By Gareth Butterfield 
Quite a long time ago, I took a Fiat 500 on a road trip from Derbyshire to Kent. And it nearly crippled me. I couldn’t get on with the driving position, the small engine wasn’t great on the motorway, and pounding the clutch in stop-start traffic on the M25 properly finished me off.
You might think it odd, then, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Fiat’s little retro recreation. And can you believe it’s been around for about 17 years? It won’t be long before it’s outlived its 1950s predecessor.
Small cars is what Fiat does best, it always has been, and the Fiat 500 just gets the recipe right. I can honestly see why it’s been such a big success, despite the fact that I’m obviously the wrong shape for it. At least, I always was, until now.
Because I’ve just come back from a road trip in the Fiat 500e – the latest offspring from the 500 family – and I feel perfectly fine. I feel so comfortable I could go off and do it again.
There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, this new car is a little bit bigger. Only a few centimetres here and there, but it makes quite a difference. It’s also fully electric. And that makes a huge difference.
It has more power, it has a roomier interior, and it has no clutch. It’s still very much a city car, but it’s a city car that can dust off long journeys with ease. Especially, I must admit, if you have the top La Prima version with its adaptive cruise control, plush heated leather seats, and plenty of other driver aids. We’ll gloss over the fact that this is a city car costing north of £30,000 for a bit, but if you’re posh enough, it’s just lovely.
In case you’re not after a car for long motorway jaunts, and most 500e buyers aren’t, there’s a version with a smaller battery, which brings down the price and the power output and, consequentially, the range. It also shaves about £3,000 off the price, but the bigger 42kWh battery is obviously the better bet, least of all because you get a WLTP range of 199 miles, 117bhp and a 0-60mph time of just nine seconds.
And yes, you guessed it, that makes it feel pretty brisk. It won’t win any drag races, sure, but it justifies the use of that awful word “nippy”, and it won’t embarrass or endanger itself in a cheeky overtake, either.
The range on my road trip, on a fairly warm day with a generous helping of the hilly Pennines thrown in, was impressive. The 42kWh version I was testing polished off a 160 mile jaunt with enough battery left over to get me to the corner shop and back a few times. Admittedly, this was mostly acheived in the brutal “Sherpa” driving mode, which limits speed to 50mph and pretty much shuts down your climate control – but I was impressed nonetheless.
Let’s make no bones about it though, this is not a mile-muncher. Charging input, even in the bigger-batteried model is only up to 85kW DC, and any sort of spirited driving will see you testing that out fairly often.
And that’s a shame, because spirited driving is rather fun in the 500e. Light steering and a choppy ride might scrub off some of the excitement, but through the twisty stretches of Yorkshire A-road it was great fun. There’s loads of grip, the instant punch from the electric motor hurls you out of corners and, although it’s obviously quite a heavy car for its size, it still puts a smile on your face.
And then, when you settle back down to a gentleman’s pace, you get time to admire the ergonomics of the interior. It’s still a small car, but it’s very comfortable with plenty of elbow room, and the layout is sensible and functional – with just enough retro charm to make it interesting, too.
I’m not a fan of the gears being selected by buttons, and there isn’t much space to rest your left foot, but it’s a world apart from the earlier 500s.
Luggage and passenger space takes a hit, however, with a modest boot and little in the way of luxury for rear-seat passengers. It’s a shame there wasn’t any room for a “frunk”, too. Even if it was just to stow away charging cables.
But it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that this is very much a city car. And it fits that bill beautifully. Even the cheaper versions with the smaller battery will make for a fine urban chariot, and who does more than 118 miles in one stint around town anyway?
It’s also worth remembering that the 500e qualifies for its E-grant, which has been reintroduced in August 2025 and knocks a further £1,500 off the price.
It takes the sting off the price of a posh La Prima version, but it also makes the base models extremely affordable, in electric car terms.
Given how big cars are getting now, small cars like the 500e are presenting a fresh appeal. And, as I’ve found out, small cars are no longer suited solely to short stints. You really can take a 500e on a long journey without having a physiotherapist on speed dial.
