BALOCCO, Italy — Alfa Romeo has dropped plans to promote its Tonale crossover within the U.S. with a 2.0-liter highly effective gasoline engine, opting as a substitute to promote solely a plug-in hybrid variant of the mannequin.
At Tonale take a look at drive right here on Nov. 14, Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato stated the Tonale would solely be bought within the U.S. with the identical plug-in hybrid powertrain supplied in Europe.
The determination is a U-turn by Imparato, who final yr stated the Tonale for the U.S. market would have a 256-hp, 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a nine-speed computerized transmission coupled with four-wheel drive.
The Tonale’s 275-hp plug-in hybrid drivetrain combines a 1.3-liter, four-cylinder 177-hp gasoline engine with a 122-hp (90 kW) electrical motor. The electrical motor improves the crossover’s gasoline economic system and lowers its CO2 emissions to 26-33 grams per km.
The Tonale’s sister mannequin, the Dodge Hornet, will get the two.0-liter, non-hybrid engine. The Hornet may even be bought with the identical plug-in drivetrain because the Tonale.
Both automobiles are constructed on the Stellantis manufacturing unit in Pomigliano, Italy.
An Alfa Romeo spokesperson stated the rationale the model has now determined to promote solely the plug-in Tonale within the U.S. was primarily due to the necessity to lower CO2 emissions, particularly within the so-called CARB states. These are the states that observe the strict emission guidelines being progressively launched by California.
According to California’s proposed Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations, launched in August 2022 and ready for closing approval, the share of zero-CO2 emission autos for every automaker (together with plug-ins) must develop to 35 % in 2026 and improve to 100% in 2035.
Alfa Romeo began taking orders for the Tonale plug-in on Nov. 17, with first deliveries in Europe anticipated within the first quarter of 2023. Shipping to the U.S. will begin a couple of weeks after.
At the Balocco occasion, Imparato stated the Tonale plug-in powertrain “isn’t just one other powertrain; it’s an existential want.” Imparato stated the plug-in Tonale, Alfa’s first such mannequin, will scale back the model’s common CO2 emissions by 40 %.
It may even allow the Tonale to spice up gross sales in western and northern European markets equivalent to Germany, France, the Netherlands and Norway the place plug-ins are fashionable.
Imparato declined to provide gross sales forecasts for the Tonale. In February, he stated that Tonale gross sales may attain as much as 80,000 a yr.
Source: europe.autonews.com
