Fiat 500e review: the market catches up with Turin's all-electric fashionista

Auto Car

10 hours ago

Being a relatively affordable EV, the 500e evidently wasn't the kind of car developed with a lavish budget to spend on soft-touch materials and expensive-feeling switchgear. Nevertheless, its designers have struck some good compromises here. A lot of the surfaces are hard plastics, but the design is pleasingly retro, with bright body-colour panels in the dashboard, fabric inserts in the doors and lively seat upholstery.
The row of climate control buttons just under the infotainment touchscreen is unique for the 500e, and the physical controls are welcome but do feel flimsy and, being gloss black, are just as susceptible to fingerprints as that screen is. The heated seats (optional but key to maximising range in an EV) are controlled through the screen, though.
The seats are upholstered from recycled plastic. They're firm and quite narrow but comfortable enough, and they don't cause too many aches on longer journeys. The cushion is a little short and flat and there's no adjustable lumbar support, but we've experienced much worse in this segment.
We do have some serious quibbles with the 500e's driving ergonomics, though. First, base height adjustment is optional on the driver's seat but really ought to be standard. Our test car didn't have it and had a seat that felt set far too high, creating quite a compromised, perched-up driving position.
Head room is actually very good, but you end up looking through the top third of the windscreen, and vision is further hindered by the interior mirror. So if you're tall, it's tempting to hunch, causing back ache on longer drives.
More irksome still is that Fiat's RHD conversion is particularly poor. The pedals are positioned relatively centrally but there's a big centre console that intrudes into the footwell, making very little room for your left foot. There is a tokenistic effort at a footrest, a narrow bit of plastic trim on the wall of the footwell; your foot often slides off it and then under the brake pedal, which can be very annoying.
Interior space is pretty limited, even by the standards of small cars. This is a three-door-only car. With the front seats in a typical position, adults couldn't really sit in the back on account of both the limited head room and leg room and the upright angle of the rear seatbacks. For younger children, though, the second-row seats are usable enough, and they have an Isofix point each.
Rear seats that fold in a 50:50 are standard on upper trim levels and leave quite a step in the car's loading area when folded down.
The small boot at least has a flat floor otherwise and is a usefully square shape, but it contains the smallest and probably the least useful parcel shelf you will find in any production car.
Multimedia
The Italian brands aren't generally considered leaders in infotainment systems, but Fiat has pulled out all the stops for this one.
The interface can seem slightly overwhelming initially, as it tends to throw a lot of information at you all at once, but as soon as you get used to the layout, it's quite logical and responsive enough.
There's a permanent column of shortcuts on the left of the screen, and there's wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality, which worked smoothly during our test and goes well with the wireless charger that's available on most versions (you get only two USB ports in the car).
It's a shame, however, that Fiat doesn't fit all of the physical menu buttons on the 500e that it does in the 600 crossover, which make deactivating ADAS features easier.