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 have been a should — it needed to be compact, and it needed to be electrical. She doesn’t like driving huge vehicles and doesn’t like utilizing gasoline. That mentioned, she had her decide of any electrical automotive in the marketplace. My spouse is about as Sort-A as you possibly can think about. She’s wise, 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 high it off, they a comparatively compact. The checklist of superlatives that Tesla autos get pleasure from is actually fairly astonishing. Clear selection, 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 important automotive, have been trumped by one metric — cuteness. For my spouse, one of the pragmatic folks I’ve ever met, cuteness gained the day. Go determine.

She didn’t want utility, break-neck efficiency, or road-trip-ability. That’s what my Tesla is for. She wished to have the ability to get the place she wanted to go round city, and to look actually actually cute whereas doing so. And you recognize what? Mission completed. That 500e is cute. Within the uppity Sarasota suburb of mine, the place Teslas are ubiquitous (you possibly can spot not less than two Teslas at virtually each intersection you encounter), my spouse’s little silent blue Fiat turns as many heads as a rumbling Lamborghini Huracan. Critically. (Editor’s be aware: I additionally dwell on this suburb, and I 100% again David’s assertion. It’s a critical headturner. —Zach)

After we undergo the Starbucks drive-thru in my Tesla, the individual 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 lovable 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 understand 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 type of consideration? A traditional. So, after I heard that Fiat was lastly bringing the up to date 500e to america in 2024, I used to be each very excited and curious to see if it had retained the traditional 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 most recent incarnation of the enduring cinquecento.

I’m glad to report that the brand new 500e retains the appeal of the earlier iterations. That mentioned, I’ve a number of gripes. Low cost feeling plastic dominates the doorways of the “(RED) series” 500e that I drove, which doesn’t appear turning into of a car being introduced 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. In relation 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 have been obscure in explaining what every mode did to vary the driving dynamics of the automotive. One other UI challenge was the automotive’s native SatNav, that saved canceling out for no obvious motive. A lot in order that my copilot, the intrepid Alex Hevesy of SlashGearneeded to pull over so I may sync my iPhone to the Apple CarPlay of the automotive to get us again on the preprogrammed route that the Fiat advertising crew had arrange for us. Lesson realized — when not in a Tesla (or Rivian), simply use CarPlay/Android Auto.

Moreover these snafus, the general expertise was pleasant. The automotive zipped via the city site visitors with ease. The electrical motor gave its signature prompt torque, able to transferring the Fiat from 0–30 mph in three seconds. Not lengthy after 30 mph, the ability band flattened out, however for low-speed city driving, it’s greater than ample. The steering linkage felt a bit loosey-goosey; however that is tremendous as a result of the Fiat 500 isn’t a observe automotive, neither is it meant to be. Its large 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 very good, 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. Possibly I’m a sucker, however the wining and eating from the Fiat advertising/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 Officer) … it labored. I completely bought it. The brand new Fiat 500e isn’t just a automotive, it’s a vibe — the identical vibe that resonates from my spouse’s automotive — the identical vibe that turns heads and makes folks really feel giddy in its presence.

As with many merchandise, significantly cars, there may be at all times the steadiness of kind and performance. Some even hit that candy spot that supply each good kind and good perform. The 500e unapologetically favors kind (or on this case, trend) 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 worth 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 this car for?” I imagine that asking that query is lacking the purpose of what the 500e is. It’s not making an attempt to compete with the Kona EV, or the Mannequin 3, or the Ford Mustang Mach-E, or some other high-volume or semi-high-volume providing.

Who’s the client for the 500e? Somebody who needs a very cute EV that turns heads. The Kona and Mannequin 3 don’t flip heads. The Kona and Mannequin 3 don’t have Starbucks staff 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, not less than within the US it’s. It’s meant 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 type, it may well personal the class it’s in.

Is the 500e sensible? For its meant use case, it’s sensible sufficient. 149 miles of vary, 85kW of DC charging, a high velocity of 94 mph, the trunk area of an overhead compartment on an airliner — all enough for metropolitan commuting. Once more, when you attempt to evaluate the Fiat 500e with different electrical car choices or actually some other providing (significantly at a mid-$30,000 worth level), you’re lacking the purpose of the Fiat 500e. You don’t purchase the 500e to take the youngsters to soccer follow, or to haul wooden, or to highway journey. You purchase it as a result of it appears 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.

Photos courtesy of Fiat.