A lot has changed in the five years since you could last buy a brand-new Fiat 500 – the cute little micro-car from Italy.
When it was last available – back in 2019 – it had a base price just over $16k, came standard with a manual transmission and could take you nearly 300 miles – in city driving – on about 10 gallons of gasoline.
Fast-forward to now.
Fiat no longer sells that 500. But you can get a battery-powered version of it that only costs about twice as much – and goes about half as far.
What It Is
The 500e is an updated version of the 500 mini-car Fiat used to sell until it was dropped from Fiat’s U.S. lineup after the end of the 2019 model year.
It looks pretty much the same but it’s also very different – beginning with how much it costs.
The electric 500 stickers for $32,500 to start for the base Red Edition trim. Prices top out at $36,000 for the other two available trims, Music and Beauty – each emphasizing different themes. The Music comes standard with a premium JBL audio system and cream-colored interior while the Beauty comes standard with Rose-colored interior accents and Rose Gold exterior paint.
All trims come standard with the same electric powertrain – with no transmission – and a maximum of 149 miles of advertised range on a fully charged battery.
The old 500 – sans the “e” – stickered for $16,245 to start when it was last available and could be had with either of two versions of a 1.4 liter four cylinder engine, one more powerful than the other, and a standard manual transmission – with an automatic available optionally.
What’s New
The 500e is Fiat’s only current offering in the United States.
What’s Good
It’s still cute.
A little more front seat leg (and head) room vs. before.
Odds are high you could haggle down the $32k-to-start price down considerably.
What’s Not So Good
Costs about twice as much as the old 500 with an engine rather than a battery.
Only goes about half as far.
Takes at least five times as long (20-30 minutes) to get going again as the old 500 did when it runs out of charge.
Under The Hood
The old 500 had a small – 1.4 liter – four cylinder engine. The new 500e has no engine at all. And no transmission, either – because its electric motor is directly connect to the front wheels, as is the usual arrangement in an EV. The 40 kWh battery and 117 horsepower motor allow for an advertised maximum of 149 miles of driving range.
That’s not much range, even relative to other EVs. In fact, the 500e is the only 2024 model EV that doesn’t advertise at least 200 miles of range on a fully charged battery. You’d think this little car would be able to go farther – because it is a little car and because (unlike pretty much every other EV on the market) it does not brag about how powerful and quick it is.
Because it isn’t.
The little Fiat needs just shy of 8 seconds to haul itself to 60, chiefly because it is so heavy. Nearly 3,000 lbs. empty – or close to twice as heavy as a similarly small but much lighter car such as a ‘1970s-era VW Beetle (which weighed about 1,600 lbs.).
The old Fiat 500 was no lightweight for its size, either – but it weighed a relatively athletic 2,505 lbs. The additional 500 pounds (just about) is due to the weight of the battery pack that stores the electricity that powers this EV’s electric motor.
In order to get the 500e to go faster – or farther – a larger (and even heavier) battery would be needed; but that would make the 500e even heavier than it already is. This is the Catch 22 with EVs, generally. Weight is the enemy of efficiency – which is to say, the enemy of long range, too. But in order to get more range, you need a larger (heavier) battery . . . and there goes the range.
The little Fiat has the additional problem of being little. Which means there’s just not much room in it for a battery as it was not designed to lug around hundreds of pounds of battery.
And that’s why it only goes so far.
On The Road
This little car could be a fine city car for people who don’t need or want a larger car. The problem is its cost. It is one thing to pay $16k for a little runabout like the old 500 (which had the additional advantage of being able to go the distance – on the highway – if you needed it to). It is another thing to pay about twice as much for a little car that only goes about half as far – and that’s only if you don’t take it on the highway, where its touted maximum range of 149 miles is more like 100 miles if you drive it at highway speeds.
That means maybe 50 miles out – and back. Which would not be so bad were it not for the compounding problem. The recharge-time problem. It takes 20-30 minutes at a public high-voltage “fast” charger to recover about 80 percent of this EV’s fully charged range, which would be about 119 miles. But if you can’t make it to a “fast” charger – or if one’s available – you’ll be waiting six hours for a recharge at home. That’s the fastest this EV can draw back power using a Level II (240 volt) dryer-stove type outlet – which also generally requires having an electrician wire up the outlet as well as a single family home or at least a townhouse because you have to b able to park the EV close enough to the outlet. You can’t run a cable down from the window of your apartment or condo.
