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2024 FIAT 500e Consumer Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
3 reviews

Pricing

Edmunds suggests you pay
$33,376
Federal EV Tax Credit: not eligible The (RED) Edition trim does not qualify for the Clean Vehicle Credit.
1 for sale near you

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4 out of 5 stars

Perfectly Imperfect

JPM, 12/29/2024
2024 FIAT 500e (RED) Edition 2dr Hatchback (electric DD)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disclaimer: I leased the FIAT 500e (RED) Edition (base model) about two months ago. This is my initial impression. The Good: I’ve completely fallen in love with this car. With my company shifting to five days in-office, my stressful commute on Los Angeles’ 405 freeway led me to seek an electric vehicle (EV) with HOV lane access. I wanted a lease, as BEV residuals are poor, and I wasn’t drawn to other EVs like the Tesla, Hyundai, or VW. Then, I found the FIAT 500e: a fun, quirky car that wasn’t the obvious choice but turned out to be exactly what I needed. The 500e’s 150-mile range is perfect for around-town driving, making it an ideal second or third car. It may be small, but the front seats feel surprisingly spacious, and the step-in height is unique for a car this size—making it easy to get in and out. While the rear seats are only for short trips, the front seats are well-padded and comfortable, even without seat heaters. The infotainment is simple, but the speakers are decent for everyday use. Driving is where the 500e shines. It’s zippy, responsive, and feels faster than expected, especially in city traffic. Its tight turning radius makes parking and U-turns a breeze, though it’s less suited for freeway driving. The regenerative braking is smooth and adds efficiency without being intrusive. Charging is a breeze for me with overnight plugs, and its smaller battery means faster charging times. However, without access to home or workplace charging, the range could be limiting. The base trim lacks advanced driver-assistance features, which is disappointing at this price point, but I recommend the base (500)RED for the best lease rates. The cabin is minimalistic, but the hard plastic reminds you it’s an economy car at heart. Final Thoughts: I adore Topo (my nickname for the 500e). It’s not for everyone, but for those who want a stylish, joyful, eco-friendly city car, it’s perfect. It’s a car you bond with, and it’s made my daily commute far more enjoyable. If you’re considering a nimble car with personality, the 500e is worth a look—just know its limitations.

Safety
3 out of 5 stars
Technology
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
3 out of 5 stars
Reliability
4 out of 5 stars
Value
2 out of 5 stars
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4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful little car, high price, petty omissions

