Grew up, stayed cool
New 500 goes electric, matures its quality but doesn’t lose its flair
Meet the new face of city chic. Much the same as the old face – as defined by Fiat with its riotously popular 500, at least. After all, in its current form, it’s been on sale for 13 years and shifted more than two million examples globally.
First thing to know is that the ‘normal’ 500 lives on, being sold alongside the pure-electric New 500 we’re driving here in prototype form. Why the electric 500 isn’t given the much neater ‘500e’ name emblazoned on its badges is beyond us, but the new 500 really is called the New 500.
While the design is similar, there are some bold differences – notably the LED lights that cut into the bonnet. Underneath is a new platform that houses a 42kWh battery, which powers a 117bhp electric motor to drive the front wheels. Ocial WLTP range comes in at 199 miles, and prices start at £29,000 for the la Prima Cabrio (after the £3000 plug-in car grant), putting it firmly in contention with the Mini Electric and Honda E.
A tin-top la Prima version will arrive not long after, starting at £26,995, and better news is that more basic cars are due later in 2021 and will cost as little as £22,000 after the government grant.
Fiat’s onto a winner before you even set off in the New 500. The interior is far more grown-up than before without losing its design flair, and its 10-inch touchscreen gets Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay. A raised central cubby gives way to a clear through-space at the bottom of the centre console for maximum space. Thankfully, the driver’s seat sits lower and further back than before, and the steering wheel also has more adjustment, so even ordinary-sized humans can now get comfortable in the 500. Not the case with the existing car. That makes it even more of a shame that the ride isn’t so comfortable. This prototype has 17-inch wheels and, while at low speeds the damping softens the initial bump, high-speed stuff has it jarring and, at any speed, the short wheelbase and fairly stiff set-up is choppy over scruffy urban roads. The 15- or 16-inch wheels that’ll be offered on cheaper cars will most likely
PRICE POWERTRAIN
42kWh battery, single e-motor, front-wheel drive
Cutesy retro touches begone: all grown up now
improve this and, despite being one of the livelier ride qualities you’ll find in a small electric car, it’s unlikely to be a deal breaker – especially given that the electric 500 is a lot of fun to drive.
The steering is very light for the first few degrees but weights up nicely once you’ve made the initial dive into a corner, and there’s a sense of sturdy nimbleness to the whole affair that suits the New 500 perfectly – as does the perky acceleration off the line.
There are only two brake-regen modes, selected by toggling the drive modes. In Normal mode the 500e glides quite freely, while the one-pedal driving in Range and Sherpa modes is easy to modulate precisely.
That delightfully-named Sherpa drive mode ekes the potential maximum range to a fairly remarkable 280 miles. Given our prototype car was suggesting a maximum real-world range of 170 miles in Range mode, that seems as optimistic as conquering Everest in flip-flops – Sherpa or not. For all that, the New 500’s range is mighty impressive for the price and size of the car, as is the rest of the package.
First verdict
If Fiat can get it down to £22,000 or less, this achingly cool little car deserves to be just as much of a success as its predecessors #### #
PERFORMANCE
117bhp, 162lb ft, 9.0sec 0-62mph, 93mph
WEIGHT
1330kg