And that’s where most people who live in the city live.
You see the problem.
Where I live – which is in the country – 149 miles of best-case range is also a problem because the drive into town and back is about 60 miles, which means that even in a best-case scenario, I end up back home with not much range left. Which means I can’t go out again until the thing has been on the wall charger for at least a day, because I don’t have a 240V outlet in my garage. So I have to use a standard 120V outlet – and that’s how long it takes. Which means that this car is an every other day car.
And that can be a problem if you haven’t got a second car for those days when the EV isn’t charged up enough to be used, except maybe for the short hop down to the mailbox and back.
On the upside, it’s quiet. And it is a little quicker-feeling than the gas-engined Mini because of the electric motor’s available-immediately torque. The weight of the thing also makes it feel bigger than it is.
And of course, it’s still small – even if it isn’t light . Like its engine’d forbear, it is so small it fits almost anywhere a motorcycle can, at least in terms of length. The short wheelbase and quick steering give it that slot-car maneuverability that made the original 500 so much fun to drive.
It’s just too bad the other fun stuff’s gone now.
At The Curb
To look at the “e” you’d think it was the same 500. It’s actually a little different (aside from the big difference).
The old 500 was 139.6 inches long; the new “e” is 143 inches long, so almost 4 inches longer than before. That’s why the “e” has more backseat legroom – 31.7 inches vs. 29.5 previously – which (in both cases) is more backseat legroom than you’d have available in several much larger four seater coupes such as the current Ford Mustang, which is 189.4 inches long – nearly four feet longer – yet only has 29 inches of legroom and much less headroom due to the Mustang’s much lower, much-more-steeply raked roofline.
Of course the 500e is a very different type of car – and that’s just the point. A car such as the Mustang (and the recently cancelled Chevy Camaro) as well as two-seater sporty cars such as the Mazda Miata are very fun, very impractical cars. Believe it or not, the Fiat is practical for a car its size. It can realistically carry two passengers in back – for short hops, at any rate. And because of the tall roof, there’s more potential space for cargo than the advertised 8 cubic feet behind the front seats. The rear liftgate opens wide to allow access to the room there is, too. 
The interior layout is similar to the previous layout, with a few small differences, including a larger (10.3 inch) standard LCD touchscreen for the infotainment system and an all digital main instrument cluster as well as push-buttons for Park, Drive and Reverse mounted on the lower dash.
Like the BMW Mini Cooper – which can be considered a cross-shop now due to the “e’s” much higher sticker price – the car has lots of neat detail touches to make it cheerful such as “Fiat” embossing of the seat covers and the new Beauty and Music trims, both of which come standard with seat heaters, though keep in mind how that might affect how far you can go in the winter.
Curiously, both the Music and the Beauty trim are priced the same but the Music trim gets a better (JBL) stereo system that isn’t offered with the Beauty, even as an a la carte option.
Also, all trims come standard with one of those obnoxious “drowsy driver” monitors that uses cameras pointed at the driver to see where he’s looking. If you look to the right or left too long (for the nanny) you’ll get pestered with lights and noises to “keep your eyes on the road.”
The Rest
The “e” vs. the old 500 is a very interesting side-by-side comparison of the costs of “electrification.” The same car – basically – now costs twice as much as it did and by dint of how limited it is, it’s not nearly as useful as it was. There’s also the more subtle cost of faster and steeper depreciation – a problem that all have EVs have, because of the inevitable and unavoidable decline of the battery pack’s capacity to fully recharge. A five or six year old EV may be in need of a new battery that costs half as much as the car itself did before another five years elapse – and not many people looking for a used car are wanting to pay for a new battery.
The Bottom Line
It’s still cute and fun, though less so. And it’s definitely no longer the inexpensive ride it used to be.
. . .
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In 1971 I drove a 1963 Fiat 600D, often called the Italian “Volkswagen”.
It was bored out to 1,000 CCs, a real powerhouse LOL. Top end of 65 flat out on a slight downhill grade. 40+ mpg on any available grade of gas under any conditions. Got a poor boy through college. I never got $2 of gas in it.
Very unsophisticated and criminally simple to work on.
I had the year with suicide doors. Which I actually liked. Made it very easy to get people into the back seat. If parts were readily available I would own one now.