HPD, 01/26/2025
2024 FIAT 500e (RED) Edition 2dr Hatchback (electric DD)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I'll never understand why Edmunds or other reviewers judge all cars on the same metrics. Not everything is a 3 row midsize SUV. Not everyone has 3 kids, 2 dogs and builds a new deck every weekend. Knocking this because it's small is ridiculous, it's *SUPPOSED* to be small, dummies. It's like taking points off an F-350 because it's too big to park in most garages, can't make a u-turn in 4 lanes or gets 12mpg. If it does what you need that is what matters, compare it to other cars in the same segment with the same use case. The total cargo space isn't huge, but the hatch opening relative to that size sure is which is more useful to many people than the total volume or length. I go to Target and come home with huge packages of TP and paper towels all the time but only need to haul plywood maybe once a decade. We put a 54qt Igloo cooler and 4 bags of groceries in the back without folding the seats or removing the cargo cover just fine. The rear seat folding is pretty awful though, it's not that they don't go level with the floor that bugs me but that they don't even fold in the neighborhood of flat, more like a 30 degree angle. Removing the seatbacks completely is something I might try. There are plenty of storage areas around the cabin to satisfy drivers, remember this is never going to have more than 2 adults in it so why do I need 10 storage bins, it's not a 7 passenger minivan and nobody is taking this cross country, how much crap do you need to stash in a daily commuter? A second cupholder up front would have been good, that *was* dumb. Materials are on the cheap side, though the dash still looks cool, but I actually seek out cars with lots of hard plastic interior bits as they smell less toxic right from the beginning, the softer the material the longer it takes to outgas. Hard plastics are also a big reason this weighs under 3k lbs and gets 150 miles of range from a tiny battery. My only complaint about the materials is the seat/door fabric IS really budget, better suited to a car half the price. There is no getting around that though as the "better" seats (remember when vinyl was gross and not premium?) only come on the more expensive models which don't have cheap leases available and nobody in their right mind is going to pay $37k for one of those. I'd get the front seats recovered in something much better if we keep it but considering Fiat at least and likely Stellantis as a whole will probably cease to exist before lease end I don't think I want to own this long term. On the seat subject, not having heated seats (and steering wheel) is a horrible kick in the teeth to an EV owner as that is pretty much the only way to be comfortable when it's cold without killing your range. Those should both be mandatory equipment in any EV. This alone should take it off your list if you're in a frequently cold climate. The heater in the 500e does do a good job though, better than our Honda Prologue by a good margin but that's because it's not a heat pump so it will hurt your range a lot in the cold. Performance is fine, good even. How can anyone consider 7.8 seconds to 60 as painfully slow? I guess nobody writing reviews remembers the 70's or 80's as 7.5 seconds was mid 80's IROC and 5.0 Mustang territory. Run of the mill econo cars back then were taking 20+ seconds to get up to speed, anything under 10 was legit quick. Yeah, you won't win any street races against other EV's but at no point does it feel inadequate, it gets the jump off the line and up to 45 over most cars with little effort. It's a total blast to drive in the city, like a go cart. The handling is excellent, and the ride is far better than you'd expect in such a small car (under 60mph) and has some of the best outward visibility of any car sold today. Things get a bit busy, buzzy and loud above 65 but it can go 85 with ease. Judge it for it's intended use, it can u-turn in a bowling alley, park in a coat closet. Using only level 1 takes just 24 hours to go from 10% to completely full and 10 hours overnight will get you 60+ miles of daily commute range. At 32 amp level 2 it's 5 hours from 0-100%. Even the DCFS speed isn't bad, sure it's only 85kw but given the size of the battery you'll never spend more than 20 minutes at the charger. Nobody is road tripping this other than to make ridiculous social media content. Tech is a bit of a letdown. They clearly want to push the higher models as the only way to get radar cruise, lane centering, heated seats and decent stereo. Radar cruise makes stop and go traffic so much less stressful, the 500e would benefit more than most and $34k isn't cheap, adaptive cruise should be here. LKAS isn't as important for something you won't road trip much if at all but it would be nice, the cameras are already here. It doesn't allow you to set a charge % limit for some reason yet there is a 1-5 charge level limiting setting that is not only not explained at all but also doesn't seem to do anything at least for American electrical standards. From what I can tell it's only purpose is to game free parking while charging scenarios so you slow the charge rate to keep the green light blinking. The lowest level 1 still allows at least 12 amp 120v charging so anyone needing less due to a circuit limit will have to buy another EVSE that can itself be turned down. The stereo is weak, again they are trying to bump you into a higher trim. While you can't change the head unit on a modern car I might look into getting the speakers replaced with something not so garbage if we keep it. You can't shuffle songs from a USB drive on this, why? Some decisions make you wonder if any of th design team has ever driven a car. There is no way to see your efficiency in miles/KWH. Instead there is a useless display that shows MPGe which has no purpose beyond comparing different electric cars. If you want to know your m/kwh you have to divide the MPGe by 33.7, everyone can just do that in their head, right? There is also a pointless guess o meter miles to empty that anyone familiar with an EV ignores completely. It *needs* a trip meter with current m/kwh and state of charge you can see on the main speedometer screen, the other things are useless. The Fiat app is pretty bad and unreliable but that's par for the course, our Honda link app is even worse. If you want to set a schedule for cabin preheat or charging schedule do it in the car or don't expect it will actually work. For free it sucks, as a paid sub no way. The actual downfall of this car is the price, it's laughable, pure comedy, but not good comedy...more like Gallagher in a wheelchair hitting lemons with a Fischer price plastic hammer. For our lease price that totals $5,500 all in for 36 months it's great and if we like it enough to buy it in 3 years for the $15k residual it might still be an ok deal but at $34k sticker (RED) or at some of the lease rates I've seen advertised, no chance, get out of here with that nonsense. If you pay more than $22k out the door or lease for more than $150/m sign and drive you are doomed to a life of poverty from poor decision making. It's really a great car for it's intended use which is commuter/grocery getter, plenty of space for 2 adults and normal cargo, easy to park and a blast to drive in town. Just be honest about what you really need in a car and definitely get one cheap if you do get one.

Safety
3 out of 5 stars
Technology
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
4 out of 5 stars
Value
1 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars

Great Little Car

Masino, 01/25/2025
2024 FIAT 500e Beauty 2dr Hatchback (electric DD)
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I was fortunate to find an attractively-priced, slightly-used Beauty model. Actually, easier to drive and more responsive than my old ice cars in the city. Driving is actually fun. Lots of tech, but much of it fairly obvious and easy to use. Smaller size takes some getting used to--in a good way: fitting in spaces, cleaning. Still not sure if I need or like Range mode since I don't drive a lot and use little % of the existing range to begin with. Smaller cabin and seats than my previous cars, but quite comfortable, nonetheless. Has a penchant to beep at anything nearby, including the bushes that line my driveway. I haven't tried transporting anyone in the back seats yet. Highway power consumption is greater than city driving. It varies according to driving technique: best with smooth, even driving. Installing an outside outlet for charging and choosing an appropriate charging cable was an educational experience. There are quite large variations in both aspects. Much care needed. I was fortunate to find a reasonably-priced electrician who educated me about the things I didn't know. By the way, the smaller range and smaller battery mean it is faster to charge than longer-range cars. All-in-all it is a great car with lots of plusses and few minuses (for me at least). Highly recommended for someone who has need of a city car with moderate range, especially if you can get it for a reasonable price..

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
5 out of 5 stars
Comfort
5 out of 5 stars
Value
4 out of 5 stars
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