Abarth 500E vs Zeekr X

What's the difference?

It’s not perfect, but it’s everything a hot hatch should be in the electric era — engaging, exciting, and, above all, fun.

It's a good thing in a small package, this Zeekr X, and there are a lot of things I like about it. In fact, the only sticking point for me is the price. But that's all about perspective. If you see this as a newcomer Chinese brand, then yes, there are a lot of more affordable options out there. But if you see it as a premium player, it's really a more affordable version of a Volvo.

Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

I’m just going to come right out and say it — I love the look of the Abarth 500e, even if the colour of our test car should be renamed Acid Trip, rather than Acid Green. 

I love its perfectly proportioned, hunkered-down hot-hatch styling, the new ABARTH lettering on the body, and the new scorpion logo pasted to the side.

Basically, if you can look at the Abarth and not smile, then you need to find more fun in your life.

Inside, it’s a predictably cramped-feeling space, but it’s all nicely laid out, and the more I use them, the more I like the horizontal drive controllers that don’t eat up the little space you have with a traditional shifter. The materials are a bit hit and miss, though.

The visual changes aren’t massive. This AWD version welcomes a couple of new exterior colours, including the 'Matt Khaki Green' of our test car. It also gets the two-tone black roof and there are new 20-inch alloy designs.

Elsewhere, it's the futuristic-style of design we’re used to which differentiates the X from its Volvo EX30 twin under the skin.

Inside, this is a seriously well-equipped and polished-feeling small SUV, and — unlike some of the newcomer brands to Australia — it all feels very high quality and well put together. And that includes the material choices.

I don’t even hate the fact that most of the functions are controlled via this screen, thanks to the little shortcuts glued to the home screen. I do, however, hate the fact that there’s no easy way to change the wing mirrors or shortcuts for toning down some of the safety stuff.

That aside, though, it’s a nice and high-quality feeling space.

While I like the addition of the central screen, it’s surprisingly annoying to use — I found myself jabbing at the buttons again and again before it reacts. You need a Stephen Hawking-level intellect to figure it all out.

I was trying to turn off the Abarth Sound Generator, which I'm reliably informed is possible, but after about five minutes digging through sub-menus, I abandoned all hope.

Normally I’d spend a bit of time exploring the back seat, but frankly, once in there I didn't really feel like spending excess time back there.

The Abarth 500e is only around 3.6m long, 1.7m wide and 1.5m tall, and suffice it to say, the space is tight, and you’ll only be using the two seats in the back in an emergency, or for the smallest of kids.

The boot is pretty tiny, too, starting at 185 litres (VDA) with the rear seats up, but growing to 550L (VDA) with the split-fold rear seat lowered. 

So, not much to write home about. But criticising the tiny Abarth for a lack of practicality is like criticising a horse because it can’t swim – it’s not really in its job description.

You know you're in a small vehicle when you can't fit two large (not those crazy American-style jumbo cups, just normal coffee-shop takeaway) coffees in the cupholders, but so it is with the Zeekr X.

The small SUV's 4432mm length, 1836mm in width and 1566mm height doesn't leave much room to spread out up front. There's ample room for driver and passenger, of course, but we are talking about a small vehicle here.

Clever storage helps to mitigate that, though, especially the super-deep storage space in the centre console and the very clever fridge that separates the driver and passenger seats.

Weirdly, though, the space doesn’t feel overly tight in the back seat. We had a massive baby seat in there, and that fit without issue. And full size humans can genuinely get pretty comfortable. I'm 175cm, and I had enough knee and headroom.

In the boot, there’s 404 litres of volume with the rear seats upright and 1247 litres with them folded flat. And it’s worth pointing out this isn’t intended to be a family car, but there’s certainly enough space for the shopping... and a pram.

This is a small SUV with a LOT of stuff. There are two trims in the Zeekr X range – the entry-level rear-drive model is $48,900, drive-away, while the all-wheel drive version we've tested is $57,900 on the road.

The obvious comparison is to the Volvo EX30, which shares its platform with the Zeekr X through both brands' Chinese parent company Geely.

As of right now, the cheapest single-motor Volvo is $56,051, drive-away in NSW, or $49,990 plus on-roads, making the Zeekr version much, much cheaper.

Anyway, outside there are 19- or 20-inch alloys, though our test car is fitted with the optional 20-inch black alloys, paired with a black-with-red-highlights interior treatment, which adds $2000 to the price.

Ours is also fitted with the electric front doors which open or close at the push of a button, and back doors that unlatch, but don’t fully open, the same way, which adds another $2000.

Both trims also get heated and cooled front seats, and heating in the rear window seats, but this AWD version also adds a massage function for front seat riders. 

There’s also wireless charging, a 13-speaker Yamaha sound system and — very cool, literally — is the little drinks fridge between the front seats in the AWD variant.

Tech is handled by a 14.6-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and there’s a head-up display for the driver.

There’s a single front-mounted electric motor providing the go here, with a total 113.7kW and 235Nm on offer fed through the single-speed gearbox, which is enough to push the 500e from 0-100km/h in 7.0 seconds.

Happily, the way that power is delivered makes it feel faster, and that Sound Generator does a pretty good impersonation of a petrol-powered hot hatch, rising and falling with your inputs.

The big news here is a more powerful rear motor – meaning you get more grunt whether you opt for the rear-wheel drive or this all-wheel drive.

