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Alfa Romeo Stelvio caught hiding under ugly black camouflage

The vehicle you see here, bedecked as it is in camo-shaped warts and baubles, is the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Behind all that ungainly black plastic hides a jacked-up crossover based on the bones of the upcoming Gulia sedan, which, painfully, we're still waiting to officially launch. Suffice it to say that we're not expecting to see a production version of the Stelvio until much later in 2016. Up front, the well-established rounded-triangle grille that marks the Alfa Romeo marque comes through loud and clear... though it looks a little bit sickly covered in all that cladding. We're sure it'll be appropriately prettied up for production, and we're equally certain the slit-like headlamp cutouts are hiding stylish swept-back lighting units. We can't make out much of the Stelvio's bodysides, but we see some nicely aggressive rolling stock to go along with what appears to be a pretty steeply raked greenhouse. View 10 Photos That incongruously shaped chunk hanging off the back glass was likely tacked on to hide the shape of the actual tailgate, and perhaps there are some sensors or computers hanging around inside the box to feed more data to engineers. There's no telling what's powering this Stelvio mule, but it could be a version of the 2.9-liter, 505-horsepower, twin-turbo V6 that we can't wait to sample in the Guilia Quadrifoglio Verde. For production, expect four- and six-cylinder options, in both gasoline and diesel flavors, depending on where the car is sold. We can clearly see the Stelvio is out on the road, generating test miles ahead of a hoped-for release in early 2017. The next logical question, then, is this: Will Alfa Romeo actually launch the Stelvio on time? Related Video: Image Credit: Brian Williams/Spiedbilde Spy Photos Alfa Romeo Crossover Future Vehicles alfa romeo stelvio

Alfa Romeo flagship EV due in 2027 with 18-minute recharge time

Last July, Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato said his Italian concern would develop a new battery-electric vehicle in the U.S. that would launch here in 2027. It would take the new top spot in the lineup, being larger than the Stelvio, full of tech and full of performance. During the launch of the Tonale in Japan, the boss shared provisional specs of the "high-performance SUV" with Automotive News Europe. The pack of some unknown size would juice motors putting out from 300 to 800 horsepower in the standard range, and around 1,000 horsepower in a Quadrifoglio trim. Here's the big stat: In ANE's words, an 800-volt architecture would enable "recharging times of 18 minutes max, [Imparato] said." We'd sure like to know the qualifications required to get an 18-minute charge. Porsche advertises the Taycan's 93.4-kWh Performance Battery Plus as being able to go from 5% state-of-charge to 80% in 22.5 minutes when the sedan's been optioned with the $460 On-Board DC Charger. Naturally, that's under ideal conditions and when plugged into a charger that can feed the Taycan at its max 270-kW rate. When veteran hypermiler Wayne Gerdes took a Taycan across the U.S. in five days, he said his first charge at a 350-kW Electrify America unit took 22 minutes to get the battery from 6% to 82%. Knowing that the initial few percent and those last 20% take longer than the meaty bit in the middle, we going to guess Imparato's time assessment leaves out the time-consuming portions of charging the battery near empty and close to full. But hey, four years is a long way away in the EV-verse.  The CEO said the Alfa Romeo will compete with the BMW X5, a crossover almost exactly ten inches longer than the Stelvio (pictured), which is currently the largest product in the portfolio and the best-seller in the U.S. The Italian might not share a traditional CUV shape with the German, Imparato having said that aerodynamic needs could lead to a shape between a sedan and a crossover. If things are on track in Milan, executives approved the design before the end of 2022.  We'll begin to see what Alfa Romeo's EV-only future when the brand's first dedicated EV shows in 2025. Related video:

Alfa Romeo Giulia, Stelvio Quadrifoglio get louder and — literally — greener

Alfa Romeo made several small improvements to the Quadrifoglio variants of the Giulia and the Stelvio as part of its 110th birthday celebrations. The changes make both models safer, more stylish, and quite a bit louder. Outside, the design tweaks are largely limited to new-look LED rear lights with darker lenses and 21-inch alloy wheels for the Stelvio. The color palette grows with the addition of three new hues called 6C Villa d'Este Red, GT Junior Ocra, and Montreal Green, respectively. They're heritage-laced colors that dyed-in-the-wool Alfisti will immediately recognize; the green is a tribute to the V8-powered Montreal released in 1970, for example. Step aboard, and you'll notice there's a redesigned center console that stylists carved additional storage space into, a new steering wheel, plus additional upholstery choices. Sparco sport seats built around a carbon fiber shell are waiting on the list of options along with red and green seatbelts. The updated infotainment system we've already experienced in the standard Giulia has found its way to the Quadrifoglio, too. It's displayed on an 8.8-inch touchscreen and Alfa Romeo added a feature called Performance Pages that shows a wealth of drivetrain-related parameters like the turbo pressure, the amount of power generated in real-time, and a chronometer. If these digital features sound familiar, it's likely because some Dodge models — including the Challenger — are already available with the Performance Pages app. We like it there, and we'll certainly enjoy Alfa's spin on it. Bosch helped Alfa Romeo add a panoply of electronic driving aids to the Giulia and Stelvio. The list includes lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, active blind spot assist, traffic sign recognition, and traffic jam assist. The suite corresponds to level two on the SAE scale so it doesn't turn either model into an autonomous car. There are no mechanical changes to report, meaning power still comes from a 2.9-liter V6 that relies on a pair of beefy turbochargers to make 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. It spins the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission, and pelts the Giulia from zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds before sending it to a 191-mph top speed. The same six powers the bigger, heavier Stelvio, but it channels its power to the four wheels. Enthusiasts who want to be heard before they're seen are in luck.