The 2024 Fiat 500e: An Italian Classic That (Still) Rides on Style

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Can Fulmine Strike Twice?

When it got here time for my spouse to get a brand new automotive, there have been two issues that had been a should — it needed to be compact, and it needed to be electrical. She doesn’t like driving massive automobiles and doesn’t like utilizing gasoline. That mentioned, she had her choose of any electrical automotive available on the market. My spouse is about as Kind-A as you’ll be able to think about. She’s smart, sensible, measured, understated.

So far as I used to be involved, the selection was apparent: a Tesla Mannequin 3 or Mannequin Y. They’ve extraordinary security, performance, expertise, efficiency, effectivity, charging infrastructure, and so forth. To prime it off, they a comparatively compact. The checklist of superlatives that Tesla autos take pleasure in is admittedly fairly astonishing. Clear alternative, proper? Have you learnt what automotive she went with? A powder blue 2017 Fiat 500e. Have you learnt why? As a result of it was cute. … That’s it. … It was cute. All the opposite attributes I listed above, all the opposite superlatives, all the opposite metrics that one would possibly use to measure what makes an ideal automotive, had been trumped by one metric — cuteness. For my spouse, one of the pragmatic individuals I’ve ever met, cuteness received the day. Go determine.

She didn’t want utility, break-neck efficiency, or road-trip-ability. That’s what my Tesla is for. She needed to have the ability to get the place she wanted to go round city, and to look actually actually cute whereas doing so. And what? Mission completed. That 500e is cute. Within the uppity Sarasota suburb of mine, the place Teslas are ubiquitous (you’ll be able to spot at the least two Teslas at virtually each intersection you stumble upon), my spouse’s little silent blue Fiat turns as many heads as a rumbling Lamborghini Huracan. Severely. [Editor’s note: I also live in this suburb, and I 100% back David’s statement. It’s a serious headturner. —Zach]

Once we undergo the Starbucks drive-thru in my Tesla, the particular person on the window doesn’t acknowledge it in any respect. Dozens of Teslas have rolled as much as the window earlier than me, and dozens will roll up after me — most likely in the identical day. However after we roll as much as the drive-thru window in my spouse’s 500e, the Starbucks worker calls their coworkers to the window to take a look at the cute blue automotive that has come again to go to them. And that’s it. That’s the magic of the “The Cinquecento.” It’s cute. It’s undeniably cute. It’s excruciatingly cute. That’s its factor. That’s its worth proposition. That’s the place it suits within the huge auto market. And take into account that my spouse’s Fiat is about seven years previous. What do you name a automotive that’s a number of years previous that also garners that form of consideration? A basic. So, once I heard that Fiat was lastly bringing the up to date 500e to the US in 2024, I used to be each very excited and curious to see if it had retained the basic cuteness that my spouse’s Fiat exudes.

Welcome to Miami

My likelihood got here final week when Fiat invited me, together with a gaggle of different auto journalists, to a press occasion in Miami’s hip Wynwood neighborhood to take a look at the newest incarnation of the long-lasting cinquecento.

I’m pleased to report that the brand new 500e retains the allure of the earlier iterations. That mentioned, I’ve just a few gripes. Low cost feeling plastic dominates the doorways of the “(RED) sequence” 500e that I drove, which doesn’t appear changing into of a car being offered as a premium product. One other gripe is the piano black buttons on the sprint, immediately riddled with fingerprints that undermine the in any other case slick inside design. With regards to high-cycle contact surfaces like buttons, a matte end is the way in which to go. Lastly, was the Uconnect UI. It had driving modes that had been imprecise in explaining what every mode did to alter the driving dynamics of the automotive. One other UI concern was the automotive’s native SatNav, that saved canceling out for no obvious cause. A lot in order that my copilot, the intrepid Alex Hevesy of SlashGear, needed to pull over so I might sync my iPhone to the Apple CarPlay of the automotive to get us again on the preprogrammed route that the Fiat advertising and marketing crew had arrange for us. Lesson realized — when not in a Tesla (or Rivian), simply use CarPlay/Android Auto.

Apart from these snafus, the general expertise was pleasant. The automotive zipped via the city visitors with ease. The electrical motor gave its signature prompt torque, able to shifting the Fiat from 0–30 mph in three seconds. Not lengthy after 30 mph, the facility band flattened out, however for low-speed city driving, it’s greater than enough. The steering linkage felt slightly loosey-goosey; however that is effective as a result of the Fiat 500 shouldn’t be a monitor automotive, neither is it meant to be. Its vast stance and low battery placement made the 500e really feel very planted whereas scooting round corners and the on/off-ramps of Miami’s inter-coastal waterways. And the MBH was excellent, including to the general serene driving expertise.

Zipping via the palm tree lined streets of Miami within the Fiat 500e, evaluating its technical parts, I felt the sensation … la dolce vita …. the candy life. Perhaps I’m a sucker, however the wining and eating from the Fiat advertising and marketing/comms crew, the tremendous cool occasion area (shoutout to The Oasis-Wynwood), the buzzword-filled sentimental presentation given by Olivier François (Fiat’s World Chief Advertising and marketing Officer) … it labored. I completely received it. The brand new Fiat 500e is not only a automotive, it’s a vibe — the identical vibe that resonates from my spouse’s automotive — the identical vibe that turns heads and makes individuals really feel giddy in its presence.

As with many merchandise, notably vehicles, there may be all the time the steadiness of type and performance. Some even hit that candy spot that provide each good type and good perform. The 500e unapologetically favors type (or on this case, style) over perform. I’ve heard some auto journalists query the 500e’s relevance within the present auto market, arguing that it’s a difficult worth proposition given its restricted vary, and restricted performance at a premium value in comparison with the likes of the Hyundai Kona EV; which presents extra vary, extra performance, and at a lower cost level. They ask, “who is that this automotive for?” I consider that asking that query is lacking the purpose of what the 500e is. It’s not attempting to compete with the Kona EV, or the Mannequin 3, or the Ford Mustang Mach-E, or every other high-volume or semi-high-volume providing.

Who’s the shopper for the 500e? Somebody who needs a extremely cute EV that turns heads. The Kona and Mannequin 3 don’t flip heads. The Kona and Mannequin 3 don’t have Starbucks workers flocking to the drive-thru window to gleefully look upon the lovable automotive that’s again once more. The 500e does. The 500e is decidedly a distinct segment product, at the least within the US it’s. It’s supposed to be a distinct segment product right here. It’s virtually in a class of its personal (together with the MINI Cooper SE) — the tremendous cute, all electrical metropolitan commuter. By the advantage of being one of many solely of its variety, it could actually personal the class it’s in.

Is the 500e sensible? For its supposed use case, it’s sensible sufficient. 149 miles of vary, 85kW of DC charging, a prime velocity of 94 mph, the trunk area of an overhead compartment on an airliner — all ample for metropolitan commuting. Once more, for those who attempt to examine the Fiat 500e with different electrical car choices or actually every other providing (notably at a mid-$30,000 value level), you’re lacking the purpose of the Fiat 500e. You don’t purchase the 500e to take the children to soccer apply, or to haul wooden, or to street journey. You purchase it as a result of it seems good and it makes you really feel good.

The 500e is its personal factor. 500e is a vibe.

You don’t purchase an Italian go well with due to what number of pockets it has, you purchase it since you look reeeeally good in it.

Fulmine can strike twice.