Becky's Fiat 500 Electric Review

In December I was invited to visit Fiat HQ for a Covid safe launch of the 500 Electric. This is Fiat’s first fully electric car that is due to be released for sale in Spring 2021.

Due to the Covid safety requirements it was only myself and a member of the Fiat team viewing the 500e, socially distanced.

I personally had a Fiat 500 in 2009 and it was sad day when I part exchanged it in 2014, so to be able to view the next generation of 500 was very appealing. So, let’s see if I would be as impressed as I was 11 years ago.

Upon entering the room, I was instantly impressed by the changes that have been made to the exterior of the Fiat 500e, what struck me was how the Fiat 500 Electric encompasses the 500 identity that we all know and love, this ALL NEW car has taken the 500 to the next level with slightly increased dimensions, the 500e is 56mm wider, 61mm longer, 29mm taller with a longer wheel base by 22mm, this certainly gives the car even more road presence without making it feel any bigger to drive. The bodywork lines have been smoothed and rounded giving a subtle shape change creating the iconic 500 silhouette, there is little interruption to the silhouette with hidden door handles, flush grille styling and a very clever front lighting cluster that sits above and below the bonnet line. The 500e I viewed was finished in Cloud Grey, a Matt paint finish, which certainly showed off the new bodywork lines perfectly.

All 500 specifications include the e-Mode selector; which allows the driver to choose between Normal, Range and Sherpa. I mainly drove the 500 in “Normal” mode but did change into “Sherpa” let me explain the 3 e-Modes; Normal: Drives like any Automatic would drive. ‘Range’: The ‘one-pedal’ function means acceleration and deceleration can be controlled by the same pedal. When the pedal is not pressed, the car recovers energy to the maximum, making it slow down until it comes to a complete stop. This driving style, ideal for urban use, means the car can recover a great deal of its battery energy. ‘Sherpa’: Now this is a very clever driving selection that will follow the mode of “Range” to carry out an electric saving drive ensuring you get to the destination you have set in the Sat Nav or your nearest charging point making sure there’s no range anxiety.

When I returned to Fiat HQ after my drive, I turned the 500 off and was greeted with a display showing the usage of electric from the drive. My statistics were a 14-minute drive of a distance of 4km using only 1% of battery. The specification I drove was the 199 miles battery range, which would very easily get you to most daily destinations and back. There is no need for range anxiety with either the 115 mile range or 199 mile range on offer throughout the specifications.