My experience in driving electric cars has been somewhat limited, to say the least, but it was one of my aims for this year. I’ve already joined a local car club in my home city, and have been using their fleet of small electric cars to run my urban errands of late.
Last week, I got the chance to check out the brand new electric offering from Fiat so I jumped at the chance to get behind the wheel of the brand new, all-electric Fiat 500e and take it for a spin around the beautiful city of Cambridge.
Electrification is coming at us fast and as we move towards normalising this way of powering our vehicles, unlike a few years ago when completely new electric car models were unveiled by the big manufacturers, it’s great to see that more recently, brands are relaunching updated electric versions of their popular models instead. I think this makes it easier and more tempting for people to crossover to an electric platform.
The Fiat 500 is undoubtedly one of the most instantly recognisable and iconic cars on the road and was inspired by the original 1957 Fiat Cinquecento.
Fans of the silhouette will be delighted to see that at first glance, the all-new electric Fiat 500e shares a very similar look to its predecessor. On closer inspection, however, they’ll find that this car is in fact all-new, having been completely redesigned from the ground up.
The door handles on the 500e are now elegantly submerged, the lines are clean and the car features an exclusive 500 logo on the front where the Fiat badge once sat.
Inside, the lack of a gearbox provides a far greater feeling of space, and the addition of some new modular storage. It’s a small car, there’s no getting away from that fact, but as a 6ft tall, medium build guy, I didn’t feel at all cramped inside.
The entry-level model, the Action, is capable of reaching up to 118 miles on a full charge and the 3 additional trims (Passion, Icon and the top of the line Le Prima) able to do up to 199 miles.
For my short drive around Cambridge, I was handed the keys to a very lovely Celestial Blue 500 in the ‘Icon’ trim. I got comfortable, set the very nice 10.25″ infotainment screen to navigation mode and I was on my way.
There are 3 driving modes, Sherpa, Normal and Range. I started my drive in Normal mode and was instantly impressed with just how nippy this little car was. I switched down to Sherpa and noticed a much softer driving style, it wasn’t my favourite but I guess it’s a little more economical. Range, increased the battery regeneratiooutn when you take your foot off of the throttle so would be recommended for motorway or long drives. I found Normal to be the most comfortable and controlled of the three.
It’s quiet, comfortable and packed with all of the mod-cons that you’d expect. There’s a wireless charging pad, easy to navigate drive controls, a great infotainment system and even an exclusive app that rewards eco-driving with points that can be used to get yourself some cool swag. If you’re after a neat little car to get you around town, then I’d say look no further.
The Fiat 500e is available from £20.485 for the Action model ranging up to £27,495 for the top of the line Le Prima edition.
