The Alpha Romeo Tanali: A Deeper Dive into its Features and Drawbacks

The Alpha Romeo Tanali is an electric vehicle that boasts a unique set of features, including its digital display system. While the system itself is fine, some users have found it to be a bit difficult to navigate, particularly when it comes to targeting smaller details on the screen. On the other hand, the digital display for the driver is relatively easy to figure out, and features such as showing the readout for speed and state of charge for the battery are user-friendly. For drivers who stand at an average height of 5 foot 10 and a half inches, there is sufficient headroom in the car.

One notable feature of the Tanali is its lack of center console intrusion for the driver's right knee. The steering wheel is positioned in a way that allows drivers to get a comfortable driving position, although some users have mentioned that it can take some time to adjust to the "arms out" traditional Italian driving style. Fortunately, most people are able to find a suitable driving position with the adjustable wheel. The design of the wheel also makes it easy to see the instrument panel in front of the driver, as there are no blockages.

However, one drawback of the Tanali's center armrest is that it slides forward to help drivers get into a comfortable driving position, but when fully extended, can make accessing items in the center console area quite difficult. This limited storage space for personal items such as phones and water bottles is another notable limitation of the car. While there are some compromises made to accommodate smaller cars, these drawbacks might be a turn-off for potential buyers.

The back seat of the Tanali poses its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to getting in and out. The seat tilts forward and backward with ease, but finding a comfortable position for drivers who stand at an average height can be tricky. Furthermore, there is limited headroom, knee room, and foot space available in the back seat, making it less suitable for hauling large groups of people.

Another significant drawback of the Tanali is its lack of cargo space. The car's cargo area is tiny, with a small opening that lifts up to reveal an electric motor instead of a trunk. This design decision might be seen as a compromise for the sake of efficiency and range, but it limits the car's practicality as a daily commuter vehicle.

The Tanali also falls short in terms of performance and handling. The car is loud inside, with a rough ride that can be uncomfortable for some drivers. Additionally, the steering feels light and loose, which might make the driving experience less enjoyable for those who value precision and control.

In conclusion, while the Alpha Romeo Tanali has its unique features and advantages, it also comes with several significant drawbacks that might deter potential buyers. Its limited storage space, cramped back seat, and lack of cargo room make it a less practical choice for daily commutes or road trips. However, for those who prioritize style, ease of use, and an affordable price tag, the Tanali might still be worth considering.

