These illustrations were made by Jean Francois Hubert/SB-Medien for CarScoops. They are speculative drawings that are not related to or endorsed by Alfa Romeo or Stellantis.

Stellantis is bringing back the Lancia Delta as an EV, which is great news for Lancia fans, presuming there are still some left.

But it could also be great news for Alfa fans, too. Since the company axed the Giulietta hatch last year it hasn’t had a small family car to offer customers, and won’t have until the Tonale SUV finally appears in early 2022. Not everyone wants an SUV, though. VW’s Mk8 Golf, currently number two on the European sales charts with its time-honored blend of no-nonsense five-door hatch practicality, is proof of that.

Alfa has no plans to take on the Golf with a direct replacement for the Giulietta, which never matched the sales success of the earlier, prettier 147. But how about an Alfa rival for the VW ID.3, a new all-electric Sud or 147 built from the same component set as Lancia’s upcoming Delta? That sounds good to us.

Related: Alfa Romeo To Launch New Model Every Year Until 2026, After Which It’s Going EV Only

Our speculative drawings for all-electric replacements for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Lancia Delta compact hatches | Illustration credits Francois Hubert/SB-Medien for CarScoops

As far as we know, Alfa has no plans to do that. But should it? It seems entirely feasible if Stellantis is already planning to build a similarly-sized EV hatch for Lancia (as imagined above by our artist). Much like those other, albeit smaller, Stellantis electric hatchbacks, the Peugeot e208 and Opel Corsa-e, or yhe Audi Q4 e-tron and VW ID.4 SUVs over at VW Group, the Alfa and Lancia EVs could share platforms, suspension, motors and battery packs, yet look and feel entirely distinct from one another.

Dedicated EV Platform

An early prototype of the upcoming Alfa Romeo Tonale compact crossover

While Alfa’s upcoming Giulietta-sized Tonale SUV shares a platform and optional plug-in hybrid technology with Jeep’s Renegade and Renegade 4xe, the new Delta will be based on the Stellantis STLA Medium architecture that comes on line in 2023. Specifically designed for C- and D-segment cars, it can be configured to work with FWD, RWD and AWD setups. Power outputs could range from 168-241 hp (170-245 PS), presumably with more to come if it decides to build a modern-day bi-motor Integrale – or, in our hypothetical case, an Alfa Quadrifoglio EV.

Country Cousins

So let’s say the idea of an electric Alfa hatch has legs. How would you want the face and body to look? As part of a new wave of cleverly styled electric cars like the Renault 5 that invoke feelings of nostalgia while also giving us tomorrow-tech, the new Delta is bound to lean heavily reference the classic Delta Integrale. And we’d love to see Alfa mine the same seam with an electric hatch.

Our artist’s impression gives one possibility, reworking some of the styling cues of the 2019 Tonale SUV concept on a lower, sleeker hatchback form. We’ve already seen leaked shots of the production Tonale and know it features bigger, less glamorous conventional headlights than the concept.

Related: Everything We Think We Know About Alfa Romeo’s Plans For A Baby Electric SUV

But the new generation of EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 need to wear their tech hearts on their sleeves, so the hatchback could feature slimmer lights and a full-width DRL strip to make the car instantly recognizable at night, and reveal inspiration from the classic step-front Giulia coupe in the day.

How Retro Can You Go?

Or should Alfa go even bolder with the retro feel? Maybe revisit the classic shape of the 1972 Sud hatch, a shape so good it was lifted almost wholesale by Walter de Silva for Seat’s Leon in 1998.

It could work in the hooded lights and segmented B-pillar cutouts from the early 1970s Montreal sports car. And maybe the flared arches from the V6-powered 147 GTA introduced in 2002.

Forget Beautiful, Go Brutal

But wait – what if Alfa forgot about trying to be sensual and based the styling of its new hatch on the brutal look of the iconic Zagato-designed SZ? That menacing face would look fantastic repurposed with a bank of LED headlights and the tall trunk lid would ensure there was plenty of luggage space. You can even imagine how the profile would look if the wheelbase was extended and adapted to suit a five-door configuration.

To Build, Or Not To Build

With a back catalogue of jewels from which to draw inspiration and a new platform and running gear at its disposal, there’s no doubt Alfa could make a great electric hatch. But will it? Alfa Romeo already has a hard time finding enough buyers for its good looking, fine-driving Stelvio when flogging SUVs is supposed to be like shooting fish in a barrel. An electric C-segment hatch might be another headache it could do without. Or, given that what the company is already doing isn’t working, it could be a seriously smart move.

Do you think Alfa Romeo should piggyback on Lancia’s Delta EV and build a band new electric hatch, and if so, what do you think it should look like?

Illustration credits Francois Hubert/SB-Medien for CarScoops