Are you wondering what’s in store for future performance hybrids at Dodge, Chrysler, or Jeep? The Alfa Romeo Tonale plug-in hybrid may be pointing the way, in a compact-crossover format.

Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV concept

The 21-inch “phone dial wheel” replicates the 1960s’ 33 Stradale, but that’s hardly likely to make it to Dodge or Chrysler, any more than the rest of the styling. It would be nice to see a version of the Alfisti in-car app, which connects owners to the enthusiast community; this may well end up at SRT, under another name. The Paddock app is not, as one might think, a version of SRT’s Performance Pages; it’s an in-car live catalog of Alfa Romeo aftermarket goods and trinkets.


Buried deep in a press release devoted to artistic descriptions of styling and personality is the electrification aspect that Allpar viewers may be more interested in. The electric engine is kept in the rear of the car; there are three power modes for choosing between the electric/gasoline balance. These are:
  • Dynamic (maximum output from the gasoline and electric engines)
  • Natural (compromise between performance and economy)
  • Advance E (full electric mode when possible, advanced efficiency otherwise)

The ability to fine-tune power mix is absent from the Pacifica PHEV, though Mitsubishi’s slow-selling PHEVs provide that ability via a power knob.


There is also a button in the touch-screen for fine-tuning throttle, braking, and steering responses, similar to the one in SRT cars.

So far, performance stats have not been released.