For more information on the Alpha Romeo Tanali and other electric vehicles, check out Consumer Reports' test track reviews at consumerreports.org.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi I'm Mike Quincy I'm here at Consumer Reports auto test track and this is the road test video of the Fiat 500e wait a minute that's not the 500e this is the Fiat 500e so consumer ports has been really busy over the last several years testing almost every EV on the market many of them were super expensive so we're pleased to see that the 500e is actually affordable so you may be looking at this car and saying wait a minute haven't I seen this before yes the 500e looks just like the Fiat 500 that was offered in the US from 2012 through the 2019 model year the original had quirky charm but it was saddled with notable shortcomings involving ride noise controls driving position and fit and finish not to mention it's cramped rear seat and cargo space the 500 cheerful face some say the headlights look just like eyebrows and Tiny size make it instantly recognizable certainly the 500e is on the smaller side of most EVS it's powered by an 87 KW electric motor with a 42 KW perh battery this combination produces 177 horsepower and 162 lb feet of torque all versions come with front-wheel drive so what most EV buyers want to know is the car's driving range the EPA pegs the 500e at 141 Mi that's pretty short by today today standards home charging is relatively quick DC fast charging in public places is limited to 85 Kow we saw a gain of 65 m in 15 minutes AC charging is around 35 M range per hour which is not bad Energy Efficiency of 4 m per kilowatt hour is pretty good but the bottom line here is that charging is fast because the battery is small there aren't any options for the base model which cost $32,500 with the $1,595 destination charge the total came to $34,900 doesn't qualify for federal EV tax credits even though the 500e is on the inexpensive side it still has a decent amount of standard equipment including keyless entry automatic climate control and wireless Android auto and apple carplay also standard equipment includes automatic emergency braking and Lane keeping assistance but perhaps the big news here is for the base model is what you don't get and that's lumbar adjustment heated seats adaptive cruise control and blind spot warning these features are available on higher trim lines so it's clear the exterior the 500e has lots of character now let's check out the interior so we can tip our hat to the Fiat designers that put a little Pizzazz into the 500 E interior I mean we like certain details like there's a little bit of fabric and the door panel right in here the red painted Dash is pretty cool the the buttons on the steering wheel are nice glossy black and they respond well to the touch they have a real good quality feel to them but there's also just a ton of hard plastics all over this car there's a few fun Fiat Easter eggs here and there such as the cityscape profile on the charging pad and the ma in Torino script in the door poles and the Little Italian flags near the hood the red trim on the seats and steering wheel will surely catch your eye but the doors close with a disappointing tiny sound the center console and armrest feel flimsy and the door elbow rests have almost no padding so many of the 500 E controls have a bit of a learning curve and just getting into the car requires an extra step for example you have to pull the door latch twice to get it to open so just to get in the car and actually start driving it you actually have to press the start button twice to be able to put it in gear the door latch is an electronic release button but there's also a really large manual release latch lower on the door wouldn't it be better just to have a manual one it's especially funny because there are only two controls in the door there are two window controls but the door lock button is located under the center screen and above the climate controls next to the hazard lights the volume and the media controls are in back of the steering wheel we really love this design the climate display and temperature is at the top of the center screen pretty far from the controls we appreciate the hard buttons for the climate system but they're all glossy black pieces with significant glare hard to see the fan control the temperature control is also blocked by the steering wheel with the push button gear selector you can't really operate it eyes off like a knob or a traditional gear selector the 10.25 in infotainment screen is the same one that we've tested with the Dodge Hornet and the Alpha Romeo tanali the system itself is fine but it can be a little bit difficult to Target some of the smaller things on the screen a digital display in for the driver is easy to figure out such as showing the readout for Speed and state of charge for the battery so for a small car the 500e actually has a decent amount of Headroom I'm 5 foot 10 and a and a half and there's plenty of space up here also really glad to see that there's no center console intrusion for the driver's right knee the steering wheel is nice L positioned right now for me but some of our drivers have found that the 500 has kind of that arms out traditional Italian driving style uh but you can make a lot of adjustments to the wheel so most people are able to get a comfortable driving position also the design of the wheel makes it really easy to see the instrument panel in front of me there's no blockages so that's all good news right there so the good news is the center armrest slides forward to help you get a nice driving position but when it's in its most forward position you really have a difficult time accessing anything that you put in this center console area which is pretty annoying so there very limited storage options up front for all the stuff that you wind up bringing with you whenever you leave the house uh there's an open bin right here which is reasonably