Clearly, I introduced this on myself, however how gorgeously cuddlish the brand new Fiat 500e is, maybe you need to all thank me. Only a week earlier than happening the launch of the all electrical model of the traditional Italian metropolis automotive, I had written a bit for this august web site asking why all EVs needed to be ugly and why not a single one was good to take a look at.
Sod’s Legislation recommended that the very subsequent one I stepped into can be a stunning riposte of all my whinging, and positive sufficient that was the case.
Tiny issues are simply cuter by nature, however the intelligent, bumper-free, honeycomb-chinned design of the long-lasting Fiat 500 is an actual winner, on an anthropomorphic scale. It seems prefer it’s smiling, buzzing, comfortable to take you locations, and it even has little LEDs above the Smartie-like headlights, designed to appear like expressive eyebrows.
Up to now, so Italianate trendy, then, however right away on paper there are some points – beginning with the vary (one thing this huge is just not packing a whole lot of battery), stumbling over a guaranty that lasts simply three years, and ending with the value, which, at $52,500, goes to be an actual ardour killer for most individuals, irrespective of how a lot they just like the look of it.
What does the Fiat 500e value and what options do you get?
Proper, I’m going to smack you with that worth once more, as a result of it actually does take some believing – $52,500 for a automotive that makes a Mini appear like a household sized proposition.
For that worth you get a really small however loveable machine, with heated seats, for the primary time ever in a Fiat 500, plenty of cool Easter eggs (the charging tray to your telephone has the skyline of Turin, Fiat’s house metropolis, etched into it, for instance), e-latches as an alternative of door handles, two cupholders, and wi-fi telephone charging.
This new EV model – constructed on a wholly new BEV platform from Fiat – can also be taller, longer and wider than earlier fashions, however not my so much; we’re speaking 10mm extra headroom. It’s nonetheless tiny.
Doubtless the characteristic homeowners will discuss probably the most, nonetheless, is the Acoustic Alert, the purpose of which escapes me totally. Mainly, the primary time you set off after restarting your Fiat, it is going to, when you hit 20km/h, play a merry little operatic tune – a music from the movie Amarcord, by Federico Fellini – on the OUTSIDE of the automobile.
That’s proper, as jaunty and uplifting as it’s, it’s designed to make folks on the road comfortable, not the automotive’s proprietor, who would possibly simply hear it if they’ve the window down and stereo off. If it was there to warn pedestrians you’re coming, it would make some sense, however the truth is, nobody is aware of what it’s for, besides pure pleasure. And since Italy.
What’s powering the Fiat 500e?
The Fiat 500e should make do with a 42kWh battery and its single electrical motor, which drives the entrance wheels – fairly a shock for an Italian automotive firm, frankly – produces simply 87kW and 220Nm.
Nonetheless, in a automobile that weighs simply 1290kg and appears to be sitting about as excessive off the street as an egg, it’s sufficient to push it via the air from 0 to 100km/h in 9 seconds flat, which is… not quick, but fast sufficient for a metropolis automotive.
Fiat claims the 500e will ship 311km of vary on the WLTP measure, however I’d severely doubt your capability to hit that quantity. We have been wanting way more like a variety of 280km, at finest, and we primarily drove it round city, the place regen can be at its most potent.
The automotive does provide three drive modes, nonetheless, one referred to as Regular, which is supposed to really feel like ye olde combustion-engined model of a Fiat 500, and thus not scare folks driving an EV for the primary time; one other referred to as Vary, which supplies fairly the other expertise, providing one-pedal driving; and an amusing third referred to as Sherpa, which “at all times will get you house”, maximising attainable vary by providing a “smoother and decrease response”, and by shutting off your heated seats, local weather capabilities and auxiliaries.
What’s charging like for the Fiat 500e?
The 42kWh battery on the Fiat 500e will be recharged from zero to 80 per cent full in 35 minutes on an 85kW DC charger.
For those who’re utilizing an 11kW house charger, it is going to take 4 hours and quarter-hour to get from zero cost to 100 per cent.
And with a notional vary of not far over 300km, you’ll be charging it fairly recurrently.
Nonetheless, we must be truthful and say that this can be a metropolis automotive, and thus it’s designed for taking quick journeys and being charged at house recurrently. Taking it on the open street does really feel a bit like asking your pet cat to deliver down an antelope.
What’s the possession of the Fiat 500e like?
In a phrase through which the Koreans are recurrently providing seven-year warranties and even the Germans have come round to the concept a five-year guarantee appears cheap, or minimal customary, the truth that Fiat is bringing the 500e to market in Australia with only a three-year providing appears fairly unusual. Or daring.
Contemplating that they proudly introduced the automotive is now being made in Italy once more, maybe an extended guarantee would make it extra engaging.
Servicing, nonetheless, is a greater story with 12 months intervals and pricing capped at $250.
How does the Fiat 500e drive?
One in every of my discovered mates was fast to declare the 500e the most effective Fiat 500 he’d ever pushed, and for what it’s, it’s onerous to fault. It’s enjoyable, frisky and with a tiny wheelbase that offers it that true go-kart feeling.
Fiat says it’s made an effort to keep away from the type of pitch and roll you get with “different EVs”, and it does appear to deal with nicely, with sharp steering that makes you are feeling immediately related to the street.
For me, although, I have to admit I’ve at all times had a smooth spot for the outdated combustion one with the handbook shifter on the sprint, and a spirited, virtually determined sounding engine notice. It was not fast, however in the event you thrashed it via the gears it felt prefer it actually needed to be.
The shortage of sound bothered me extra within the Fiat 500e than it usually does in different EVs. It feels prefer it desires to sing, however maybe that’s simply what I anticipate from Italian vehicles.
There may be definitely little to fault about its driving dynamics as a metropolis automotive, and it has the type of mid-range punch and prompt torque supply that makes electrical vehicles so enjoyable. Fiat claims this automotive was at all times going to be electrical, that it was born to be an EV from day one, which seems like advertising and marketing malarkey to me. Definitely, there’ll by no means be one other 500 that’s not electrical, however the concept the individuals who created the primary, tiny variations in 1957 have been at all times pondering “if solely we had batteries and silent vehicles” appears a stretch.
Whereas I missed having the ability to change gears, the most important single difficulty is that the Fiat designers have left no area to your left foot. Even with my dainty ft, I discovered my left foot brushing the brake pedal, or being squeezed by it, and the foot relaxation looks like an afterthought.
That may annoy me, though most likely not sufficient to cease me shopping for one as a enjoyable runaround if I lived in a suburb with tight parking areas and slim streets, like Sydney’s inside west, or Milan.
The Fiat 500e Verdict
Whereas I’d like the concept of proudly owning one, or giving a Fiat 500e to my youngsters to drive – primarily as a result of it feels extra like a baby’s toy than a severe automotive – I can’t think about even eager about doing so with a worth north of $50k.
If this factor was cheaper, like so much cheaper, it will little question promote like loopy, even with its barely restricted vary, as a result of it will be purchased by individuals who produce other vehicles for leaving city in.
However at $52,500, and with simply three years of guarantee, there are most likely extra wise choices on the market.
Though, it’s the fairest EV in all of the land…
The Fiat 500e rating
Rating: 6.8/10
Fiat 500 Specs
Worth: $52,500 plus on-road prices
Drivetrain: Entrance-mounted electrical motor
Energy: 87kW
Torque: 220Nm
Battery: 42kWh
Vary: 311km (WLTP)
DC charging: 85kW
AC charging: 11kW