Introduction to the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
The Alfa Romeo Tonale was first launched in 2022, following hot on the heels of the company's flagship Stelvio SUV, and for 2026 it received a mid-cycle update.
Featuring enhanced styling with more colour options and a refreshed interior, the Tonale is available with plug-in hybrid or mild-hybrid petrol engines. It competes against models at the mid-to-premium end of the segment, including the Audi Q3, BMW X1, Cupra Terramar, Range Rover Evoque and Volvo XC40.
Pros & cons of the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
Pros:
• Keener handling than some rivals
• Nice cabin materials
• Reasonable passenger space
Cons:
• Electric range lags behind the competition
• Mild hybrid not as efficient as regular hybrid
• PHEV loses out on boot space
Exterior & design of the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
• New colour options
• Refreshed face similar to Alfa Junior's
• New 20-inch wheel design
Much of the 2026 update to the Alfa Romeo Tonale focused on styling updates to the front end, with a new bumper that gives it a wider appearance and incorporates a fresh take on the company's signature grille called the 'Scudetto' - meaning 'little shield'.
It takes on a look that's similar to the front of the smaller Alfa Romeo Junior. This update sees the front registration plate move from the side to a central, lower position.
Also new for 2026 are 20-inch wheel options that are styled with a nod to the company's past wheel designs, and the wheel track has been made slightly wider by a handful of millimetres, though you'd hardly notice.
The rest of the sheet metal remains unchanged, and the overall size is about average for the segment, and it retains traditional SUV proportions. Despite Alfa positioning this as a sporty SUV, it doesn't get a sloping roofline that could eat into rear passenger and boot space.
Dimensions of the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
Length: 4,522mm
Width: 1,841mm (2,082mm including mirrors)
Height: 1,614mm
Wheelbase: 2,636mm
Paint colours for the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
A total of eight exterior colours is available for the Tonale, including three new additions for the 2026 model year: Rosso Brera, Verde Monza and Giallo Ocra. An optional contrasting black roof is also available to order at an additional cost.
Interior, practicality, tech & comfort of the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
• Healthy balance of screens and buttons
• Not much storage space in cabin
• Smaller boot in PHEV version
There's a sensible layout to the interior of the Alfa Romeo Tonale, with a balance of digitalisation, proper buttons and tactile surfaces.
Updates for the 2026 model year didn't alter much beyond some new upholstery options and the fitment of a new rotary drive selector.
Buyers can choose from smart-looking black Alcantara seats with white sides or a more daring red leather option.
That rotary drive selector frees up some space on the centre console and has a solid feel to its action. It's surrounded by glossy black plastic but that's the only place you'll see this fingerprint-magnet-material in the cabin. Elsewhere it's a mix of softish plastics and more suede-like material.
Getting comfortable in the driver's seat
Our test car was equipped with the electrically adjustable driver's seat and there's a good range of movement, making it easy to find a comfortable driving position.
The seat can move up and down, slide forward and back and the angle of the backrest can be adjusted. These aren't overly sporty seats, but they do have some good side bolsters for support.
The steering wheel is manually adjustable, with a reasonable amount of movement for both reach and rake.
Infotainment and technology
It's a digitised experience in the Tonale's cabin but not one that's total devoid of proper buttons. in front of the driver is a 12.3-inch 'Telescope' digital instrument display that has a double binnacle shroud much like you'd expect to see on an old Alfa from the 1970s - it's a nice touch.
Equally, the display uses graphics that include nods to the past with trip counters that roll forward with the appearance of a classical odometer. Parts of this display can be configured depending on what information you want to see. There isn't a head-up display option in the Tonale, though.
To the side is a 10.25-inch touchscreen that is placed high enough on the dashboard. The menu system isn't too complicated and there are some shortcut areas on the screen, but we found these to be on the small side, requiring you to spend a little longer than necessary to make sure you're tapping the right one.
There are wireless applications for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay if you'd prefer to use your own smartphone and apps, while music fans might want to have the optional 470-watt Harman Kardon stereo system that uses 14 speakers and a subwoofer.
Practicality around the cabin
You don't get a whole lot of storage space in the Tonale's cabin beyond a small bin underneath the central armrest. There are two cupholders ahead of this in between the front seats and an angled (and ventilated) wireless charging pad below the central air vents.