DIY electric car runs 200 miles on old lead-acid batteries, which are 100% green…..
Lead acid batteries are 100% recycled so are green. Only 5% of lithium batteries are recycled, plus there is a rumored $4500 recycling fee, so lots will get thrown into the woods…..
A typical EV battery weighs one thousand pounds, (tesla batteries go up to 1800 lb. ) about the size of a travel trunk. It contains twenty-five pounds of lithium, sixty pounds of nickel, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds cobalt, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic. Inside are over 6,000 individual lithium-ion cells.
It should concern you that all those toxic components come from mining. For instance, to manufacture each EV auto battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. All told, you dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth’s crust for just one battery.”
Sixty-eight percent of the world’s cobalt, a significant part of a battery, comes from the Congo. Their mines have no pollution controls, and they employ children who die from handling this toxic material. Should we factor in these diseased kids as part of the cost of driving an electric car?”
Some individuals to use their skills to create low-cost electric rides. David Cloud is one such individual who has spent $3000 in converting a 1997 Geo Metro to run on an electric engine fueled by old lead acid batteries.
The vehicle is powered by 8” ADC motors that are included on each rear wheel and are powered by twelve old 12V lead-acid batteries. The vehicle has a top speed of 72mph and can hit 60mph in 18 seconds, with a range of about 200 miles.
twelve 12 volt lead acid batteries @ 1.26 kwh per battery = 15.2 kwh. 200 miles using 15.2 kwh = 7.51 kwh used in 100 miles. 13.3 miles of range for every kwh
0.21 gallons of gas equivalent were burnt to go 100 miles
So to end up with 7.51 kwh of electricity which is equivalent to 0.21 gallons of gas to push the 12 volt battery EV 100 miles down the road….(476 mpg…if the EV liars were selling them they would quote that….lol), in reality 0.84 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency. (65% energy loss when the fuel was burnt…the rest lost in distribution lines and the charger…75% total loss)…100 miles using 0.84 gallons = 119 mpg,
https://ecofriend.com/diy-electric-car-runs-200-miles-on-old-lead-acid-batteries.html
The new 4500 lb lithium battery powered EV’s…….
What range/energy consumption are test drivers getting from new EV’s?……..
…..What test drivers are actually getting driving in the real world driving EV’s is they are getting 2.4 miles of range for every kwh or using 41.66 kwh to go 100 miles. (.4166 kwh per mile) = 83 mpg
(83 mpg is based on electricity just coming out of a wall plug, in reality 4.80 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station = 20.8 mpg). these liars will quote 83 mpg….lol….
So to end up with 41.66 kwh of electricity which is equivalent to 1.20 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.80 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency. 100 miles using 4.80 gallons = 20.8 mpg,
NOTE:
34.7 kwh of electricity is equivalent to 1.02 gallons of gas
The bottom line?
The new EV’s are way over weight, too environmentally damaging in the manufacturing process, only very light EV’s have good fuel economy, the new EV’s cost far far too much, $50,000 and up, the homemade one cost $3000, these new EV’s use far too much energy, will crash the energy grid,
The 12 X twelve volt lead acid battery EV can be charged anywhere from a normal wall plug, the lithium battery EV has an up to $22,000 battery replacement cost, the 12 volt batteries can be bought for $60 (reconditioned batteries), 12 X $60 = $720……
Added bonus: 12 volt lead acid batteries don’t catch fire…. are safer then lithium fire bomb batteries….
ATTENTION: This is really bad….Before the lithium battery EV goes one foot the emissions/pollution just from manufacturing it is equal to driving an ice diesel 89,400 km (50,550 miles), about 7 years driving.
They talk about the environment to sell EV’s and to demonize ice cars, when the inverse is true.
the double-speak involved is intensely characteristic of the reversal of reality practiced by satanists…..black is white….. up is down….bad is good….ice is bad, EV’s are good
Demons invert/reverse all that they touch. The psychopath uses the same trick.
There is absolutely no way that thing went 200 miles on lead acid batteries, old or otherwise.
I also just got wind of a recall of all Jeep plug-in hybrids being at risk of spontaneous conflagration, especially when the batteries are low or nearly DIS-charged! Now I have to add those to the list of vehicles banned from my auto-service business, as well as full-on EVs.
