If you’re in the market for a pint-sized electric car with a dose of Italian flair, Fiat – yes, you remember them – will have an option for you a couple of years from now.
After using the New York Auto Show to display a brace of 500e models which were crafted in partnership with Italian design houses, Fiat took an opportunity at this week’s Auto Show in Los Angeles to announce the 500e is officially coming to our shores. It won’t be here until 2024, with the North American spec car appearing at next year’s show in L.A. Product planning in a global economy is a heckuva thing.
Nevertheless, the little all-electric scamp is apparently indeed on its way across the pond. The 500e has been zipping around Europe for some time already where it is offered with one of two different battery packs, neither of which seems big enough for North American tastes. The larger option packs just 42 kWh and is apparently good for a hair under 200 miles of all-electric range, though it is worth noting that figure is based on the endlessly optimistic WLTP test procedures.
Power checks in at 118 ponies and 162 lb.-ft of twist, plenty for a machine of this size and mission. Like the car’s battery size and driving range, Fiat has yet to confirm if the Euro-spec drivetrain will be carted to North America from Bel Paese. We’re still a year away from the thing even showing up on an auto show turntable in the U.S., let alone in dealer showrooms.
All the same, this 12+ month lead time tells us that suits at Stellantis must be planning to keep the Fiat brand around – at least for the foreseeable future. While last year was certainly a strange one in terms of car sales, it needs to be said that the Fiat brand sold just 2,374 units during the entire annum, down 45 percent from its numbers in an equally weird 2020 and worlds away from the 15,521 it sold in all of 2018 or the 43,772 during 2012 which was its first full year back in America.
[Images: Fiat]
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via Autobuzz Today
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