A glovebox in front of the passenger is just large enough for some small bits but if you leave the car's manual in there you won't fit much else.
The front doors contain enough space for a small drinks bottle or small oddments but little else. It's a similar story in the rear, with door bins that can carry a small bottle.
You do get pockets in the front seatbacks and if you aren't using the middle seat, it can fold down for an armrest and cupholders.
Bridging the technology gap, the Tonale gets both USB-A and USB-C charge ports in the rear.
Rear-seat passenger space
Rear passenger space in the Tonale is on par for cars in the segment, and adults of average size will be able to fit comfortably in the outer rear seats.
Headroom is decent, partly due to the lack of any panoramic glass roof and sun blind that can eat into the amount of room available.
The middle seat isn't the narrowest we've seen but is limited for legroom due to the placement of the centre console ahead and a small hump in the floor.
There are also chunky bases for the front seat rails that eat into valuable foot space, meaning three adults will find it a bit of squeeze in the rear.
Fitting child seats to the Alfa Romeo Tonale
You can fit two ISOFIX child seats in the back of the Tonale, but the centre seat is limited in width when it comes to squeezing in a booster seat.
Accessing the rear seats isn't too difficult as the door apertures are a decent size and the seat base isn't too low.
Boot space in the Alfa Romeo Tonale
The Tonale is available with a powered tailgate, but this is not standard on all versions. There are a useful 500 litres of boot space on Tonale Ibrida models, which is around the average for this segment. The rear seats can be folded down in a 60:40 split to boost cargo capacity up to 1,550 litres.
If you're considering the plug-in hybrid Tonale then you should be aware that, due to the high-voltage battery's location, the boot capacity is smaller than on the mild-hybrid version. You only get 385 litres of boot space in the PHEV - close to what you'd get in a Volkswagen Golf - and tipping the rear seats forward only increases the total volume to 1,430 litres.
There is just enough room under the boot floor to house the PHEV's charging cable along with the tyre inflation kit.
For those that like to ski or fish, the Tonale is equipped with a hatch in the back seat to load through longer items.
Towing with the Alfa Romeo Tonale
You can tow with the Alfa Romeo Tonale, but how much depends on which engine you choose. The Tonale plug-in hybrid, known as the Ibrida Plug-In, is rated to tow 750kg with an unbraked trailer and 1,250kg with a braked trailer.
However, if you opt for the regular hybrid known as the Tonale Ibrida, the braked trailer rating increases to 1,500kg.
Safety in the Alfa Romeo Tonale
When the Alfa Romeo Tonale was launched in 2022 it was assessed by Euro NCAP resulting in a five-star score. It performed well in that test, scoring an 83-per-cent rating for adult occupant protection and 85 per cent for child occupant protection.
In the vulnerable road users portion of the test, it scored a 67-per-cent rating and achieved an 85-per-cent score for its safety assist systems. The principal area it lost marks for was the lack of knee and centre airbags. Read the full Euro NCAP report on the Alfa Romeo Tonale here.
Most of the latest safety assistance technologies are in the Tonale, including adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist and lane centring, blind-spot detection and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection. It also gets the latest mandated speed-limit-warning system.
Performance of the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
• Mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid options
• AWD and 270hp for PHEV
• Only available with automatic transmissions
Alfa Romeo offers an all-electrified engine range for the Tonale in the form of a mild hybrid and a plug-in hybrid. There is no fully electric version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale. Neither is there any manual gearbox option, only automatic, with a six-speed transmission in the PHEV and a seven-speed unit in the hybrid - or 'Ibrida' in Alfa Romeo parlance.
The Tonale Ibrida uses a 1.5-litre petrol engine paired with a 15kW electric motor powered from a 0.77kWh lithium-ion battery that does not require any plugging in to charge.
The electric aspect of it allows for the Tonale to pull away using electric power and complete short bursts of driving with the engine off, in addition to parking manoeuvres. Peak outputs are 175hp and 240Nm of torque.
Powering the plug-in hybrid Tonale is a 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine driving the front wheels that's coupled with a 94kW electric motor on the rear axle and a 15.5kWh lithium-ion battery. This system generates a combined 270hp and is the most powerful version of the Tonale.
