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New Fiat 500 revealed: popular city car goes electric

Published 04 March 2020

An all-electric version of the Fiat 500 has been revealed with a launch edition model priced at £29,000 after the Government's plug-in car grant.

Set to rival the Honda E and MINI Electric, the electric 500 will be sold alongside the current car - which has just been updated with mild-hybrid tech - to give buyers a choice of petrol or electric power.

It features a 118PS electric motor combined with a 42kWh battery pack to provide the 500 Electric with an official range of 199 miles.

As with other electric cars, the 500 Electric is fairly brisk around town, accelerating to 31mph from a standstill in just 3.1 seconds. 0-62mph takes 9.0 seconds, while top speed is 93mph.

Fiat -500-(3)

There are three driving modes: Sherpa, Normal and Range. Sherpa is intended to provide a useful boost in range when required, reducing throttle response, limiting top speed to 50mph and switching off the climate control.

Range, meanwhile, will increase with regenerative braking, meaning the car will slow down as soon as you lift of the accelerator. This pumps energy back into the battery and will help you travel further on a charge.

An 85kW rapid-charge system means the battery can be topped up from zero to 80 per cent in 35 minutes, while 31 miles of range can be provided in just five minutes.

Although clearly identifiable as a Fiat 500, the Electric is marginally bigger than the electric car, leading to more space inside. The interior that's been also been given a significant update, with more leg and shoulder room for passengers, while the boot remains the same size as its predecessor.

Fiat -500-(2)

The wide dashboard houses a new 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, DAB radio and wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

Like the standard Fiat 500, the electric model will be available as a convertible - meaning it's the first four-seat electric convertible on the market.

Pre-orders for the electric Fiat 500 in launch edition La Prima trim are now open, with prices starting from £29,000. Deliveries are expected from early 2021.

Comments

on 4 March 2020

What...only £29,000...is this utter madness...that Mustang GT 5.0 Litre job is becoming more of an option as each day goes by.

It looks like emissions may be driven down, at a serious cost to the Customer.

DJM
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gavsmit on 5 March 2020

Ridiculously expensive, impractical, not particularly fast......what's to like?

I'm so glad that, as a tax-payer, I'm contributing towards the £3500 grant for every one of these sold as well.

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glidermania on 5 March 2020

29 grand for a Fiat 500?! The manufacturer's must be licking their lips at what they are able to price these EVs at.

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MoDo613 on 5 March 2020

I'm a passionate advocate for EV's and PHEV's but even I will admit the pricing is just getting ridiculous. Battery production costs have halved in the past few years the only explanation for such high prices is profiteering. An EV is so much simpler and cheaper to build once you take the battery out the equation so by now these ought to be cheaper than the fossil powered equivalent. If you need proof someone is having a laugh then the MG ZS EV ought to provide it - a much larger car, better eqipped and larger battery to boot with a 7 year warranty on the entire car and its basically £8k cheaper.

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conman on 6 March 2020

So many people are going to get their finger's burned through buying these EV's in the early stages of their development. As soon as a new model comes out with twice the range you won't be able to give these away.

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Jack Mahawgoff on 7 March 2020

The original electric Fiat 500, the 500e was sold in California from 2013 to 2019. It had a 22.5 kW battery, and level 2 charging. The MSRP was approximately $36000 however the vehicle was primarily leased. Some dealerships offering $50 a month payments. Fiat Chrysler wanted a stiff $21000 residual at the end of the lease, and very few drivers kept their cars. Yet, when these vehicles went to auction, they sold for approximately $5000. This is how I acquired mine.

In the US, Fiats (Fix It Again, Tony) are considered crap. But because so many components were manufactured by Bosch (motor, transmission, inverter, charger, battery, cooling system, A/C, HVAC, etc), the reliability was fairly good. In the two years that I owned it, putting miles 30,000 to 50,000 on it, I did not need to do any repairs. Only installing tires before I sold it. It was a fantastic car. Very sporty, and comfortable for highway driving.

So why did I sell it? 22.5KW battery and level 2 charging. As an around town car, this was not a problem, but for any trips a good distance outside of the city, it was not usable. Mine you, the vehicle held its value quite well, I lost only $800 in my buying price and selling price.

So now that the electric 500 has a 40kW battery and fast charging, this will be one great car. That is if the same high quality components are installed again. However, with the Fiat CEO lamenting the $14000 lost with each sale of a 500e between 2013 and 2019, I don't think they will have Bosch as a supplier anymore.

Wishing them luck, and waiting 3 years for the off-lease vehicles to come back to auction.

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