sized but as we've mentioned before not easy to get to uh this phone charger holder here works pretty well it's got a a rubber grippy base the problem is with the cup holders there's only one up front and it just flops down on the floor and if you use a cup that's pretty wide it can make getting the cup out of the cup holder a little difficult another thing that really annoyed our testers is the sun visor it's tiny and even if it's down position you're barely getting much more coverage than either the roof line or the a pillar and when you move it to the side it doesn't slide on his mounting rods to get any side coverage like a lot of small cars getting in the front seat is pretty easy it's getting into the back seat that's the challenge but at least you have this little button here tilts the seat back up moves the seat forward a little bit and somehow somebody my size can slide in the back but it's not a piece of cake so when you look at the 500 E from the outside it's hard to believe that there's actually a back seat back here but in fact there is now there's not a lot of room back here um there's not much head room as you can see there's not much knee room there's actually a decent amount of foot space back here and a few of our testers have said they put a couple teenagers back here with they actually fit as long as the front seats were moved up just a little bit so yes there is a back seat but seriously if you're buying this to haul a lot of people this is not the car for that purpose of course once you're back here and you get to where you're going you actually have to get out and yeah the lever moves the seat back out of way but there's no straps or pull handles to get you out of here and wow that's a tight fit so when it comes to Cargo small car should equal small expectations there's not a lot of room back here enough for some groceries and this might be actually the tiniest cargo cover I've ever seen and unlike most EVS the 500e does not have a front trunk or as they affectionally call it a frunk instead you lift up this lid and you've got an electric motor instead of cargo space this is a tough time for small cars in the US making the 500e a difficult sell perhaps the biggest drawback is commuters are only going to find 140 to150 miles on a full charge that's simply not enough we think there's definitely a market for small EVS but unfortunately the 500e does not drive all that well it's pretty loud inside for an EV the ride is quite rough and the front seats aren't comfortable handling is also let down by the light and loose steering we think it's pretty cool that there's an e for sale for under $40,000 I don't think fiat's going to sell a lot of them but at least there's something out there for someone that wants to go electric and is not a hardcore Road Trier this car is fine for tooling around town and it's well really easy to park but that's about it so check back to see how the 500e did in all of our 50 tests that we put it through and for now from the consumer reports test track I'll say AR for more in EVS check out consumerreports.orghi I'm Mike Quincy I'm here at Consumer Reports auto test track and this is the road test video of the Fiat 500e wait a minute that's not the 500e this is the Fiat 500e so consumer ports has been really busy over the last several years testing almost every EV on the market many of them were super expensive so we're pleased to see that the 500e is actually affordable so you may be looking at this car and saying wait a minute haven't I seen this before yes the 500e looks just like the Fiat 500 that was offered in the US from 2012 through the 2019 model year the original had quirky charm but it was saddled with notable shortcomings involving ride noise controls driving position and fit and finish not to mention it's cramped rear seat and cargo space the 500 cheerful face some say the headlights look just like eyebrows and Tiny size make it instantly recognizable certainly the 500e is on the smaller side of most EVS it's powered by an 87 KW electric motor with a 42 KW perh battery this combination produces 177 horsepower and 162 lb feet of torque all versions come with front-wheel drive so what most EV buyers want to know is the car's driving range the EPA pegs the 500e at 141 Mi that's pretty short by today today standards home charging is relatively quick DC fast charging in public places is limited to 85 Kow we saw a gain of 65 m in 15 minutes AC charging is around 35 M range per hour which is not bad Energy Efficiency of 4 m per kilowatt hour is pretty good but the bottom line here is that charging is fast because the battery is small there aren't any options for the base model which cost $32,500 with the $1,595 destination charge the total came to $34,900 doesn't qualify for federal EV tax credits even though the 500e is on the inexpensive side it still has a decent amount of standard equipment including keyless entry automatic climate control and wireless Android auto and apple carplay also standard equipment includes automatic emergency braking and Lane keeping assistance but perhaps the big news here is for the base model is what you don't get and that's lumbar adjustment heated seats adaptive cruise control and blind spot warning these features are available on higher trim lines so it's clear the exterior the 500e has lots of character now let's check out the interior so we can tip our hat to the Fiat designers that put a little Pizzazz into the 500 E interior I mean we like certain details like there's a little bit of fabric and the door panel right in here the red painted Dash is pretty cool the the buttons on the steering wheel are nice glossy black and they respond well to the touch they have a real good quality feel to them but there's also just a ton of hard plastics all over this car there's a few fun Fiat Easter eggs here and there such as the cityscape profile on the charging pad and the ma in Torino script in the door poles and the Little Italian