00:00I don't have to drive a lot, but I still need a car for getting around town to pick up groceries
00:04and my kid from school. That's why something like the Fiat 500e caught my attention. This
00:10is one of the smallest and cheapest EVs around. I've been driving this car for a week. I've
00:19taken it into New York City from the suburbs of New Jersey and back, and I've only needed
00:23to recharge it once. Right now I've got about 95 miles, and that's more than enough if you're
00:29all you're doing is going to the grocery store and back a couple times a week.
00:34It's motor here. It's a 118 horsepower producing about 162 foot-pounds of torque. Not the biggest
00:40motor by any stretch of the imagination, but because this car is so small, it's actually very
00:45peppy on the highway. I'm driving over cobblestones right now, which isn't the smoothest in the world,
00:51but the Fiat handles them pretty well. It has smaller tires than a typical car, about 17 inches,
00:57so you do feel potholes a little bit more. But otherwise, it's a fairly smooth ride.
01:04One thing I like about the Fiat 500e is that there's manual controls for things. All the
01:09environmental controls are laid out in a row right in front of me here, so you can sort of reach
01:14things by feel and not have to worry about, you know, going to the touch screen and finding stuff.
01:18You can, of course, do things on the touch screen, but it's nice to have physical controls as a
01:23backup. One of the things I really like about the Fiat 500e is a little shelf that's right underneath
01:30the dashboard here, and you can slot your phone in there, and it'll automatically recharge your
01:35phone if you have wireless charging. It's a little feature, but it's a handy one. The 500e has a large,
01:41but not overwhelming, 10-inch touchscreen, which lets you control everything fairly easily. It has,
01:46you know, CarPlay if you have iPhone or Android Auto, and there's also media controls, you know,
01:53for a serious satellite radio. You can control the climate here, and there's also navigation.
02:02The drive controls for the 500e are also pretty straightforward. You just have four buttons here,
02:07right in front of the dashboard for park, reverse, neutral, and drive. One of the other major
02:12considerations with the Fiat 500e is its range. This car is only rated for about 139 miles on a full
02:20charge. I was able to get it to maybe about 140-ish, 149, but it is something you can consider,
02:27especially if you take a lot of longer trips. The 500e's charging port is in sort of a traditional spot
02:35where you'd usually find a place to refill a gas car. Pop it open, though, and you have the plugs to
02:41recharge the car here. And there's also a nice little status symbol on the side that lets you know
02:46just how full the car is. Like all Fiat 500s, this is a small car. I'm about six feet tall,
02:53and as you can see, I can easily get over the top of it. If you're sitting in the front seat of the
02:58Fiat 500e, you'll find plenty of leg room, but it's a different case if you're sitting in the back.
03:05I'm going to sneak a slide in here and close it up. The front seat is moved almost all the
03:11way forward, and I still feel a little claustrophobic. It's pretty tight for me.
03:16Of course, one of the drawbacks having such a small car is that there's limited storage space.
03:21Unlike some larger EVs, there's no frunk for the Fiat 500e. You've got room for maybe
03:26two carry-on suitcases, but not much more. Back seats do fold down, but if you're doing a large
03:33Costco run, you'll probably need a larger car.
03:42When it comes to customizing the 500e, you're fairly limited in your choices. Fiat offers
03:47the car in white, red, black, and sort of a mist gray, but there's not much more you can configure
03:53in terms of motor, for example, or tires, or trim packages. As you can see, it has a nice 500
04:00styling logo on the front here. Nice attractive headlights, too, that were plenty bright at night,
04:05and you can adjust them, obviously. It has a nice red, white, and green of the Italian flag here,
04:10because after all, this is an Italian car. The styling of the Fiat 500e is simple but elegant.
04:16I do like on the seats here, it has the Fiat logo stitched into it. There's a nice sort of fabric
04:22dashboard here. Nothing feels cheap. Nothing feels overly ostentatious either.
04:32So that's a look at the Fiat 500e. It is a fun little affordable EV. It starts at just $32,500,
04:40making it one of the least expensive EVs that you can afford. However, there are a few compromises at
04:45this price. For one thing, the small size, which is great for cities, also means you don't have a lot
04:50of storage space. And its range, about 139 miles, is small compared to most other EVs. But if all you
04:59need to do is drive around the city or around your town for groceries and things like that, then this
05:04could be a great little fun electric car for you. What do you think about the Fiat 500e? Leave your
05:10thoughts in the comments below. And be sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and other social
05:15media sites. For Tom's Guide, this is Mike Crosswell.
Comments