Whilst the little pink convertible was fun to drive, especially when the sun was out, it was quite old when she bought it with the money she’d saved from working three jobs.  It was tired and it didn’t take too long before she part-exchanged it for something else.

The 2022 Fiat 500e that I drove was a far more superior car.

The Similarities

The 500e is instantly recognisable as a Fiat 500.  There are changes, but they are mostly quite subtle.  The overall shape of the car is the same as it had been for about 15 years, but it is a little bigger and heavier than its predecessor.  The lights are quick way to identify the new 500e, with the old round headlights having been replaced by two separate parts.  The main part is in the car’s main body, with what looks like an eye brow light placed in the bonnet.  It’s a great look.

On the inside, there’s still a lot of metal and very prominent 500 logos, but it is a far roomier and more modern cabin.  There’s a new 7 inch digital dial display instead of traditional dials, as well as a big 10.25 inch touchscreen on the dashboard.  This unit provides access to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.  The controls for the heating and air conditioning can be found under the central touchscreen and are quite tactile and user friendly; they are quicker and easier to use than touch screen controls found on some cars.

I mentioned the 500e being a bit bigger than the previous incarnation of the 500, and it is actually 56mm wider, 61mm longer and 29mm taller.  Combine these dimensions with the fact that there is generally better use of space in an EV due to the reduction in mechanical parts, and the car really does feel quite roomy.

On the Road 

The 500e, as with its predecessors, is great to drive in town and city environments.  It’s nimble and easy to navigate through busy streets.  Whilst the 0-60 time isn’t particularly quick, the fact that it can dart from 0-30 mph in just around three seconds is really useful.

Personally, I found the car to be quite comfortable and easy to drive on the larger A roads too, although I didn’t venture onto any dual carriageways or motorways in my brief drive.  Vicky Butler-Henderson, the racing driver and motor journalist, was quite critical of its wallowy handling on fast flowing roads, but I didn’t think it was too bad.  I guess for ‘ordinary’ drivers it would be perfectly fine, but Vicky’s racing background demands a firmer ride with a better feel.

If I manage to get another drive in the 500e, I will try to take it on a longer run and push it a little on some windy A and B roads, as well as getting a sense of its performance on motorways and dual carriageways.

The 500e comes with three drive modes, which is quite common with electric cars.  The three options in the 500e though, differ quite a bit from those in the cars I drive more regularly.  In my daily drive, my MG has Normal, Eco and Sport, with separate control of the amount of regenerative braking.  In the Fiat, however, the modes are ‘Normal’, ‘Range’ and ‘Sherpa’.  Normal is, well, normal.  You drive as you would in any car, applying the accelerator to speed up and the brake to slow down.  Range offers the very real benefit of one pedal driving; push the accelerator harder to move quicker and easing off to slow down.  Take your foot off the accelerator sharply and you will note it feels as if you’ve hit the brake.  It doesn’t take long to get used to one pedal driving and once you’ve experienced it, I’d suggest that most people would want to keep it.

Sherpa mode is one that I wouldn’t really expect people to need.  You might try it out, just to see what it’s like, but if you’re sensible you shouldn’t need to use it.  If you do drive in Sherpa mode, your top speed will be limited to 50mph and you won’t have access to the air conditioning.  These measures are supposed to help you eke out the last electrons to help you get home or to the next charger, but with an ever expanding charger network it seems unlikely you’ll really need to do this.

Accommodation

The 500e is obviously a small car.  However, it does have reasonable storage solutions in the font.  There is space in the door bins for a decent bottle and another storage area in between the front seats.  If you lift the central armrest in the front there’s another quite generous storage area.  In between the front seats there’s a fold-out cupholder and there’s a reasonably large glovebox.

I’m a big chap.  I’m 183cm tall and, sadly, weigh 138kg.  And yet I found the driving position to be comfortable and I didn’t feel at all cramped.  I’m pretty sure I would be equally happy in the front passenger seat, but I’m also convinced that I’d struggle to get comfortable in the back seats.  It’s a four seater car, but those back seats would be best left for children or smaller adults.

The boot is also pretty small.  I’m sure most people would cope with a trip to the grocery store, but I doubt you would find it particularly useful for a bigger shopping trip and I do wonder whether a child’s buggy would fit in it.  That said, I think it is a little bigger than the Honda E, which I have also driven.

Range and Charging

There are two choices of battery in the Fiat 500e.  The cheaper 24kWh pack provides a theoretical range of 115 miles and can be charged at up to 50kW.  This car gets a 93hp motor, which provides ample power and performance, especially in town. 

If you want greater range, you can opt for the larger, 42kWh battery.  This extends the range up to a maximum of 199 miles, but also increases the DC charging speed from 50kW to 85kW, which means the time spent waiting for a charge will be not too painful, although there are cars that can charge far, far quicker.  The bigger battery car also gets a more powerful motor, up from 93hp to 118hp.  This actually doesn’t make a huge difference to the 0-60 mph, bringing it down from 9.5 seconds to 9 seconds.