Fiat 600e (2024-) Review

Introduction

To describe the Fiat 500’s success as a blessing and a curse for Fiat would be a step too far, but there’s no doubt such popularity has brought challenges. Chief among which is the desire to replicate it again and again with various other models in the range. Fiat has tried numerous different tactics, from copying the 500 formula to ignoring it altogether, and the results have been varied. The Tipo and 500L have been discontinued, while the 500X and Panda have both fared remarkably well.

But now it’s time for another attempt, and it seems Fiat is aiming somewhere between the two approaches. With the 600 models, Fiat is once again reviving an old name, but it’s a name that has long had links to its little sister, the 500. As the original 600 was essentially an overgrown 500, the same is true of the new equivalents – at least on the face of it. But times have changed, and the 600 is being offered initially in electric 600e form, while the styling has also become more modern. So can the new battery-powered 600e charm customers in the same way the smaller 500e has done, or will it be little more than another footnote in Fiat’s back catalogue?

At a Glance

From the off, it’s apparent that the 600e is trading on the 500’s style. The doe-eyed lights, the curvy rear and the silhouette are all 500-esque, but there’s a sense that it’s grown up a bit, with not only a larger footprint but five doors and some cladding around the arches, just to hammer home the point that this is a baby SUV.

It’s a similar story inside, where you get a two-spoke steering wheel and that oval shape to the dashboard, all of which are very similar to the 500e. The seats, with their rounded head restraints, are also very 500-ish in their design – and they’re quite comfortable – while the clean dash is dominated by a wide touchscreen display. It’s a simple interior, but one that’s pleasant enough, and has a hint of retro about it.

Space isn’t spectacular by the standards of family hatchbacks, it’s true, but it’s far better than in the 500e, with back doors and space for humans in the rear seats, as well as a boot that’s big enough for suitcases and other items you might need to carry.

Of course, with just one electric powertrain available, and the battery being only medium-sized, range is a little limiting, but there’s enough there for the 600e to be useful, and it charges reasonably quickly, assuming you can find a charging station powerful enough. It’s also fairly comfortable on a long journey, and though the steering feels quite inert and the body rolls a little in corners, it isn’t bad to drive fast.

Key Features

Like any of Fiat’s more style-conscious products, the 600e’s design is key to its appeal. Naturally, Fiat has lifted quite a lot of design cues from the 500e, including the big headlights, the grille that appears to be smiling inanely and the bulging tail lights. The slope of the tailgate is a bit 500-esque, too, and that’s before we talk about the roundness of the lines or the proportions.

Of course, there’s some SUV stuff in there, too, such as the ride height and the cladding around the wheel arches, while the vents in the front bumper add a sporty kind of feel that sits slightly incongruously with the rest of the car. Nevertheless, the design is reasonably cohesive, and it feels as though the 500e’s style has been transferred elegantly onto the larger and taller body. Somehow, though, it still lacks the 500e’s cuteness.

But the design is only half the battle for any electric car, and the 600e’s powertrain will also be under the microscope. The 54kWh battery is sufficient for about 200 miles of range in the real world, assuming you drive sensibly and in fair weather, so longer drives aren’t out of the question, but the 600e comes into its own in urban and suburban areas, where the quietness and instant acceleration make it great for nipping to the shops or the school run. It should be cheap to run on those kinds of assignments, too.

Range & Batteries

Fiat is only offering one battery in the 600e, and that’s the 54kWh unit also found in the Fiat’s closest relation, the Jeep Avenger. The battery doesn’t sound that big in a world where some manufacturers regularly shoehorn 100kWh batteries into their flagship products, but the Fiat is still relatively small and efficient, so it’ll cover more than 250 miles on a charge according to the official economy test. In the real world, you probably won’t achieve that, but on a reasonably warm day we topped 200 miles on a motorway schlep, so it’s still fairly useful on a longer drive. Naturally, though, it’ll be at its best around town, where speeds are lower and there’s more opportunity to make the most of regenerative braking.

Performance & Drive

Just as the 600e is only offered with one battery pack, it also comes with just the one electric motor option. It’s a 115kW unit that sends 154hp to the Fiat’s front wheels, which is wholly adequate without being spectacular in any way.

