FIRST DRIVE: Fiat 500e – Fully Electric & Tiny!

Fiat’s take on the electric vehicle is this, the Fiat 500e. Starting from £23,495, it’s more expensive than the mild hybrid version of the 500, but still one of the cheaper EVs on the market. It’s a full little drive, so lets take a look!

Let’s start with the spec. The base model gets you a 70kW electric motor (93 bhp) and a 24kWh battery, although for an extra £3,500 you get a much larger 42kWh battery, faster 85kW DC fast charging up from 50kW in the base model, and a more powerful 87kW electric motor (118 bhp). The base model nets you 118 miles of WLTP range, with the upgraded models offering a much larger 196 miles range. Interestingly, the 87kW versions have a top speed of 93 mph, but the base model peaks at 84 mph.

As for the design, that’s a modern take of the same Fiat 500 design we’ve seen since they reintroduced the model. Unless you spend the £30,495 needed to get the “La Prima” model, you don’t get LED headlights, but the outer design remains the same throughout. It’s still the same tiny size, a 3 door shell with a reasonable boot space considering the size, and rear seats that can’t fit adults.

The driving feel is pretty good. It’s a playful city car with plenty of ‘pep’ under your right foot. It’s agile so darting around tight city streets is easy. It’s even remarkably stable at speed, so if you do want to use it for longer journeys you should still have a good time. The suspension was definitely more on the soft side, with a more compliant ride than you might expect.

If you’d like to see a full review of the Fiat 500e, let me know in a comment below!