Fiat All-Electric 500 Review

Practicality and Boot Space

The Fiat New 500 is more spacious than its predecessor, having grown by some 6cm in length and width, and with a 2cm longer space between the wheels on the side of the car. That does show in the extra shoulder room you get up front, where it’s comfortable and airy. Those in the back will be less comfy, as the two seats back here are quite cramped, so even average-sized adults will have their legs pressed against the front seats. 

The Fiat 500 boot is pretty small, too, although there is underfloor storage for one of the two standard charging cables provided. And it does look cool to have the retro, bottom-hinged lid that topples down rather than lifting up. Due to its folding canvas roof, the Convertible model has less practicality and more awkwardly opening boot lid - you really won't get much in the boot!

Ultimately, this isn’t a car you buy if you have kids or value practicality. The five-door Citroen e-C3, Renault 5 and Mini Aceman will all be far better bets if you want a compact, fun electric car that will also take a couple of kids without too much hassle. 

Technology

The New 500 finally brings a decent, up to date infotainment system to this popular little car. The 'Uconnect 5' (catchy name...) infotainment system perches a landscape 10.25-inch touchscreen on top of the dash, which offers a window to Android Auto and wireless Apple Carplay. Two phones can be linked simultaneously, and other standard features include TomTom satnav, Bluetooth, DAB, USB connections, wireless phone charging and over-the-air map updates. There’s even the option to add Alexa’s dulcet tones and impressive voice control abilities to the system. 

When the Fiat 500e came out in 2022, this system was a night-and-day improvement over the older 500's terrible screen. But now, with newer rivals like the Mini, BYD and Hyundai bringing vastly more modern screens with sharper graphics and quicker responses, the Fiat's system is already starting to date a bit. Sure, it does the job just fine and has the features you want, but between the slightly fussy menu layouts, slower screen response and comparably grainy graphics, the Fiat's infotainment is now just okay, rather than anything exceptional. Just goes to show how quickly in-car tech moves on! 

Safety

Fiat has pushed the boat out with safety for the All-Electric 500. It gets a camera-based system that brings adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking at city speeds, traffic sign recognition and blind spot warning on the top models. It was awarded a four star Euro NCAP crash rating, back in 2021.