The hotly anticipated hot-hatch Abarth 500e is here, and it promises to put plenty of smiles on the faces of those who get to drive it.

The Abarth 500e is based on the already popular Fiat 500e, but this one is apparently "more Abarth than ever". It isn't exactly clear what that means, but we do know that this fully electric car has plenty to get you excited.

In terms of comparing it with the petrol Abarth 500, this one is quicker. We're told that it's one second faster, meaning 50% faster acceleration from 12mph to 25mph. Abarth says that the new electric version is faster going from 25mph to 37mph as well, doing it in just 1.5 seconds. It's a similar story going from 37mph to 62mph as well.

If that all sounds like cherry-picked statistics, you might be right. But here are some cold, hard numbers — the Abarth 500e comes with a 42 kWh battery capable of 155bhp. It'll go from 0-62mph in seven seconds, which while not quite Tesla-shattering is respectable.

The fully electric Abarth 500e is here and promises smiles galore photo 2

In terms of charging, the 85kW fast-charging system will apparently give you 80% of a battery in just 35 minutes, but we haven't yet been given any actual range numbers. Nor do we know how much this thing weighs, either. Or prices, for that matter.

We do know that there will be a soft-top version, though. Wireless CarPlay and Android Autio are both included, as well as a wireless charger for those who need to top their phone batteries up.

As for availability, cars should start to arrive on driveways around the middle of 2023.