I have been thinking of changing the Jag for a more useful format of vehicle. I find squeezing all our holiday luggage, for 3 adults and a dog, into the XE a bit of a task.
I have to say I now regret, a little, not buying the Alfa Stelvio for about the same as I paid for the Jag. Interestingly the Stelvio has kept a better second-hand value than the Jaguar XE.
With this in mind I went to have a look to see if something new, say a hybrid, was about to be released. What I found shocked me more than a little. Rumours are out that Alfa, with the Stelvio, will be going "all electric" by 2026 with power up to 1,000 CV. This, to me, seems totally insane! What the heck do they think people are going to do with 1,000 CV; pull stumps out of the ground?

In the rest of the article they say that

"if this powertrain were confirmed on the Stelvio, a range of around 720 km. This would be a similar result to the hypothetical electric Giulia, given that Imparato had previously predicted a range of almost 700 km for the future zero-emission saloon.

In fact, Alfa Romeo's idea is to make the transition from thermal to electric versions as 'traumatic' as possible, at least in terms of comfort and usability of the car.

It is very likely that the future Stelvio and Giulia will share electric engines, just as happens now with petrol and diesel engines.

Both could have an entry-level version with a 350 hp single engine, and then rise to the 800 hp of the Veloce. The sportiest variant would remain the Quadrifoglio, with a power output of around 1,000 hp that would almost double the 510 hp of the current models equipped with the 2.9 V6.

Where will the new Alfa Romeos be produced? Imparato hinted that the electric Stelvio and Giulia will be produced at the Cassino plant, but there is no confirmation yet."

I find around 200 CV more than adequate for today's roads, traffic conditions, and speed limits. Just like any of us I like to occasionally give the car a good "boot" of acceleration but I have no need at all for supercar performance out of what I see as the family hack.

I would still consider buying one of the current diesel AWD models before they go stupid and, to be honest, I am sure that I will still be able to run it for the next 10 years. By that time I will be 87, if I am still around, and, if I am still driving, I would probably only need something smaller.

Peter

[Linked Image]