Lancia has always embodied style and elegance, coupled with mechanical refinement. This makes the new Ypsilon a very fitting candidate for EV propulsion. Indeed, after an extended test behind the wheel of this Lancia, we can only agree. It is most endearing as an EV, and indeed, it is a delight to steer it in town and on every road you may drive it.

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Renaissance on a well proven platform

With the birth of Stellantis it was clear that a revival of Lancia was in the cards. We already told you in length about the introduction of this Ypsilon. It carries typical styling icons of the brand, like the “calice” on the front end, and the round rear lights reminiscent of the legendary Stratos.
In my opinion it is the most attractive of the Stellantis compact range, but that is of course a very subjective preference.

Iconic cabin

The elegance and the Lancia typical panache continues in the interior. We loved the layout of the dashboard, the resolutely square screens, the cute and well finished little central table or ”tavola”.

You can leave flat and light objects on it, everything else is of course hazardous when you drive  your Lancia with verve. We loved the blue/grey/black colour palette in the interior, so in tune with the tradition of the brand. Of course, it is a pleasure to find “real” commands and knobs for ventilation/heating for instance, and one feels quickly at home in this Lancia. One has Android Auto or Apple Carplay, and you can stream La Callas and delight in hearing how beautifully she brings Casta Diva. Indeed, the sound system is up to scratch.

The seats are quite comfortable and give excellent support. Space for the rear passengers is adequate, but of course one cannot expect miracles from a car with an overall length of 4,08 meters. Boot space is more than adequate for its class, with a standard available space of 309 liters.

Smooth EV power…

The Lancia shares its EV drivetrain with other cars in the Stellantis group, like the Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208, Jeep Avenger and Fiat 600. This means we’ll proven technology, with a 115 kW electric motor and a 54 kW battery, of which 51 kW is available in practice on the road.

This drivetrain is quite efficient, and indeed it is well possible to achieve consumption averages of 14-15 kW/100 km. It  results in a practical range of some 360 km under reasonable temperatures. Fast charging is possible up to 100 kW, which means you can charge your Lancia in less than 1/2 hour from 20 to 80 pct.

The smoothness of the EV drivetrain is an absolute delight and suits the character of the car wonderfully. Performance is quite zesty with an acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h in 8,2 seconds. Top speed is limited to 150 km/h, which is very wise indeed, as high speed driving with an EV is a very wasteful affair.

Handling is brisk and precise, and indeed even  when driven with abandon on winding roads, this Lancia will delight you.

Conclusion

We found this Ypsilon utterly pleasing with the EV drivetrain. The silence and smoothness of EV power is just what this car needs. We are curious to see how it behaves with its 1,2 litre 16 V combustion engine, and even more so in the hybrid form. But here in our eyes, it already earned top marks…

Hans knol ten Bensel 

Photographer’s notes: we used for our photos here again our trusted Nikon 5600 D, a 24.2 megapixel upper-entry level, APS-C sensor DSLR. It delivers nice, crisp, well balanced photos, and is an absolute pleasure to use.