FIAT 500 Electric - Is it better than a MINI Electric and Honda e?

Bryan loves a small FIAT. In fact, he started his motor trade career selling FIAT nearly thirty years ago, and has owned many, including three 500s. A classic one and two modern ones. But now there is a new one, and this time, it's all electric.
Is it enough to tempt him away from the MINI Electric and his beloved Honda e? Grab the popcorn, a glass of Montepulliciano d'Abbruzzo, sit back and see if he falls in love all over again.
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Website: autoev.co.uk

[@briangriffiths114]

My wife and I had an extended test drive of the 500e two weeks ago, having only previously driven ICE manual cars. We found range mode the best option with one pedal driving feeling quite natural. The styling, build quality, driving position, performance and handling made such a good impression we ordered a Passion model on the spot in the same colour you tested! It replaces my very similar looking Twingo GT which I am sorry to say goodbye to but BEVs are the future.

[@The70s80scollection]

My wife changed her 2017 500 1.2 lounge auto to a 500E red edition about a month ago, and it is a dream about town to drive, there are a few free charging points locally around where we live, I've only used a rapid charger twice so in the 550 miles we've done so far, our charging cost £8, but any long-distance driving requires some careful planning and something I'm not sure the current EV infrastructure is ready for in terms of rapid chargers etc, probably within the next 2 years it will be, in our household this 500E and my car are the perfect combination to have my wife's car about town and mine on longer journeys, I have a Jaguar XJ Diesel and can get around 700 miles on a full tank on a good long run, however now costs around £130 to fill her up, even having the Jag, the little 500E is n enjoyable little car to drive and I would say Highly Recommended as an about-town EV. PS my wife loves the remote climate control option on those cold mornings (done via the 500E mobile app)....

[@fazerchef]

Great review,I pick mine up on Monday I'm going for the Icon in Light blue ,i was knocked out by how good it is , my commute to work is going to get a whole lot more fun and I can charge at work too.😀

[@macjim]

If I could afford any of the three cars, Honda E, Mini E or the 500E... I'd buy the 500E. Why? Well, the mini is style over substance and overpriced too (and the range ain't great) the Honda E, I LOVE that car as it's so amazing but again, the range ain't great. But with this new 500, it ticks all the right boxes, build, size, comfort range (on comparison to the other two) and looks; especially the looks. Fiat has finally made a car that you'd want to own and kicked the past where build quality, and reliability was not great, into the rough. I just need that lottery win... Nice to hear a Scottish lilt on a car review. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@TomsManShed]

Another nice professional review....colours looking miles better as well :)

[@markymarkreviews]

Test drove this car (La Prima Convertible) and was REALLY impressed. Fiat have hit the target with this. Smooth, refined and fun. SOLID feeling. Infotainment excellent. Shame that it does not have a frunk athough a ground up new design EV. And tiny boot. And is really a 2+0 rather than a 2+2. But a perfect commuting car which is capable of travel further a field, as charge speeds are good enough. Prefer this over a Mini and Honda e, and Fiat dealers happy to discount straight off the bat.(in UK)

[@marclawton2870]

This is a thorough and helpful review so thank you very much. We took a test drive and agreed with your findings so decided to go ahead and order one! Its due to arrive early to mid October so will be interesting to see how we get on with our very first EV :-)

[@AutoEV]

Brilliant to hear Marc, and well done on your choice! We love the little Fiat here at AutoEV, and in fact, we have another special video with the car coming soon. Stay connected with us for more, thank you for watching, and taking the time to comment.

[@roynorton4000]

My Wife loves that car!

[@itsfahys]

Really enjoyed the review. Im a previous owner of a bmwi3 94ah rex which i sold after a year as i found it very harsh on rough city roads where I live and going over those speed bumps used to hurt my back. Currently driving an Ioniq 28kwh model and it has a lovely soft suspension which suits us. Still we never carry any passengers so the Back seats are only ever put down to carry a Bicycle, so would consider a smaller ev in future as would suit most of our dailiy driving needs. For Longer Trips Ive mentioned to other ev owners if you need the extra space , just hire a bigger car for the ocasional longer Trip and enjoy the benefits of the smaill ev for the majority of your driving.

