The brand of Alfa Romeo is destined to attract more and more attention from the Chinese people in the next few years, first of all because of Zhou Guanyu.
Zhou Guanyu, China's first F1 car driver, joined F1 Alfa Romeo in 2022, with teammate Bottas, who transferred from Mercedes.com.
But for Alfa Romeo in 2022, there is another new car that will attract everyone's attention, and it is the first hybrid/plug-in hybrid model in the 110-year history of the Italian brand.
That's the Alpha Romeo Tonale of the 2019 Geneva Motor Show public concept car, and now it's coming.
How hot is Tonale? At the beginning of last year, the British authoritative car magazine "What Car? In the selection, Alfa Romeo Tonale stood out among many models and became the "most anticipated new car for consumers in 2021".
In fact, at the end of 2021, at the end of last year, AutoLab interviewed Mr. Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO of Alpha Romeo Global, and the other party talked about Tonale's plan to land in the Chinese market in the future:
"Tonale uses the all-new ADAS technology, the latest advanced autonomous driver assistance system, and it's the first electric car in The history of Alfa Romeo."
Tonale's hybrid version, the first to use Alfa Romeo's newly developed 1.5L, output 160 hp hybrid VTG (variable geometry turbine) engine, with a 7-speed Alpha Romeo TCT dual-clutch transmission.
In the field of gasoline engines, in addition to the Porsche 911, only a few models such as the overseas version of the Golf 1.5T are equipped with VTG technology.
Interestingly, the Tonale Hybrid Edition uses a built-in 48-volt motor with an output of 15 KW and 55 Nm. But it uses the "P2" scheme, in which the motor is embedded between the engine and the gearbox input shaft, which is the same as the Great Wall-BorgWarner design.
The P2 scheme is highly efficient, even when the engine is not started. The motors in the gearbox also support tonale to start and drive in electric mode at low speeds, parked or cruising, which is currently difficult for other 48V systems to do.
The most powerful is the Tonale plug-in hybrid version, which is different from the two-wheel drive design of the hybrid version, and the plug-in hybrid adopts the Q4 electrified four-wheel drive design. Using an electric motor with a maximum output of 90KW, the gasoline engine has a comprehensive output of 275Ps, and it takes only 6.2 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h.
The PHEV version has a battery pack with a capacity of 15.5 kWh and a range of 80 km in pure electric mode. When using a 7.4KW charger, it takes only 2.5 hours for a battery to fully charge, while the tank capacity is 42.5 liters.
For other new designs, Tonale features a 12.3-inch LCD instrument cluster, as well as a 10.25-inch main touch center screen, An Android operating system, and OTA capabilities. From the photos it looks like this interior design is better than the current Alpha. The Romeo models are much more advanced.
And the Tonale is the first model on the market to feature NFT (Non-Replaceable Token) digital authentication. The technology is based on the "blockchain card" concept, providing each car with a unique and traceable record that cannot be changed.
Finally, the brand new Alpha. Romeo Tonale will be produced at an upgraded plant in Naples, which is Alpha. One of Romeo's most advanced production sites.
The plant was designed in 1968 and has produced 5 million vehicles since it began operations in 1972. In order to cope with the future production of new energy vehicles, the factory underwent a major renovation in 2021.