Fiat 500e In the Stable

Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
473
Location
Seattle WA
I've taken my second plunge into electric cars with a 2017 Fiat 500e. Dirt cheap and only 10k miles on it. Battery and drivetrain on this car was developed by Bosch and it uses the same Samsung battery cells as the first generation BMW i3 electric. Plus the Fiat has a pretty interesting liquid cooling/heating system for the battery that not only uses a radiator but also can use the air conditioner to cool the battery when needed. So this attention to thermal battery management should translate into a longer lasting battery.

My first electric was a 2015 Nissan Leaf so I can give you a pretty fair comparison between the two. On the down side, the Fiat is much smaller so while it is OK for two people, not much back seat or luggage room. But on the plus side, the Fiat has better range than my Leaf did even though it has a similar spec 24KW battery. My Leaf was wheezing at 60 miles and the Fiat seems to be closer to 90 miles true range. The Fiat is a bit quicker than the Leaf with very strong off the line acceleration! I'm still getting used to the seating position in the Fiat; arms out in the Italian tradition, sitting up pretty straight but overall it's pretty comfortable as was the Leaf. The Fiat rides a bit stiffer though and bounces a bit more due to the short wheel-base.

With the Bosch connection I felt a little bit better about this than if Fiat/Chrysler had done it themselves. I can't decide if the styling whether it's "cute" or just weird. ‘Course, I had the same problem looking at my old Leaf! By the way, I traded in my old Leaf after a couple of years while it still had some value given the battery issues with high mileage Leaf's but I always enjoyed owning my first electric and wanted another one… Now I have it!
 
Here she is!
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Nice! I leased an i3 for a couple of years and loved it. You can pick them up for around $16k. If I didn't already have the Clubman I'd get one for a commuter. The 500e is really great as well, but I don't think any made it to Kentucky.
 
84 mile range and only available in Cali/Oregon region.

I wish I could drive all (electric cars) for a week each just for the experience.
 
Sure, the price was $8500 but in Washington they don't charge sales tax on electric cars right now so that discounts it to an equivalent price under $8000. When I bought my Leaf it only had 13k miles and I paid $8995 for it so this Fiat was a bit cheaper. 2017 Leafs are asking around $12k today and usually have 30k miles...
 
Wow, that's a really good price! These always looked like fun cars.

I'd love a small, simple electric car. But I need longer ranger. It looks like a Chevy Bolt is really my only option in that department. Hopefully in a few years I can go that route.
 
Yeah, they are pretty rare! These were compliance cars sold only in California and Oregon. They have re-sold them in other states but you have to be careful to check if you have anybody who can work on it. I called and found we have one dealer locally who can support these things, about 20 miles from my house.

I'm a little worried about parts availability although the interior is exactly like the 2013 Fiat 500 gas model so there may be some commonality of the Fiat parts if I need one. These cars haven't changed much since they came out in 2013 other than they worked out some of the early software bugaboos. The dash is a little different integrating the Nav screen... it used to sit on a stalk right in the middle of your windshield!
 
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Originally Posted by Miller88
Wow, that's a really good price! These always looked like fun cars.

I'd love a small, simple electric car. But I need longer ranger. It looks like a Chevy Bolt is really my only option in that department. Hopefully in a few years I can go that route.


The Bolt would be my choice as well. That Weber State YouTube channel has some good videos of tear-downs on the Bolt and it looks like a very good design. My problem is they are pretty expensive so I'll wait a few more years till a longer range EV comes along at a good price!
 
I've done a couple of 65 mile trips with the new Fiat, routes I would never have tried in my old Leaf and it came back with 30% battery left when I stayed in the flat-lands and 20% battery left when I headed into the mountains. I drove it conservatively as I learned to do with my Leaf keeping the speeds down to 62 on the freeway and not doing any jack-rabbit starts... well only a couple! I'm impressed so far with the usable range on this car. My trip to the mountains included some 70 mph uphill driving which definitely drained the battery quickly but overall, it's a solid little electric car. Now if it will only last....
 
wouldnt mind one as a second car would work 90% of the time.. for me.

but I dont know if it would make the 50mile winter commute in bad weather... with heat on etc.

For me to seriously consider an electric car it would have to have a range of over 100miles in very bad winter weather and maintain that for at least the first 5 years.

And yes that is with 75mph driving. 62 would get you killed here.
 
Originally Posted by Rand
wouldnt mind one as a second car would work 90% of the time.. for me.

but I dont know if it would make the 50mile winter commute in bad weather... with heat on etc.

For me to seriously consider an electric car it would have to have a range of over 100miles in very bad winter weather and maintain that for at least the first 5 years.

And yes that is with 75mph driving. 62 would get you killed here.


Yeah, right now is definitely optimal weather for max range on electric cars. I used to commute 52 miles round trip with my Leaf and in the cold weather not only does the heater drain the battery but the battery won't hold as much energy in the cold. Even though I used the heater sparingly on those days and drove with the cabin cold much of the time, I still had "low battery" warnings come on a couple of times on the drive home! And my Leaf battery had a full 12 of 12 bars so it wasn't even degraded yet...
 
Interesting little car. I made a post last year about them, but had my dreams crushed by everyone on here
crackmeup2.gif
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Interesting little car. I made a post last year about them, but had my dreams crushed by everyone on here
crackmeup2.gif



I remember that, bunch of savages I tell you!
 
Originally Posted by Skippy722
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Interesting little car. I made a post last year about them, but had my dreams crushed by everyone on here
crackmeup2.gif



I remember that, bunch of savages I tell you!


The usual non-owner sheeple, if I recall.
 
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