flags near the hood the red trim on the seats and steering wheel will surely catch your eye but the doors close with a disappointing tiny sound the center console and armrest feel flimsy and the door elbow rests have almost no padding so many of the 500 E controls have a bit of a learning curve and just getting into the car requires an extra step for example you have to pull the door latch twice to get it to open so just to get in the car and actually start driving it you actually have to press the start button twice to be able to put it in gear the door latch is an electronic release button but there's also a really large manual release latch lower on the door wouldn't it be better just to have a manual one it's especially funny because there are only two controls in the door there are two window controls but the door lock button is located under the center screen and above the climate controls next to the hazard lights the volume and the media controls are in back of the steering wheel we really love this design the climate display and temperature is at the top of the center screen pretty far from the controls we appreciate the hard buttons for the climate system but they're all glossy black pieces with significant glare hard to see the fan control the temperature control is also blocked by the steering wheel with the push button gear selector you can't really operate it eyes off like a knob or a traditional gear selector the 10.25 in infotainment screen is the same one that we've tested with the Dodge Hornet and the Alpha Romeo tanali the system itself is fine but it can be a little bit difficult to Target some of the smaller things on the screen a digital display in for the driver is easy to figure out such as showing the readout for Speed and state of charge for the battery so for a small car the 500e actually has a decent amount of Headroom I'm 5 foot 10 and a and a half and there's plenty of space up here also really glad to see that there's no center console intrusion for the driver's right knee the steering wheel is nice L positioned right now for me but some of our drivers have found that the 500 has kind of that arms out traditional Italian driving style uh but you can make a lot of adjustments to the wheel so most people are able to get a comfortable driving position also the design of the wheel makes it really easy to see the instrument panel in front of me there's no blockages so that's all good news right there so the good news is the center armrest slides forward to help you get a nice driving position but when it's in its most forward position you really have a difficult time accessing anything that you put in this center console area which is pretty annoying so there very limited storage options up front for all the stuff that you wind up bringing with you whenever you leave the house uh there's an open bin right here which is reasonably sized but as we've mentioned before not easy to get to uh this phone charger holder here works pretty well it's got a a rubber grippy base the problem is with the cup holders there's only one up front and it just flops down on the floor and if you use a cup that's pretty wide it can make getting the cup out of the cup holder a little difficult another thing that really annoyed our testers is the sun visor it's tiny and even if it's down position you're barely getting much more coverage than either the roof line or the a pillar and when you move it to the side it doesn't slide on his mounting rods to get any side coverage like a lot of small cars getting in the front seat is pretty easy it's getting into the back seat that's the challenge but at least you have this little button here tilts the seat back up moves the seat forward a little bit and somehow somebody my size can slide in the back but it's not a piece of cake so when you look at the 500 E from the outside it's hard to believe that there's actually a back seat back here but in fact there is now there's not a lot of room back here um there's not much head room as you can see there's not much knee room there's actually a decent amount of foot space back here and a few of our testers have said they put a couple teenagers back here with they actually fit as long as the front seats were moved up just a little bit so yes there is a back seat but seriously if you're buying this to haul a lot of people this is not the car for that purpose of course once you're back here and you get to where you're going you actually have to get out and yeah the lever moves the seat back out of way but there's no straps or pull handles to get you out of here and wow that's a tight fit so when it comes to Cargo small car should equal small expectations there's not a lot of room back here enough for some groceries and this might be actually the tiniest cargo cover I've ever seen and unlike most EVS the 500e does not have a front trunk or as they affectionally call it a frunk instead you lift up this lid and you've got an electric motor instead of cargo space this is a tough time for small cars in the US making the 500e a difficult sell perhaps the biggest drawback is commuters are only going to find 140 to150 miles on a full charge that's simply not enough we think there's definitely a market for small EVS but unfortunately the 500e does not drive all that well it's pretty loud inside for an EV the ride is quite rough and the front seats aren't comfortable handling is also let down by the light and loose steering we think it's pretty cool that there's an e for sale for under $40,000 I don't think fiat's going to sell a lot of them but at least there's something out there for someone that wants to go electric and is not a hardcore Road Trier this car is fine for tooling around town and it's well really easy to park but that's about it so check back to see how the 500e did in all of our 50 tests that we put it through and for now from the consumer reports test track I'll say AR for more in EVS check out consumerreports.org\n"