What kills me is the terminology used for EV’s is intentionally contradictory, exclusive of all the flat-out lies, deceptions, government mandates, and tax-theft used to prop them up. CO2 is what plant life needs to thrive and make the planet green, yet “Green Energy” B.S. has everyone believing that CO2 reduction is a ‘solution’ to some ‘worldwide catastrophe’ that doesn’t exist. “Autonomous Vehicles” are actually automated machines; the very antithesis of autonomy, which is ‘free will’. So all these government mandates for EVs are intentional constrictions of plant growth (aka agriculture) and the elimination of free will to travel without interference from others. There is no “freedom” in government restriction and tyrannical mandates. It is one of, if not the biggest, scams being perpetrated on the entirety of humanity, and sheeple are swallowing the EV/Green Energy B.S. by the truck-loads! Every time someone says “studies done by experts say…….” I ask myself, at what point did these people’s brains shrivel up and blow away?? This is exactly why ‘socialist group mentality’ leads to subjugation, sterilization, and ultimately, annihilation.
Frankly, I’m convinced that the moment our society lost its balls, which was about 25 years ago, they also lost all their brains as well.
Former President “Chimp” and 9-11 pretty much neutered this entire country. The DemonRats that followed have just been taking advantage of the ‘national lobotomy’ we were given 2 1/2 decades ago. Life has been one great big ass-raping ever since.
Hi Graves!
Yup. Though I’d modify your analysis a little and add that Nahhhhhhnnnnnnnelllven revealed the underlying servility and poltroonery of most Americans.
gtc,
Whenever someone says “studies done by experts say……. I always ask, “what else has the study shown?”
My folks have a 2015 fiat 500, one with the engine, also the targa top. Do they still offer the targa top at least? Guessing not. Probably no Abarth version either.
They paid far less than sticker, as the engined version sold poorly in the US (it did sell ok in Europe). The depreciation on the gas model is pretty bad, the electric version will be even worse. But there will be even fewer buyers this time around for the e500’s.
Fudge-pack ’em
In the
Ass(et’s),
Tony….
The new acronym for FIAT…
That’s a Bingo, Saxon!
Borrowing from Col. Hans Landa…
Exactly.
I would buy two, one to doo-doo on and the other to cover it up
‘You can get a battery-powered [Fiat 500] that costs about twice as much – and goes about half as far.’ — eric
This does not compute. If it costed half as much, and went twice as far, it would sell like hotcakes.
But somebody turned the EeeVee buyer’s logic upside down, making it cost more and deliver less. Even with subsidies, this is a guaranteed fail.
EeeVees are NATO’s Trabant. Mock them while you can. We won’t have EeeVees to kick around too much longer.
More EV death & destruction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5NTunDJBiw
15 years ago GEM was making practical electric cars in Fargo. Gussied up golf carts, they were branded Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. The problems were that even they were overpriced at around 15k and their lead acid batteries all had to be replaced every 3 years. Physics, actual science, prohibits battery vehicles being successful.
The Fiat 500e is rated at 100 mpg e on the highway…..calculated at the battery…this doesn’t include a 65% energy loss at the power plant…where the fuel was burnt… plus the energy losses in transmission and the charger….
To get the real mpg…. just take the fake mpg e rating and divide by four…this will give you a more accurate fuel consumption rating….so the Fiat 500e gets about a real 25 mpg highway….
Net, net…EV’s are only 25% efficient……gas ice powered cars are about 35% efficient….diesels up to 50%…
Bring back the old 1st generation Fiat 500 Nuova…it was far better….
Bring back the 1957 Fiat 500 as cheap transportation for the poor slaves…
It cost $700…$7000 in 2024 dollars…it weighed 1100 lb and got 50 MPG……it carried 4 people….it had a cool sounding air cooled engine like a 911……
It had a Ferrari designer designed engine…the two cylinder air cooled engine was designed by Aurelio Lampredi who worked for Ferrari designing engines…then later on he worked for Fiat/Lancia designing engines, like the famous Lampredi twin cam hemi….he also ran Abarth….
Lampredi’s V12 engine gave Ferrari its first Formula One win when José Froilán González won the British Grand Prix in Silverstone in 1951.
The Italian people’s car, the Fiat 500 was an ingenious design, and has become a design icon.
The new Fiat 500e costs $32.000…more then 4 times as much as the original Fiat 500…
it weighs 3000 lb…almost 3 times as much as the 1st fiat 500…..
