2026 Lancia Ypsilon HF Review

Some badges should be handled with care. HF is one of them.

And now that same logo sits on a fully electric Ypsilon. On paper, that almost sounds like sacrilege. No turbo engine, no rally soundtrack, no petrol fumes, no mechanical chaos. Just silence, electricity and front-wheel drive. But then you drive it. And suddenly, the story becomes a lot more interesting.

A compact Lancia with plenty of attitude

The new Lancia Ypsilon HF is not a subtle car. Especially not in Arancio Lava with a black roof, like our test car. The colour palette is limited (Bianco Quarzo, Nero Ardesia and Arancio Lava) but that is not necessarily a problem when one of those colours works this well.

In this configuration, the Ypsilon HF genuinely looks tough. Compact, low, wide enough, and with that typical Italian flair you do not find in every electric city car. The 18-inch wheels, available in Grigio or Oro, complete the look. And yes, those Oro wheels are probably the most Lancia choice of all.

The HF also gets a 20 mm lower suspension setup, a wider track and specific HF details. Lancia itself talks about a wider stance, sportier tuning, a specific front bumper with HF logo, 18-inch wheels and a prominent rear diffuser. It does not look like a regular electric Ypsilon with a sport package. It looks like someone at Lancia pushed all rational meeting notes aside and said: “Let’s just make something fun.” And honestly? We appreciate that.

HF history in a new form

Of course, putting the HF letters on an electric hatchback remains a bold move. Because when you say HF, you think of the Delta Integrale, rally wins, all-wheel drive and an era in which Lancia built machines that genuinely scared the automotive world. But at the same time, this might be exactly what Lancia needs today.

A returning brand cannot rely on nostalgia alone. It also has to prove it can still build character in a modern context. And the Ypsilon HF does that better than expected.

The official figures immediately set the tone: 280 hp, 345 Nm of torque, 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds, a top speed of 180 km/h and a WLTP range of around 370 to 373 km, depending on homologation and market communication. Those are serious numbers for such a compact electric hot hatch.

Interior: only Lancia can get away with this

Inside, things become properly charming. The HF Sport seats are finished in blue and black Econyl, and somehow it works brilliantly. On paper, it may sound a little forced, but in reality, it fits the personality of the car perfectly. Only Lancia can get away with this.

The seats are also surprisingly comfortable. And that matters, because the suspension is firm. Very firm. Luckily, the seats offer enough comfort and support to compensate. You are not sitting in a clinical German interior, but in something that feels eccentric, Italian and slightly wrong in the best possible way.

Lancia itself refers to sport seats, high-quality materials, premium finishes, a perforated leather steering wheel and the S.A.L.A. interface as part of the HF experience. It does not feel perfect, but it does feel intentionally different. And in a world where many compact EVs are starting to feel increasingly similar, that is a compliment.

Driving: firm, precise and hilariously playful

The first few metres immediately make it clear that the Ypsilon HF is not trying to be a soft lifestyle EV. It is firmly sprung. Not just a little sporty, but properly firm. You feel what the car is doing, you feel what the chassis is doing, and you also feel when the road is less perfect than you would like.

But as soon as the road starts to twist, everything begins to make sense. The Ypsilon HF feels super precise. It reacts sharply, sits firmly on the road and gives you a surprising amount of confidence. The front wheels have a lot to deal with, because 280 hp and 345 Nm going to the front axle is simply a lot. Especially under hard acceleration, you can feel the front tyres fighting for grip.

The Torsen limited-slip differential plays a major role here. Lancia combines the electric motor with a Torsen differential and ALCON brakes to improve control, grip and stopping power. And you can feel it. The car pulls itself through corners and feels far more aggressive than you would expect from its size.

When you really start pushing, you also notice just how far Lancia went with the setup. If you throw it hard into a corner, you can actually hear the wheel rubbing inside the wheel arch. Those Italians. As if everything rational was pushed aside just to create the most playful product possible. And somehow, that is exactly what you hope for in a car wearing an HF badge.

Not perfect: typical Stellantis traits remain

Still, not everything is equally convincing. The biggest frustration remains the lack of a proper one-pedal drive. In B mode, the Ypsilon HF does regenerate, but far too gently in our opinion. For a modern EV, that could be much stronger, especially in a sporty version that should offer more involvement.

The Start/Stop button and gear selector also feel very familiar from other Stellantis products. That is not dramatic in itself, but in a special product like this HF, we would have liked a little more uniqueness. A car with a badge like this deserves details that do not feel like they came straight from every other Stellantis model.

Efficiency and range: surprisingly good if you want it to be

Lancia communicates an official energy consumption of 16.1 to 18 kWh/100 km and a WLTP range of 373 km for the Ypsilon HF. As always, real-world consumption depends on temperature, speed, driving style, tyres and comfort systems.

During our test, what stood out most was that you can get the consumption nicely down if you do not accelerate like a complete lunatic all the time. And perhaps that is the nice thing about this car: it can be playful and aggressive when you want it to be, but it can also be surprisingly efficient when you treat the accelerator with a little restraint.

Dropping below the official 16.1 kWh/100 km figure seems perfectly possible. That makes it more usable than its playful character might suggest.

Price: not cheap, but interesting

The Ypsilon HF is not a cheap small EV. In Belgium, Lancia communicates a starting price of around €38.199,- including VAT without options for the Ypsilon HF 280 hp, depending on timing and market conditions. That is serious money for a compact electric hatchback.

But compared with other electric hot hatches such as the Alpine A290 or MINI Cooper JCW Electric, it remains competitive. Especially when you consider the power, the standard sporty hardware and the fact that you get a Torsen limited-slip differential and serious brakes.

Lancia also offers a warranty formula of up to 8 years or 160,000 km in Belgium, provided regular maintenance is carried out within the Lancia network.

AutoNext Verdict

The Lancia Ypsilon HF is not perfect. The suspension is firm, the one-pedal drive is too weak, some Stellantis elements feel too generic and the HF badge on an electric front-wheel-drive hatchback will remain difficult to accept for some purists.

But still, this car has something. It feels playful, sharp, rebellious and wonderfully immature in the right way. It makes electric driving fun, not through artificial sound or excessive screen animations, but through a chassis that feels alive and a front axle that has to work hard. And that is exactly why we liked it so much.

The Ypsilon HF is not a modern Delta Integrale. It does not need to be.
It is more like an electric reminder that Lancia, even today, can still build something different from everyone else. And if this is the beginning of Lancia’s new HF chapter, we are mostly curious to see what comes next. We loved it.