In a nutshell:
- Full spec and pricing for all-new electrified Fiat 500 revealed.
- Base ‘Action’ model priced from just £19,995, when you factor-in the Plug-in Car Grant.
- Even base models get host of high-tech driver assistant gadgets.
- And Action trim will also have a range of 150 miles in city driving conditions.
- Top-spec ‘Icon’ has larger battery and more powerful motor and will have a range of up to 285 miles.
- Orders open in December.
The Fiat 500 is going fully-electric - and you can now jump on the plug-in bandwagon for less than twenty grand, the Italian firm has revealed.
Since the 1950s the 500 has, as Fiat itself points out, been providing affordable personal transport across Europe and beyond.
Fast-forward 60 years, and Fiat is phasing out traditionally-engined versions of its famous city car and ushering-in a new era of fully-electric 500s.
Earlier this year, the UK car buying public got the first glimpses of this new breed of city car - in limited edition, high-spec ‘La Prima’ form.
But there was a problem - the £26,995 price tag provoked many a sharp intake of breath. That’s as much as the very well-proven and award-winning Renualt Zoe.
Now, though, Fiat has revealed the full pricing and specification for the electric 500.
And fans will be pleased to note that base models will be priced from just £19,995, on the road, inclusive of the Government’s Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG).
That base model is called the 500 ‘Action’, and comes with a 24kWh battery and a 70kW electric motor, with a predicted range of either 115 miles in normal driving, or around 150 miles when pootling around the city.
It will accelerate from 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 84 mph.
And because it comes equipped with a 50kW fast charging system, it’ll take just 10 minutes to put enough juice in the battery to cover around 30 miles.
Even base ‘Action’ models should prove well equipped, coming with Drowsy Driver Detection, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist, Traffic Sign Recognition, and three different driving modes – Normal, Range and the long-distance Sherpa.
It’ll also happily synch with your smartphone and there’s a new colour screen where a conventional instrument panel used to be.
Moving up the range there are two other new models to choose from - ‘Passion’, priced from £23,495, or ‘Icon’, which will cost from £24,995.
Passion models get a larger 42kWh battery and more powerful 87kW motor which reduces the 0-62mph time to 9 seconds, and boosts top speed to 93mph.
Crucially, it also means the Passion - which also gets cruise control and climate control - should cover 199 miles between charges on general road trips, or up to 285 miles on stop-start jaunts across the city.
The Icon uses the same powertrain as the Passion but improves on that spec with keyless entry, a large touchscreen, and a swankier interior.
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It is, then, the Fiat group’s first electric car designed from the ground up. The exterior has been redesigned to give it a new ‘clean face’, the interior tweaked to give passengers the ‘feeling of sitting on a romantic bench’, says Fiat.
But the big question here is this - will the 500 still be available as a petrol or hybrid?
Fiat says these existing versions will still be on sale when the electric 500 hits forecourts early in 2021 - but will only hang around for as long as there’s a need.
So, if you’re still not ready to join the electric revolution, a nippy little combustion-engined 500 still makes for a very affordable lease car, with prices starting at just £134 per month*.
*Correct as of 04/11/2020. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments or £1,209.49 Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.
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