Abarth 500E vs Lotus Emeya

What's the difference?

Meet the Abarth 500e, the mad-hatter sibling to the very good and all-electric Fiat 500e, and the Italian brand's first attempt at a bonafide EV hot hatch.

It's tiny, tough and – despite the lack of engine and exhaust – it burbles manically when you fire it up.

So does this mean Italy’s pint-sized, petrol-powered icon has a future in the all-electric era? Let’s go find out.

The third film in a trilogy is often the hardest to get right - Return of the Jedi is not as acclaimed as The Empire Strikes Back.The Godfather III is nowhere near as revered as its predecessors.

Which I mention because we’ve come to the end of our Lotus trilogy, as regular readers may have noticed in recent weeks we have tested the Emira and Eletre.

This time we’re driving the Emeya, the third and final member of the brand’s new line-up (at least for now) that manages to combine elements of both its stablemates.

The Emeya is Lotus’ direct rival to the Audi e-tron GT and Porsche Taycan, an electric sports sedan that takes elements of the Emira’s dynamics and pairs it with the Eletre’s powertrain and style.

So let’s find out how this final installment of the Lotus trilogy has a happy ending or not…