The new Fiat 500e gets 25 mpg…the original Fiat 500 got 50 mpg…
The new Fiat 500e will eat tires like all EV’s…it is too heavy
The new Fiat 500e will cost more to insure
The new Fiat 500e will cost more to repair…EV’s are full of problems…the 1st generation Fiat 500 was simple, reliable and cheap to repair….
The new Fiat 500e will have huge depreciation…in 10 years…no value…battery screwed….
the 1st generation still sells for the same price as in 1957…no depreciation….on bringatrailer they sell for around $8000 to $20,000 or more today….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeoebJyTFno
Fiat 500 1st generation…
Sports models were produced by Abarth, as well as by Giannini. An Austrian variant, produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the 1957–1973 Steyr-Puch 500, had a Puch boxer twin motor…(like a 911)….a sports model of which was the 1965–1969 Steyr-Puch 650 TR2…the Steyr-Puch 500 is very cool….like a miniature 911….
Total production about 3.9 million….
Fiat currency, and now a fiat Fiat – oh the horrors.
I was considering one as a daily driver, errand runner when they still had engines. Now not interested.
Hi David,
A friend’s mom bought one of the old models and has been vey happy with it. It’s a great little car for her. Or for anyone who wanted a small, inexpensive way to get around. But we’re not allowed to have that anymore.
Thanks for presenting this total fail as proof of concept for the entire LIE.
OT: Cheapskate Carlos at French Leyland (also known as Stellantis), the company behind Fiat, is publicly opposing (!) a delay of the 2025 European CO2 “emissions” fleet targets of 95 grammes per kilometer, claiming that the rules have been known for several years and it’s too late to change them now, and that “My guys are ready for the fight”. In other words, he’s doing the EU(SSR)’s bidding.
From the article:
While some automakers have voiced concerns about the viability of meeting the 2025 target, [Stellantis CEO Carlos] Tavares emphasized the importance of sticking to the plan. “Now, we are a few months before the race starts, and somebody says, hold on, change the rules,” he remarked. “Even if there is a delay in the standards, the global warming issue is still here.”
“Stellantis Ready for EU’s 2025 Emissions Standards, Tavares Says”
It sounds like Cheapskate Carlos may be betting on government to make his pathetic, slow-charging compliance BEVs such as this slow-selling Fiat 500e palatable for European consumers with the help of some government coercion, since he will certainly be unable to flog them in sufficient numbers without it. His surprising willingness to take the (apparent) risk of being massive fined certainly makes me wonder exactly who he’s really referring to when he’s saying that “my guys are ready for the fight” – perhaps he’s not (only) talking about French Leyland employees…
As I’ve said several times, I think the auto manufacturers themselves will soon become the most ardent proponents of a ban on the internal combustion engine. Maybe Cheapskate Carlos will be the first to take that step in public – I think his BS assertion that “the global warming issue is still here” might be a foreshadowing of what is to come.
Time for a 240v in the garage . . . . For a welder. LOL!
I don’t know how a car guy can survive without a 240v welder.
Hi Burn,
I do have a 240V outlet – in my work shed! It’s not a place convenient to plug in an EV; also, I would need to get several different set-ups because there are several different setups. If I had to deal with just one make/model EV, I’d only need one.
The good news is, no Italians are buying this overpriced hunk of crap. Every 4th car on the street in southern Italy in particular is a Fiat. 500, Panda, Brava, etc. These are all small affordable city cars that as you said can also do highway miles if needed. They are literal “Volkswagens”, ‘people’s cars’ and the people in the south of Italy are overwhelmingly poor.
30,000 Euro is an inconceivable amount of money for a vehicle for most of them who make LESS than that in an entire year. The average salary in southern Italy is about $24-30k depending on the region.
Fiat is doing the smart thing and not playing insanely stupid US regulatory game at all, and just opting out.
“This little car could be a fine city car for people who don’t need or want a larger car.”
That’s probably the target market. I fail to see how selling essentially the same vehicle for twice the cost and infinite the usage problems will be a winning combo.
Someone in the govt/auto industrial complex needs to be a grown up and admit that EVs are a failed experiment that doesn’t meet the needs of most consumers.
If government mandated shirt makers only made size S, sure there would be shirts, but they would be useless to most of us, so it would be thought idiotic to do so. Same applies here.