Officially, it takes nine seconds flat to get from 0-62mph, but the 600e feels a bit faster than that thanks to the electric motors’ power delivery. Because there’s no gearbox that has to sort itself out and no turbocharger that has to spool up, all the power arrives the moment you touch the pedal, and that gives the 600e a turn of pace that’s more immediate than the figures suggest. Overtaking is easy enough, and despite the 93mph top speed, the car feels surprisingly at home on the motorway.

It feels at home in most environments, in fact, and though there’s no off-road, all-wheel-drive model at present, the 600e is perfectly competent on the road. It doesn’t feel anything like as eager or as enthusiastic as a 500e, but that’s fine in a family car that rides pretty well, corners ably and is every bit as refined as you expect.

Admittedly, the ride can feel a bit wooden over low-speed bumps – that’s often the way in electric cars with their heavy batteries – but on the motorway it becomes much more supple and pliable, which means there’s lots to like.

Similarly, the steering is quite numb, which means there’s precious little in the way of engagement, but it’s still perfectly acceptable. It’s a bit light, but not so light that it feels detached, and it offers enough precision to allow you to position the car where you want it. In short, it’s very well judged for a compact family car.

Charging

Fiat has fitted the 600e with a 100kW DC charging system, which allows it to use ultra-rapid public charge points. Plug in to a power source that can deliver sufficient oomph, and you’ll find the battery can be topped up from 10% to 80% in about half an hour, while using a typical household ‘wallbox’ charging unit with 7kW of power will fully charge the battery in about seven hours, making overnight charging an appealing option. It’s also the cheapest option, but it’s good to know that fast charging is available if you need it on a longer drive.

Running Costs & Emissions

The appeal of this 600e model will, primarily, be the cheap running costs afforded by the electric powertrain. That’s particularly true for company car drivers, who are flocking to electric cars in search of low company car tax rates, and the 600e will certainly provide on that front. With Benefit-in-Kind tax rates through the floor for electric vehicles, it’s a great way of driving something way more valuable or more upmarket than you could otherwise afford.

But there are advantages that suit both private and corporate customers, too. Take the cost of charging, which can be incredibly low if you do it at home, and even lower if you take advantage of low-rate off-peak power. As a result, the 600e will likely be much cheaper to run than the petrol-powered versions of the 600, although the gap will close slightly if you use more expensive public charging units regularly. Even so, expect to see some savings over the other 600 models and any combustion-powered rivals.

Interior & Technology

Just like the 600e’s exterior attempts to steal bits from the 500e, so too does the larger car’s cabin. Take, for example, the two-spoke steering wheel and the rounded-off digital instrument cluster, both of which are hallmarks of the 500e. Admittedly, they aren’t quite the same as those of the smaller car, but the nod to the past is there.

Similarly, the dashboard design is very 500-ish, and the seats are almost identical, which probably isn’t much of a surprise. Yet it somehow lacks some of the charm of the 500, although we can’t quite put our fingers on why that is.

It also lacks buttons. Because so many of the controls are hidden away in the touchscreen, the 600e just gets two banks of buttons across the lower part of the dashboard. One comprises just four buttons for selecting reverse, forward, neutral and park on the gearbox, while the other offers climate control switchgear. For manufacturers looking at ways to integrate touchscreens and physical controls in a clean and minimalist way, this is a pretty good design study.

Unfortunately, the tech isn’t quite so brilliant. We quite like the digital instrument display, but the touchscreen is laggy and fussy in places, which limits its user-friendliness. At least it works well with the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration technology, which makes life a bit easier.

In much the same way, build quality is a bit hit-and-miss thanks to the occasional bit of cheap-feeling switchgear and the odd overly hard plastic, but it’s all reasonably well bolted together and the seat upholstery feels great, which makes the 600e’s cabin feel much more upmarket than you might expect. Even if we can’t work out why there’s a strange magnetic, three-part flap over the central cubby hole. But no matter…

Practicality & Boot Space

As the name suggests, the 600e is a bit bigger than the 500e, so it’s a much more practical product. But it still isn’t huge, so cabin space is adequate rather than amazing, with slightly cramped rear seats. You can put adults back there happily enough, but tall passengers won’t enjoy it that much. On the other hand, sitting in the front is perfectly comfortable, with bags of headroom and even sufficient shoulder room between the two seats. It never feels palatial, but it’s fine for the couples and young families at which the 600e is aimed.

