Fiat All-Electric 500 Review

Range

The Fiat All-Electric 500 gets an official WLTP range of 199 miles from a 42kWh battery (usable of around 38kWh), which is okay but looks a bit short on long-distance convenience next to faster-charging, longer-range alternatives like the Hyundai Inster, Renault 5, Peugeot e-208 and Mini Cooper SE. In Sherpa mode (which switches off air-con and limits power and top-speed, as well as triggering one-pedal driving mode) Fiat reckons that range can be stretched to over 280 miles, but we've driven the 500 and we can tell you that you'll have to be driving at funeral speeds and lucking out with warm, still weather to get anywhere near that. We'd bet on a real-world range of around 130-160 miles in normal use. 

For those opting for the cheaper 24kWh battery fitted to the cheapest models, the WLTP range falls to 118 miles. We've not driven the smaller battery All-Electric Fiat 500, but we'd estimate a real-world range of around 70- to 100 miles, which will be fine for the short, urban trips that will be the normal usage for this version of the 500. 

Batteries

At 42kWh, the Fiat’s lithium-ion NMC battery is sourced from Samsung, and is fairly efficient thanks to the compact Fiat’s fairly light 1330kg kerbweight, which helps it achieve efficiency of 5.2miles per kWh. The 24kWh battery pack uses the same lithium-ion NMC chemistry, unlike rivals like the BYD Dolphin, which uses a lithium-iron LFP battery. You can read bout the pros- and cons of NMC vs LFP batteries, right here. 

Fiat offers a battery warranty of eight years and 100,000 miles, with a promise to refurbish or replace the battery if drops below 70% of its as-new performance. 

Charging

The 42kWh All-Electric Fiat 500 can be rapid charged at speeds of up 85kW, which translates to a 20-80% top-up of around 30 minutes, or some 25 to 30 miles every 5 minutes. Plug into a 7kW home wallbox and the Fiat’s battery will be fully charged in just over six hours, or it’ll charge at up to 11kW (for a 4hr charge) if you can find a powerful enough charger. 

Cables are provided for plugging into those Type 2 chargers, which include the home wallboxes that most owners will do their routine charging at, as well as for plugging into a normal three-pin domestic socket. Given that this will take over 14 hours for a full charge, it should be considered a backup charging method but is still useful to have.

Rapid charging on the entry-level 24kWh Fiat 500e peaks at 50kW, so expect to get an 80% charge in around 26 minutes on a rapid charger. A full charge on a 7kW home charger will take around 4 hours while a domestic three pin will charge your 500 in just over 12 hours. 

The Fiat 500e doesn't offer vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging, so if you're keen on benefitting from that then you'll want to check out the Hyundai Inster and Renault 5.