Driving the Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV on the road in Italy - Dave Humphreys
There are of two sides to driving the Alfa Romeo Tonale plug-in hybrid. In its electric mode it behaves as any other electric vehicle would, moving away briskly from a stop and doing so in relative silence.
Pick-up from the electric motor isn't bad and in urban settings it has more than enough performance to satisfy most needs.
There are a couple of different driving modes available which can be selected via a rotary dial labelled 'DNA' on the centre console. Switching to the Dynamic mode automatically activates the petrol engine to provide the full breadth of performance.
When this mode is chosen, the adaptive damping is set to its stiffest by default. A press of the damper button (at the centre of the DNA dial) switches the damping back to a softer setting.
In this mode the Tonale does feel quite quick, and it generally handles keenly, thanks to those dampers and also a short steering ratio that gives it a more direct feel.
The engine can get vocal when you summon all of its potential, though it's far from a glorious and sonorous tone. Instead, it's better to drive at seven or eight tenths to protect your ear drums from its often-coarse soundtrack.
One plus of the automatic transmission is that it does allow for proper manual use, activated by pulling on the upshift paddle for two seconds. Then you can use those lovely metallic paddles to move up and down the six-speed gearbox. While they are on the large side, these are one of the best applications of paddle shifters this side of a six-figure supercar, so bravo to Alfa Romeo for showing all the others how it can be done.
Ride quality isn't bad whichever damper setting you choose, and it only feels a bit busy in the suspension department on uneven surfaces at lower speeds.
We suspect the mild-hybrid version will feel differently due to a 310kg weight difference between the two models.
Range, battery, charging and running costs of the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
• No DC charge option for PHEV
• PHEV gets a 61-kilometre electric range
• Hybrid doesn't save much fuel
Disappointingly, Alfa Romeo didn't make any changes to the PHEV's battery as part of the 2026 update, so at 15.5kWh it's starting to look on the small side versus some of the newer rivals'. On a WLTP combined cycle it provides 61 kilometres of electric driving.
That should be just about enough for an average daily commute without using the petrol engine, but there is no DC fast-charge option, so if you do need to fully recharge the battery you'll need around 2 hours 30 minutes on a 7.4kW home charger.
Real-world range and efficiency of the Alfa Romeo Tonale
In our drive in the Tonale PHEV it matched the full electric driving range, with the petrol engine kicking into action after just less than 70 kilometres. Our route was made up of mostly lower-speed urban driving, which did make it easier for the battery to last longer.
Fuel consumption was higher during the hybrid element of our drive, with figures that were above 5.5 litres/100km, which is more than the official 3.4-3.7 litres/100km that Alfa quotes. We suspect it'd worsen from that if driven further again without charging up the battery.
Servicing the Alfa Romeo Tonale
Alfa Romeo Ireland offers a fixed-priced servicing plan for models that are less than three years old.
Alfa Romeo Tonale warranty
All new Alfa Romeo models come with a three-year or 100,000-kilometre warranty.
Irish pricing & rivals to the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
• No pricing yet
• New specification grade structure
• More options available to specify
A new grade structure and Irish pricing are being finalised ahead the updated Tonale's introduction, and this will apply to both mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. The Tonale has many competitors, but with the brand pitching itself as a premium car, that puts it up against others such as the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Range Rover Evoque.
Verdict - should you buy the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale?
The Alfa Romeo Tonale wasn't a class-leading car when it was first launched and that hasn't changed with the 2026 update as it faces even stiffer competition from more rivals. It's disappointing that Alfa hasn't upgraded its PHEV powertrain given that competition, but it remains one of the more fun cars to drive in this segment. If pricing remains at premium levels, it does make this more an emotional than a logical purchase.
FAQs about the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale
Are Alfa Romeos reliable?
An obvious question given the company's questionable past record for reliability, but these days the brand is part of the Stellantis group that sees it share much of its technology with other well-known brands such as Opel, Citroen and Peugeot.
Want to know more about the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale?
If there's anything about the Alfa Romeo Tonale we've not covered, or you'd like help in choosing between it and other cars, you can avail of our expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.
