FIAT’SBRIGHTERFUTURE
WitH doom and gloom all around, Fiat hopes to inject some optimism into our motoring lives with its new all-electric 600e family crossover. it’s the bigger sibling of the top-selling Fiat 500 electric car and aims to capture much of that fun in a larger, more practical package.
Available in a range of bright colours, the 154hp all-electric 600e with a 54kWh battery accelerates from rest to 62 mph in 9 seconds up to a top speed of 93 mph with a range of up to 254 miles.
Red, the entry-level model, starts from £32,995 while for the higher- specced La Prima, which i drove, it’s from £36,995 without extras. neither is cheap. But Fiat offers its own £3,000 ‘e-grant’ contribution so the actual pricesp y you
pay are £29,995 and £33,995 respectively.
Riding on 18in alloy wheels (Red has 16in), my 600e was well stocked. it’s an engaging and spacious family runaround with a good range, and performance p that’s fun without
being a Ferrari. Lovely design touches include a flip-and-fold cover on the centre console storage cubby hole akin to an iPad and proper physical buttons for air-con.
Safety features include adaptive cruise control, traffic
sign and speed limit recognition. But aware that sales of pure electric cars to private e buyers have stalled, Fiat is now w adding a mild hybrid option to o the line-up. Base price for this s is from £23,965 and £26,965 for r the top-range 600 La Prima.
POLISH up your Protons, dust down your Datsuns, — tickets for the world’s largest display of mundane motors are on sale now.
The Festival Of The Unexceptional, which celebrates much maligned ‘ordinary’ classic cars, celebrates its tenth anniversary at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire on Saturday July 27.
Tickets cost £35 per car and owners can take part in a competition comprising the 50 most unexceptional motors built between 1969 and 1999, chosen by judges in a selfstyled ‘battle of the blands’.
Last year’s winner was Stephen Pike, pictured below with his pride and joy — a 1991 Daihatsu Applause .
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