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Fiat brings back its 500e electric model for 2024, with 149 mile range

45 points| lxm | 1 year ago |abc7.com

63 comments

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[+] jwells89|1 year ago|reply
I’m looking at leasing one of these because I don’t need a whole lot of car, since I don’t commute — mostly I just need a grocery-grabber, and it’s one of the handful of EVs that’s small enough to fit in my somewhat undersized garage while still leaving ample room to move around the car.

We really need more Honda Fit type EVs… think small, cheap, and high utility, but the way things are looking the next several years will continue the endless stream of scarcely distinguishable midrange-and-up SUVs with the odd luxury sedan.

[+] vladgur|1 year ago|reply
Have you looked at Kia Kona EVs. I think they are close to Fit’s size
[+] ryandrake|1 year ago|reply
I remember when it initially debuted and the best thing about it was they were offering a $49/mo lease. Now, I'm a militant "you should own your car, never lease" guy, but even I was tempted. That was just a stupidly ridiculous good deal. Wonder if they'll bring that back too (I won't hold my breath).
[+] aquaticsunset|1 year ago|reply
If you want a screaming lease deal, check out the Subaru Solterra. It makes me genuinely upset I bought one instead of leased.

Love the car, didn't mind the price, but wow these things are at a discount.

[+] greenthrow|1 year ago|reply
Yes the range is limited. That's on purpose. It's intended to be a city car, not a freeway cruising road-tripper. We don't all need to be lugging around a 100kWh battery for our typical 30mi of driving per day.
[+] JojoFatsani|1 year ago|reply
I believe Stellantis is adopting the NACS (aka Tesla Supercharger compatible) plug. That turns this into a more practical car in case of emergency or if you need to make an occasional longer trip.

Everyone shops for the edge case - what if I need to drive from Maine to San Diego, or what if I need to buy three rooms worth of drywall? The answer obviously is just rent an ICE for those rarer occasions. But obviously if you’re a drywaller or a courier, buy something different to begin with.

[+] deevus|1 year ago|reply
I got to test drive one of these. It's such a fun little car to drive, albeit not that responsive or fast. If you just needed a little runabout it would be perfect for that.

In Australia these cost just under 70K AUD. The interior is very nice, and quite spacious for what it is. There is a lot of leather that looks and feels good.

If I didn't need to occasionally do long distance (150km+) it would have been a contender, but at its asking price, cheaper options like the MG-4 and GWM Ora are much better value.

[+] Always42|1 year ago|reply
70k AUD ~= $47k
[+] asveikau|1 year ago|reply
"Brings back" is funny, US market centric. They've had the revamped electric one in Europe since 2021. They stopped exporting to the US in 2019 or so. Now they're bringing it back to the US.
[+] Aloisius|1 year ago|reply
Yes, a local ABC news station in Los Angeles writes news articles assuming an American context for their overwhelmingly American audience.

The article also explicitly says it has been available in Europe for four years.

[+] allanrbo|1 year ago|reply
Kind of makes sense that ABC news (American Broadcasting Company) is US centric though :-)
[+] xyzzy_plugh|1 year ago|reply
I found this headline mind boggling, as I've been reading reviews that cover the 500e continuously since it was introduced.

A "brings back (to the US market)" or something would go along way.

[+] jmward01|1 year ago|reply
I want car privacy to be a top feature mentioned for every vehicle. Every time I see integrations with service x, y or z, I don't think convenience, I think privacy nightmare.
[+] ramesh31|1 year ago|reply
If they could do it for ~$20k out the door, it could be a compelling little vehicle for some people. But at $35k this is just a bad joke.
[+] a_vanderbilt|1 year ago|reply
I rewrote this comment because I think the angle I had initially was wrong. While I think it will struggle in the US/Canadian market, in the EU I think it will be popular.

It also does have CarPlay, which I was incorrect about. Commenter below was kind enough to point that out.

[+] xyzzy_plugh|1 year ago|reply
It's been available in EU since its inception circa 2020. It's popular enough that they're bringing it west.
[+] andsoitis|1 year ago|reply
$35k !!

Tesla Model 3 base model sells for $39k and gives you 270 miles.

[+] infecto|1 year ago|reply
I am guessing they are just juicing their EPA stats? That’s why one of the other small manufacturers did it. Was it smart car, fiat or someone else.

This juices their mpg to meet requirements.

[+] gigel82|1 year ago|reply
Is it going to be California only, like the last model they had? There is clearly demand for low cost, medium range EVs for commute all over the country, yet this kind of cars are only available in California for some reason.
[+] quasarj|1 year ago|reply
Hasn't this been known for months now? We need them to bring back the gasoline version.. nobody wants an electric car with poor mileage, no matter how cute it is.
[+] KennyBlanken|1 year ago|reply
VW has sold a million or so eGolfs which had similar range numbers in the latter years.

150 miles is enough for someone who has a 30 mile round trip commute to drive a full work week without doing any charging. 150 mi range is enough for many city drivers to go weeks between charges, or make a trip out of the city for a day/weekend.

Repeat after me: "what I want is not necessarily what others want."

[+] trog|1 year ago|reply
I do - if it's cheap. 99% of my driving is < 30km.

I'd love to have a small electric car that costs little to buy, little to run, and deals with the vast majority my trips, and have a second car with longer range for the rare times I do long trips.

"Long" for me is to the beach, which is about 100km away, so say 250km round trip range would be excellent - which this car almost does.

But the base price on this seems disproportionately high.

[+] Phoenix5869|1 year ago|reply
EDIT: in hindsight, i shouldn’t’ve dismissed this as just “oh it hasn’t got good range” . I will try not to be so dismissive in future.

This should be good for an average commute in an urban area.

Side note tho, remember when the high end cars had below 100 mile range?

[+] kabigon|1 year ago|reply
$32k USD starting is not what I would call affordable. Even the Nissan Leaf starts lower. This car is honestly a bit of a joke in the US markets even for a small, simple commuter you can do much better here in the EV space. A used 2018 leaf would get more range, charge faster and cost less.
[+] saagarjha|1 year ago|reply
Seems more than reasonable for most people's commute