo has decided to change it from Milano to Junior in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding.”

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With that minor controversy out of the way, Alfa Romeo has confirmed that the Junior will be available to order in the UK from June 2024. It’s offered as both a full EV and a mild hybrid, although pricing for the latter has not yet been announced. It’s expected to cost significantly less than the electric model when it goes on sale later this year.

While most mainstream manufacturers first dipped their toes into the EV pool some time ago, a fully electric model has been absent from the Alfa Romeo lineup until now. The Junior arrives at a time when the electric car market is rapidly expanding, with fresh-faced competition appearing from relatively unknown brands and established carmakers alike, so it’ll need to deliver more than just Italian flair if it’s to stand out.

What are the important specs for the Alfa Romeo Junior?

Underpinning the Alfa Romeo Junior is the same platform used by the Jeep Avenger and Peugeot E-2008, both similarly-sized SUVs from mutual parent brand Stellantis. The same 54kWh battery and 154bhp electric motor are carried over, delivering up to 255 miles of range in the Junior ‘Elettrica’– marginally more than both of its sister cars. Charging speeds top out at 100kW DC, enabling a 10-80% recharge time of under 30 minutes.

Alfa Romeo claims that the Junior has been developed with sportiness as a top priority, and as such will offer the Junior Elettrica in a more powerful ‘Veloce’ trim with two electric motors – something you won’t find in the Jeep or Peugeot. The front and rear motors combine to produce 237bhp, with lower sports suspension, bigger brakes and high-performance tyres keeping the Junior Veloce in check through the corners.

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Alongside the electric models, Alfa will offer the Junior as a mild hybrid, labelled ‘Ibrida’. The system combines a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with a small 48V, 28bhp electric motor. It’s a setup used by several new cars from Stellantis, delivering 134bhp to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. When fitted to the Jeep Avenger, this powertrain returns around 57mpg, so we expect the Junior to achieve a similar figure. A four-wheel drive variant will be offered at a later date, as well.

What about the Junior’s exterior and interior design?

At 4,170mm long, the Junior is the smallest car in Alfa Romeo’s range, but that hasn’t stopped the designers in Turin packing plenty of character into its diminutive footprint. The nose is dominated by the brand’s traditional triangular grille, finished in a chrome mesh for hybrid models or blanked off with a giant Alfa Romeo crest for the EV. It’s flanked by a pair of LED matrix headlights, while a black horizontal band houses the LED tail-lights at the rear.

There are some neat styling touches inside the cabin, too, most notably the pair of front air vents that mimic the brand’s cloverleaf emblem. The big instrument binnacle is a throwback to the gauge pods found in 1970s Alfa’s, although here the analogue dials are replaced by a 10.25-inch digital display.

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Another 10.25-inch screen sits in the centre of the dashboard to handle infotainment duties, while cabin temperature and ventilation are controlled by a separate bank of physical buttons below. Behind the rear row of seats, you’ll find a 400-litre boot, which Alfa Romeo claims is the largest in its class of EVs.

How much does the Alfa Romeo Junior cost and when can I buy one?

UK prices start from £33,895 for the entry-level Junior Elettrica, positioning it as a cheaper alternative to the Peugeot E-2008 and Jeep Avenger, which start from £35,700 and £34,999 respectively.

Junior Speciale Elettrica models get some extra kit, including a sports styling kit, a reversing camera, a massaging driver’s seat, adaptive cruise control and more. Prices start from £35,695.

The top-spec Junior Veloce Elettrica costs from £42,295 and packs the dual-motor setup and performance upgrades, along with black and red leather upholstery for the Sabelt seats.

Pricing for the mild hybrid Junior Ibrida has not yet been confirmed but, if pricing of the mild hybrid Peugeot 2008 and Jeep Avenger is anything to go by, it could cost around £8,000 less than the EV. 

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