Let's get this out of the way right at the beginning: You are not going to want to drive a Fiat 500e across the country. It's an electric vehicle with a max range of 162 miles. Okay, maybe you could drive it from New York City to Los Angeles if you were really hardcore, but you'd be spending a lot of time at charging stations in obscure little towns along the way. If you're the average driver, however, your daily commute is under 30 miles round trip, and you might add a few more miles on errands like picking up groceries. As an in-town commuter vehicle, suddenly that range doesn't seem unreasonable at all.
I first had a chance to drive the Fiat 500e when I attended the Rocky Mountain Drive Experience up in the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains a few months ago. At the time, I wrote "what’s surprising is just how fun this vehicle is to drive... it’s super agile and able to handle even the tightest turns." As a result, when Stellantis offered me a chance to spend a week driving the 2024 Fiat 500e, I was most psyched for the opportunity. And it's ridiculously cute in its Red Non-Metallic Clear Coat exterior:
I know, it looks more like a toy vehicle than a proper car, but it's clearly related to Doctor Who's TARDIS because it's way bigger on the inside than you'd expect. In fact, as you'll see in the subsequent photos, almost the entire interior space is devoted to the driver and front passenger: There's a second row but you'd be hard pressed to put a few bags of groceries there, let alone have someone somehow squeeze into the space.
Here's the driver's compartment:
Look closely at the seats: They have a "FIAT" pattern that's rather subtle. In fact, the vehicle has all sorts of Easter Eggs and subtleties in its design, rather reminiscent of the famous Jeep graphics tucked away in obscure spots in those (Stellantis) vehicles. What you can't really tell from the photo is that the 500e also has a lot of headroom. Enough that this 6'3" driver had a few inches of clearance above my head, something that's relatively uncommon in the vehicles I drive.
There's a very Italian design aesthetic that's quite unusual for American cars. The metal dashboard is not a typical design but works really well in this instance and offers up a retro feel, even as the dashboard is full of the most modern in vehicle tech. The infotainment system is powered by Uconnect and offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with a great audio system. There's even a wireless Qi charging spot in the lower portion of the "U" on the dash, one that worked consistently even when I was driving over rougher terrain.
The steering wheel controls were simple and laid out to make it easy to use while driving. Some models of the Fiat 500e include adaptive cruise control but this one, the "Inspi(red)" model, had just basic cruise control, which was a bit disappointing. I actually find that ACC is one of the most useful of modern drive/safety features since I tend to drive on highways quite a bit.
Going back to the dashboard, you can see that there are a lot of buttons. No "everything adjustable via the touchscreen" for this EV:
There were some buttons that were oddly placed and required a bit of online searching to figure out. The one that most confused me was the padlock button in the center of the dash. I'd turn on the car, start driving, and it would have a red light illuminate on the button. A bit of searching revealed that it's the door lock mechanism: One central button rather than two buttons, one on each door. Logical, once you know what it does.
You can better see the wireless charging spot in the above photo too, with a USB-A port to the left. There's no gearshift, so you change gears with the buttons along the bottom. It's an EV, of course, so there's no "low" gear, no "climb hill" feature, etc. Just a one-pedal drive that worked beautifully, gradually coming to a full stop when the pedal is untouched. My goal with one-pedal driving is to never have to touch the brake pedal, which also promotes good, cautious driving habits.
The 500e has three EV driving modes: Normal, Range, and Sherpa. Sherpa mode is the vehicular equivalent of "conserve power" mode on your smartphone, offering a minimal energy demand configuration to maximize your range so you can make it to the next charging station. I mostly drove on Range mode, though didn't notice any difference when I switched to Normal. Note that there's no Sport or Performance option. It's an EV so it's peppy, but this just isn't a sports car in any sense of the word.
I also really liked the audio volume roller control. It's intuitively placed and easy to use without looking down. The 500e is reasonably quiet inside at highway speeds, but I did find myself adjusting my audiobook volume when I was cruising at 75mph on the highway. Retrospectively, I probably should have listened to an audiobook in Italian to stick with the theme, but... I didn't. :-)
As with all EVs, the 500e has lots of information you can pull up to learn more about how you're doing as a driver and how efficiently the vehicle is consuming electricity. It's interesting that in the above graph, I seem to be (re)generating charge more than I'm using it. Even with that display, it's a bit disconcerting to see the charge percentage gradually lower as you drive. Since the range is so small, it drops down faster than most any other EV on the road.
It's worth mentioning here that the first commercial EV on the market, the 2010 Nissan Leaf, had a max range of 73 miles!
The drive experience overall was really great, and I really enjoyed being able to dart through traffic and rabbit off a stop when the light turned green. Because it's so light, it's quite peppy. However, and here's the greatest limitation I found with the Fiat 500e, the suspension is very bouncy, more than is comfortable. There's one major road a few miles from my home that felt like I was on an amusement park ride when going the speed limit. Other roads weren't as bad but if you're used to a smooth ride, you might want to try this vehicle on a variety of different roads before making a purchase decision.
Back to the elements of the vehicle, starting with the main gauge display. Small, cute, entirely apropos:
This is a very efficient display with no superfluous information. Notice that at 88% charge it's estimating that I have a 133-mile range. If you're prone to range anxiety, this is probably somewhat triggering, but remember, the 500e's positioned as a commuter vehicle, not a long-haul family SUV. It can also add 40 miles of range with a 5-minute charge on a DC charger that's compatible with its CCS Combo charging plug setup.
Now, how about rear cargo space? Well...
There's enough space for a half-dozen bags from the grocery store or a couple of suitcases, but with a total vehicle length of barely 143-inches (really!) the vast majority of interior space is for the driver and passenger. I found the rear cargo space plenty for my modest needs, but you don't want to pick up Aunt Sue at the airport after her 3-month European adventure because you won't be able to fit all her luggage. Or even one really big suitcase.
Remember earlier how I mentioned that there were Easter Eggs in this vehicle? One of them can be found in the driver's door handle:
There are others, but I won't spill the beans so new owners can have fun hunting for them. I actually like when car manufacturers have a sufficient sense of whimsy that they add these to their vehicles. Yes, these are expensive, but that doesn't mean we owners don't want some personality from our vehicles too...
During the loaner period, a group of us headed to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, deciding to carpool. I did not drive the Fiat that day because getting five adults into it would have involved tapping the Jaws of Life to prise everyone out at the other end! There's no question, it's small, yet as a two-seater it's surprisingly roomy and comfortable. It has limited range, but if you're a typical driver, you don't actually go that far on a given day. The biggest limitation I found was the suspension, as discussed earlier.
There's so much to love with this fun and high-personality EV, it's just too bad that it's so bouncy on uneven roads. Then again, you might enjoy that type of cushioned drive experience. Either way, if these limitations don't concern you, the Fiat 500e is one of the most fun EVs you can buy. It could be a great second car, as Stellantis suggests. You should definitely check it out.
2024 Fiat 500e fully electric with 117hp, a 42 kWh battery, with an estimated range of 162 miles. This vehicle had no additional options (though there are different trim levels available from Fiat called Inspired by Beauty, Inspired by Music, Inspired by Los Angeles, and this trim level, Inspi(RED)). AS DRIVEN: $34,095.
Disclosure: Fiat loaned me the 2024 Fiat 500e for a week in return for this candid write-up and review. This article originally appeared on PlanetDave.com with the title The 2024 Fiat 500e is a Fun Size EV!
