If you look at Alfa Romeo's US portfolio, we only find the Giulia sedan and the Stelvio mid-size SUV. The brand has made some ambitious plans for its future. The historic Italian marquee looks to embrace the future with open arms, and switch to electrified models by the end of this decade. While the plans for the future are kept for later, now they have given us a new model called the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale. The Tonale takes the first step into the electrified agenda for the brand, and it has a lot of promising qualities and features.
The Alfa Romeo Tonale: The Electrified Agenda
Globally, Alfa Romeo looks to offer five different options of the Tonale. There will be two different hybrid-electric models, a plug-in hybrid, and traditional gasoline and diesel-engined models. The Tonale will be the first modern Alfa to be electrified.
The US however will be limited to the PHEV and the gasoline models. The gasoline-powered Tonale will feature a 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine that makes 256 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Transmission duties have been delegated to a 9-speed automatic.
The plug-in-hybrid model uses a smaller 1.3-liter, 4-cylinder engine that makes 180 horsepower at the front axle. It is combined with a 90kW (120 horsepower) electric motor on the rear axle. Alfa Romeo claims it makes a peak combined output of around 272 horsepower. The electric motor draws energy from a 15.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which the company claims should be good to offer around 30 miles of pure electric driving range.
The Alfa Romeo Tonale’s Italian Flare
Alfa Romeo continues to use the same design language for the Tonale. However, apart from the alloy wheel design, the Tonale does not borrow too many styling elements from its elder brother, the Stelvio. The headlights and the taillights feature LEDs and both use a three-element design in a sleek housing. Along the side in profile, the Tonale takes on a more simplistic approach with not much happening. The only character line is the strong shoulder that can be seen below the window. The design is drama-free, smooth, and elegant.
The cabin features some familiar Alfa Romeo touches. The driver gets a nice chunky steering wheel, and the digital gauge cluster features a cool retro double-bubble design. The dash sees a brand-new look compared to what we see with the Stelvio. The touchscreen infotainment system floats on top of the dash. Rather than being placed in it. The drive mode selector dial is moved closer to the driver, and the gear lever has been redesigned as well.
The Cool Effect Of the Tonale
Being an Italian car, some flamboyant touches are expected from the Tonale and Alfa Romeo has delivered. The new 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster under the double-bubble binnacle is designed to be customizable. One of the customization options includes a setting that makes the dials closely resemble the radio gauges of older Alfa Romeo models.
The 10.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system is not only large. Instead of having to develop a special OS interface that everyone will bypass and use Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (available wirelessly). Alfa Romeo is offering the latest Android Automotive OS-based interface. But it is more familiar with what we find in sister brands under the Stellantis umbrella, called UConnect 5. It comes with Google Assistant and is even Amazon Alexa compatible. It also connects with Alfa Romeo’s smartphone app with internet-enabled features.
Tonale With NFT, What's The Big Deal?
Unlike the traditional NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) computer-generated digital elements are available as virtual properties. Alfa Romeo is not looking to offer anything of that nature with the NFT tie-in for the Tonale. Instead, Alfa Romeo will offer a tamperproof ledger of the vehicle’s service history. Every time the vehicle goes for service to the workshop, the token will be updated with what happened to the vehicle and when, as well as what work was carried out. This is expected to offer the following owners of the vehicle an extra piece of mind of the past condition of the vehicle before they bought it. However, the NFT cannot be updated by a third-party mechanic. So if you’re a hands-on kind of person or prefer to take it to your local auto shop rather than the authorized dealership, this may not apply to you.
Alfa Romeo Tonale: What To Expect
The Tonale will be available in three different trims in the US — Sprint, Ti, and the Veloce. The three will be packaged differently and offer different styling elements as well. However, the price of the Tonale is yet to be announced.
However, it does give us a glimpse of the plenty of other electrified Alfa Romeo models that are to arrive soon. In 2024, a hybrid electric model and full battery-electric variant will be introduced in the US. It will be followed by the first all-electric Alfa Romeo in 2025. We cannot what for what's in store.