Fiat's New 500 is zippy, agile but pricey

The Fiat New 500 is slowly starting to appear in Europe following a rough first year on the market. The battery-electric car’s arrival last March came as northern Italy was being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dealership closures and shaky consumer confidence have also stunted demand for the pricey EV, which is mostly being purchased by rental car companies.

In Italy, for example, half of the New 500s delivered in the country from the start of production last year through February went to rental firms, according to market researcher Dataforce.

To experience the car for myself, I invested in a two-day weekend rental for 59.98 euros from Leasys, which is one Fiat parent Stellantis’ leasing and rental subsidiaries.

I covered about 300 kilometers in the so-called “business opening edition” of the three-door variant that had a 42-kilowatt-hour battery (with 37.3-kWh of usable capacity) and a range of 320 km under WLTP testing guidelines.

The New 500’s exterior is very similar to the gasoline-powered 500 even though it is built on a different platform and it is slightly bigger at 3632 mm (142 inches) long, which is 61 mm more than the 500; 1683 mm wide (+56 mm); 1527 mm tall (+39 mm); with a wheelbase that is expanded by 22 mm (2322 mm).

Also worth noting about the exterior is that the Fiat logo has been removed both from the front grille and from the steering wheel and has been replaced by the number 500.

Fiat did not elaborate on the reason for this, although it is consistent with an idea floated by former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne, who envisioned the 500 range as a stand-alone brand. The future strategy for the Fiat brand has not been revealed so far by Stellantis, which is only four months into its existence.

For more on the New 500’s features, click here.

My test drives, which were done under near perfect weather conditions, included a balanced mix of driving on city streets, country roads and highways, the latter at speeds up to 110 kph (about 68 mph).

Energy consumption was 37.53 kW to cover 286 km, with an average of 7.62 km per kW.

Based on this performance, the 320 km of promised combined range during city and highway driving under WLTP rules appears optimistic; so does the 430 to 460 km of city driving range promised on the car’s technical specifications she

To experience the steps it takes to recharge the New 500 I tried a couple of locations.

The car allows up to 11 kW AC and 85 kW DC charging. Recharging at a 22 kW AC point was excruciatingly slow, taking 1 hour and 45 minutes to add a little more than 10 kW (at 6 kilowatt hours).

This cost 4.68 euros, or 0.45 euro cents per kW. My experience was much better at a Ionity 350 kW DC point, where it took just 8 minutes to add 8.1 kW (equivalent to more than 60 kW per hour) albeit at nearly twice the price: 6.54 euros or 0.79 per kW.

The car is fun to drive in the city and on open roads. The steering is responsive, especially in town, and the acceleration is zippy, propelling the small car from 0 to 50 kph in 3.1 seconds and from 0 to 100 kph in 9 seconds. By comparison, the gasoline-powered mild hybrid Fiat 500 goes 0 to 100 kph in 13.8 seconds.

In the so-called Normal driving mode, the New 500 does very little regenerative braking.

However, using the one-pedal driving function, called Range mode, the car brakes energetically to replenish the battery whenever I lifted my foot from the accelerator.

This mode is very efficient and has no trouble bringing the car to a complete stop. Though I wouldn’t recommend using this mode when parking because the last few feet of the maneuver can be a bit herky-jerky.

The car’s Sherpa mode limits speed, switches off the air conditioning and helps preserve energy when the battery is low.

The New 500’s biggest drawback is its price, which starts at 26,150 euros the Action version that has a 23.7-kWh battery and a 185 km WLTP range.

The variant with a 42-kWh battery a starts at 29,900 euros. Fiat’s pricing strategy for the EV, however, is in line with the gasoline versions of the 500, which historically have cost more than rivals because the automaker positions the retro-styled car as an aspirational model.

The same pricing principle is being applied to the New 500, which cost as little as 15,900 euros in Italy after government subsidies and scrapping incentives are applied.

The list of cheaper battery-electric competitors includes the Renault Twingo ZE, which has comparable battery and range but it starts at 22,950 euros before incentives.

In addition, a mild-hybrid version of the 500 with a three-cylinder, 70-hp gasoline engine starts at 15,500 euros before incentives in Italy.