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Can Fulmine Strike Twice?
When it got here time for my spouse to get a brand new automobile, there have been two issues that have been a should — it needed to be compact, and it needed to be electrical. She doesn’t like driving massive vehicles and doesn’t like utilizing fuel. That mentioned, she had her decide of any electrical automobile available on the market. My spouse is about as Kind-A as you possibly can think about. She’s wise, sensible, measured, understated.
So far as I used to be involved, the selection was apparent: a Tesla Mannequin 3 or Mannequin Y. They’ve extraordinary security, performance, know-how, efficiency, effectivity, charging infrastructure, and so on. To high it off, they a comparatively compact. The checklist of superlatives that Tesla automobiles get pleasure from is absolutely fairly astonishing. Clear alternative, proper? Are you aware what automobile she went with? A powder blue 2017 Fiat 500e. Are you aware why? As a result of it was cute. … That’s it. … It was cute. All the opposite attributes I listed above, all the opposite superlatives, all the opposite metrics that one may use to measure what makes an incredible automobile, have been trumped by one metric — cuteness. For my spouse, one of the crucial pragmatic folks I’ve ever met, cuteness received the day. Go determine.
She didn’t want utility, break-neck efficiency, or road-trip-ability. That’s what my Tesla is for. She needed to have the ability to get the place she wanted to go round city, and to look actually actually cute whereas doing so. And you recognize what? Mission achieved. That 500e is cute. Within the uppity Sarasota suburb of mine, the place Teslas are ubiquitous (you possibly can spot at the least two Teslas at virtually each intersection you come across), my spouse’s little silent blue Fiat turns as many heads as a rumbling Lamborghini Huracan. Severely. [Editor’s note: I also live in this suburb, and I 100% back David’s statement. It’s a serious headturner. —Zach]
Once we undergo the Starbucks drive-thru in my Tesla, the particular person on the window doesn’t acknowledge it in any respect. Dozens of Teslas have rolled as much as the window earlier than me, and dozens will roll up after me — in all probability in the identical day. However once we roll as much as the drive-thru window in my spouse’s 500e, the Starbucks worker calls their coworkers to the window to take a look at the cute blue automobile that has come again to go to them. And that’s it. That’s the magic of the “The Cinquecento.” It’s cute. It’s undeniably cute. It’s excruciatingly cute. That’s its factor. That’s its worth proposition. That’s the place it matches within the huge auto market. And understand that my spouse’s Fiat is about seven years previous. What do you name a automobile that’s a number of years previous that also garners that form of consideration? A basic. So, after I heard that Fiat was lastly bringing the up to date 500e to america in 2024, I used to be each very excited and curious to see if it had retained the basic cuteness that my spouse’s Fiat exudes.
Welcome to Miami
My probability got here final week when Fiat invited me, together with a gaggle of different auto journalists, to a press occasion in Miami’s hip Wynwood neighborhood to take a look at the most recent incarnation of the enduring cinquecento.
I’m joyful to report that the brand new 500e retains the allure of the earlier iterations. That mentioned, I’ve just a few gripes. Low cost feeling plastic dominates the doorways of the “(RED) collection” 500e that I drove, which doesn’t appear turning into of a car being offered as a premium product. One other gripe is the piano black buttons on the sprint, immediately riddled with fingerprints that undermine the in any other case slick inside design. On the subject of high-cycle contact surfaces like buttons, a matte end is the way in which to go. Lastly, was the Uconnect UI. It had driving modes that have been imprecise in explaining what every mode did to alter the driving dynamics of the automobile. One other UI situation was the automobile’s native SatNav, that saved canceling out for no obvious purpose. A lot in order that my copilot, the intrepid Alex Hevesy of SlashGear, needed to pull over so I might sync my iPhone to the Apple CarPlay of the automobile to get us again on the preprogrammed route that the Fiat advertising and marketing group had arrange for us. Lesson realized — when not in a Tesla (or Rivian), simply use CarPlay/Android Auto.
Moreover these snafus, the general expertise was pleasant. The automobile zipped by way of the city visitors with ease. The electrical motor gave its signature prompt torque, able to shifting the Fiat from 0–30 mph in three seconds. Not lengthy after 30 mph, the ability band flattened out, however for low-speed city driving, it’s greater than ample. The steering linkage felt just a little loosey-goosey; however that is positive as a result of the Fiat 500 isn’t a observe automobile, neither is it meant to be. Its large stance and low battery placement made the 500e really feel very planted whereas scooting round corners and the on/off-ramps of Miami’s inter-coastal waterways. And the MBH was excellent, including to the general serene driving expertise.
Zipping by way of the palm tree lined streets of Miami within the Fiat 500e, evaluating its technical components, I felt the sensation … la dolce vita …. the candy life. Possibly I’m a sucker, however the wining and eating from the Fiat advertising and marketing/comms group, the tremendous cool occasion area (shoutout to The Oasis-Wynwood), the buzzword-filled sentimental presentation given by Olivier François (Fiat’s International Chief Advertising Officer) … it labored. I completely acquired it. The brand new Fiat 500e isn’t just a automobile, it’s a vibe — the identical vibe that resonates from my spouse’s automobile — the identical vibe that turns heads and makes folks really feel giddy in its presence.
As with many merchandise, notably vehicles, there may be all the time the steadiness of kind and performance. Some even hit that candy spot that supply each good kind and good perform. The 500e unapologetically favors kind (or on this case, trend) over perform. I’ve heard some auto journalists query the 500e’s relevance within the present auto market, arguing that it’s a difficult worth proposition given its restricted vary, and restricted performance at a premium value in comparison with the likes of the Hyundai Kona EV; which affords extra vary, extra performance, and at a cheaper price level. They ask, “who is that this automobile for?” I imagine that asking that query is lacking the purpose of what the 500e is. It’s not attempting to compete with the Kona EV, or the Mannequin 3, or the Ford Mustang Mach-E, or every other high-volume or semi-high-volume providing.
Who’s the shopper for the 500e? Somebody who needs a extremely cute EV that turns heads. The Kona and Mannequin 3 don’t flip heads. The Kona and Mannequin 3 don’t have Starbucks staff flocking to the drive-thru window to gleefully look upon the lovable automobile that’s again once more. The 500e does. The 500e is decidedly a distinct segment product, at the least within the US it’s. It’s meant to be a distinct segment product right here. It’s virtually in a class of its personal (together with the MINI Cooper SE) — the tremendous cute, all electrical metropolitan commuter. By the advantage of being one of many solely of its variety, it might personal the class it’s in.
Is the 500e sensible? For its meant use case, it’s sensible sufficient. 149 miles of vary, 85kW of DC charging, a high pace of 94 mph, the trunk area of an overhead compartment on an airliner — all enough for metropolitan commuting. Once more, for those who attempt to evaluate the Fiat 500e with different electrical car choices or actually every other providing (notably at a mid-$30,000 value level), you’re lacking the purpose of the Fiat 500e. You don’t purchase the 500e to take the children to soccer apply, or to haul wooden, or to street journey. You purchase it as a result of it appears good and it makes you really feel good.
The 500e is its personal factor. 500e is a vibe.
You don’t purchase an Italian swimsuit due to what number of pockets it has, you purchase it since you look reeeeally good in it.
Fulmine can strike twice.
Photographs courtesy of Fiat.
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