The same goes for the boot, which measures 360 litres when all the seats are upright. That isn’t massive, but it’s about the same size as that of the MG4 EV, so it isn’t exactly miniscule, either. For family life, it should be more than adequate, but trying to take a family of four on a week-long holiday in the 600e might not be the most comfortable experience in the world.

Safety

The 600e still hasn’t been crash-tested by Euro NCAP, the independent safety body, so it’s difficult to make direct comparisons between the Fiat and its rivals. Even the Jeep Avenger doesn’t have a star rating yet, so we can’t even look to that. But we do know that Fiat achieved a credible four-star rating with the smaller 500e, and small cars don’t always fare well in the crash test scenario. As a result, we’re expecting a solid performance from the 600e if and when it is eventually tested, because Fiat and its parent company Stellantis definitely know how to make cars safe.

Certainly, the company has stuck plenty of safety tech on the 600e. All the usual suspects are present and correct, including autonomous emergency braking that can stop the car if the driver fails to react to a hazard, while there are parking sensors at the front, rear and sides to help prevent low-speed scrapes. You can have a reversing camera, too, and blind-spot detection that will alert you if a car wanders into one of the blind spots over your shoulders.

Options

The 600e is currently available in a choice of two different trim levels. There’s the (RED) option, which is the product of a tie-up with the AIDS charity (RED) and there’s the more upmarket La Prima option.

Naturally, the (RED) comes in red as standard, with black and white paint options available, but all get red exterior accents, black door mirrors and a few other visual upgrades. There are interior tweaks, too, including a red dashboard and a red centre tunnel, and you get the standard 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.

Alternatively, you can opt for the La Prima, which comes with a choice of more outlandish paint colours, including Sunset Orange, Sky Blue, and our favourite: Ocean Green. You get Ivory leather upholstery, too, and chrome lettering in place of the (RED)’s red. You also get a reversing camera thrown in, as well as the rear parking sensors that come with the (RED).

There’s a handful of options available, too, and we don’t just mean paint choices. You can get different colours for the door mirrors and the 600 lettering, and you can have add-ons such as different tyre valve caps and a cupholder organiser.

Rival Cars

The electric SUV market is burgeoning, so the 600e seems to take on greater numbers of rivals every day. Key competitors in this market include the Hyundai Kona, which was recently upgraded to make it even more capable, thanks to a fresh new design and updated technology, and the Kia Soul EV, which has more character but is beginning to show its age.

Elsewhere, Mazda’s MX-30 offers an interesting alternative that’s great to drive, but lacking in the range department, while the Vauxhall Mokka Electric offers a bit of style and intrigue without exciting in any way. The DS 3 E-Tense is in much the same boat, with its semi-premium feel and distinctly French attitude, but it doesn’t have the appeal of the 600e.

In many ways, the Peugeot e-2008 (above) is one of the more promising rivals, with its cool exterior, well made cabin and impressive road manners. But perhaps the biggest contender is the Jeep Avenger, with which the 600e shares so much. It has the Jeep styling, which will suit some customers more than others, but it’s similar to the 600e in terms of size, range and space. Which you prefer will more or less come down to which you like the look of.

Verdict & Next Steps

Of all the cars that have attempted to channel the modern 500’s appeal, the 600 is perhaps the most compelling. but it still doesn’t quite have the X-factor that has made the 500 and 500e models so instantly cool and desirable. We’re not sure that’s a trait Fiat will ever quite replicate. However, the 600e is still attractive in its own right, with a design that still looks a bit bulbous but sort of works, and a driving experience that will be more than satisfactory for the target market. Combine that with reasonable efficiency and a sensible range, and you’ve got a decent small SUV that deserves every bit as much success as the 500X, if not more.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Fiat 600e.

**Correct as of 26/06/2024. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £4,273.02  (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.