In rear-drive form, that boosts your outputs from 200kW to 250kW, dropping the sprint to 100km/h to 5.6 seconds. In AWD guise, your new outputs are 365kW (up from 315kW) and 573Nm, and your sprint to 100km/h falls to 3.7 seconds.

Right, there’s one obvious downside to the Abarth experience, and that is that it is fitted with a 42kWh battery that delivers a claimed 253km of driving range.

It’s worth noting that there are three Drive Modes — Turismo, Scorpion Street and Scorpion Track — and that only the first one will deliver the maximum range, because it limits inputs to 100kW and 220Nm.

Engage the other two — I’ve had it locked in Scorpion Track, for example, which gives you all of the power and deactivates one-pedal driving — and you can expect those numbers to drop.

When it comes time to charge, the Abarth 500e is set up for 85kW DC fast charging, which should take you from flat to 80 percent charged in around 35 minutes, as well as a maximum 11kW AC charging, which takes just over four hours to get to fully charged. Or you can plug it into a regular socket, which means more like 15 hours to recharge.

One last caveat: I actually wasn't able to get it to charge, which curtailed my adventures a little bit. I tried three chargers, all of which conjured an error message on the screen, and after a quick call to the folks at Abarth it transpired that a quick software update is required.

This is where it starts to get weird. The rear-drive Zeekr X is fitted with a 61kWh LFP battery, which can accept up to 230kW DC fast charging, taking you from 10 to 80 per cent charged in just 18 minutes. Total claimed range is 405km.

The flagship AWD, though, charges at a slower rate. It gets a 66kWh NMN battery and can only be charged at 150kW, meaning the same charge takes 30 minutes. Zeekr is promising a 415km driving range between charges.

Remember what I said about how just looking at the Abarth should put a smile on your face? Well, driving it paints on an even bigger grin, and it starts as soon as you fire it up.

While most EVs start silently, leaving you wondering if they're on at all, the Abarth takes a different approach, instead leaning on its sound generator, modelled on the exhaust note of the 695, to give you a throaty rumble when you fire it up. It even revs! And yes, you can turn it off (apparently), but why would you?

On the road, electric drive has actually improved the Abarth experience, I reckon, because all the harshness of the drivetrain has been ironed out, instead just leaving this smooth, potent flow of power every time you plant your right foot, with no gear changes or harsh vibrations to get in the way.

The steering is predictably direct, too, and the whole vehicle feels nimble and quick to react to your inputs.

It’s honestly the kind of car that’s fun driving anywhere, be it suburban streets or twisty backroads, and despite having a couple of options parked at my house, I found myself pulled to the Abarth for all of my trips.

Downsides? The ride is firm but comfortable on most roads, but downright uncomfortable when you clang over bumps or road imperfections. You’ll have to decide if that’s a price to high to pay, but I can live with it for the trade off. And while the cabin tech looks nice, but is fiddly and annoying to use.

Finally, the range relegates the Abarth to a second car, or for those who rarely leave the city. Which is a big ask at the price point.

Short answer? Pretty good, with some caveats.

I'm partial to a firmer ride. I find some Chinese car companies can feel like they get their suspension bits from Captain Snooze, such is the soft, pillowy ride served up. And to be honest, it makes me a little seasick at times.

The Zeekr is not like that. It has firmness dialled into the ride equation and can feel harsh at times, but also improves the drive experience, delivering connection and engagement at the cost of some sharpness on the wrong road. 

It's also faster than the model it replaces, but it's also one of those cars in which the real-life feeling doesn't quite match the on-paper promise.

This thing serves up supercar speed, but it doesn't feel like it from behind the wheel. Instead, the acceleration - especially from a rolling start - feels potent, but not biblical.

From a standing start it pauses for a moment, almost like an internal-combustion vehicle might, before delivering a quick (but not stratospheric) flow of power. None of that is a bad thing, by the way. Who wants their small SUV to accelerate like a supercar?

It's otherwise an entirely pleasant drive. The cabin is serene and quiet and it's a small car that doesn't feel like one. There's nothing light or tinny about the drive experience, instead there's a heft and quality.

The Zeekr X wears a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, earned in 2024, which means the long list of required active safety stuff is present and accounted for, all wrapped up in what Zeekr calls its 'Intelligent Driving Assist System'.

There are five cameras, five radars and 12 sensors, which is a crazy number for a car this small.

And this is also not a car in which I was desperately trying to figure out how to deactivate any of the active safety systems – save the overzealous over-speed warning – which is a win these days, too. 

There are also seven airbags, including a centre front airbag.

The Zeekr X is fitted with ISOFIX anchors on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.

It’s an interesting ownership proposition, because the car is covered for three years or 150,000km, which is underwhelming and then some compared to the warranty offerings of its competition, but there is capped-price servicing, at $300 per visit, required every 12 months or 15,000km, which lasts 10 years.

The battery is covered for eight years or 160,000km.

Zeekr's coverage is an underwhelming five-year, unlimited-kilometres, while the drive battery is covered for eight-years or 160,000km. There’s five years' of roadside assistance thrown in, too.

Service intervals are 20,000km or 12 months, with five years' of ownership setting you back a hefty $3072; an average of $614 per workshop visit.

There are currently 16 Zeekr dealers in Australia - two of which are 'pop-up' sites rather than full retail centres.

Multiple locations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with the ACT, Adelaide and Perth also covered. Others include Geelong and the Sunshine Coast but so far you're out of luck in Tassie or the NT.