[@AutoEV]

Thank you for your comment @Stephen. Glad you enjoyed the review.

[@Stebs_Paintings]

Another good review my friend, I did test drive this and the Honda as well as the 208. The Mini was the last one I took for a drive. The Mini won, that's not to say, I didn't like the others, well I didn't like the 208, the Honda I liked, in fact I loved the shape and the crayon blue one I tested however, I was a wee bit intimidated with the interior (I'm old and trying to learn new technologies!) I liked the fiat ( my next door neighbour is Italian and has a Fiat, go figure) but I was underwhelmed by the driving characteristics. And then the MINI came up, I think I had decided at this point that maybe I wouldn't go electric at this point in time. Within about 2 minutes of driving the MINI my mind was made up and I've had it just over a month. I'm retired so I don't have an issue with it limited range, I very rarely venture more than 10 miles from home, so any of the cars I tested would have suited my needs adequately. There was literally just a feeling I had for the MINI. I enjoyed your review thank you.

[@friederich66]

addition: you have recuperation in the "normal" mode, too. when you put on the brakes it will first only recuperate. only when you press the pedal harder you will use the mechanical brakes. most people don´t know this because you will never feel that.

[@abarajithanp4411]

Nice, smooth & clean review...

[@AutoEV]

Glad you liked it, and thank you for watching.

[@InteraliaTony]

Very good review. Nice job.

[@friederich66]

i think there are many details like the original fiat 500, not only the lights and indivatord uin the front with the same axis angle, but the shape of the motor lid, the indicators on the side, and the shapr of the speddometer. but also that curved shelf at 7:55 , it is similar to the shape in the first fiat 500. so many things you will find if you take a closer look- btw, i am german and i like your,is it accent? scottish?

[@peterbsimkins]

Good review and a great small ev. We just now need a sporty oriented 'Abarth' variant, maybe with a bigger motor sourced from elsewhere in the Stellantis group.

[@pimeye]

Nice review and I'm thinking of getting one probably next year. I guess the real-life range will be 20-30 miles less as you don't run an EV down to 0% plus might be cold weather, motorway driving, carrying passengers etc. P.S. there are two Ms in accommodation (23:35)

[@sevesellors2831]

Love this car like electric but don’t like the prices and lack of refuelling points. Great review though.

[@FranciscoYantorno]

love the video! btw it is "la nuova cinquecento elettrica"

[@AutoEV]

Ah, I knew I’d get it wrong! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@stevemccormack9948]

I really like al three of these cars but my favorite goes in this order - Fiat 500e => Mini E => Honda E. Even apart from the value for money and better range of the Fiat, its still more appealing than the others. The perfect balance of retro and conventional design. This is a keeper.

[@peterthwaites5891]

Really enjoyed this road test, i have an Abarth 595 which i love!.. so while i`m still not totally convinced on EV`s yet these smaller cars make far more sense, as for the choice of Mini, 500 or Honda? the Mini is a remake of a car designed to run on petrol, so no, the Honda to me is trying too hard and ultimately fails to impress, so it would definitely be the 500E for me... But what about a hot Abarth version with some real performance and hopefully some sounds?

[@patrickh7368]

Interesting review.... some reviewers comment that at speed or winding roads it starts meandering and feels a little vague to do a straight line..did you not find this to be the case...? 🤔

[@AutoEV]

Hi Patrick. No, I can't say I did, and I drove the car through town, along sone twisty B-roads, fast A-roads and a Motorway stretch. It all felt fine to me. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. It's appreciated.

[@wokeupandsmellthecoffee214]

Fabulous review, you have my sub 🙌

[@AutoEV]

Good to have you aboard. Thank you.

[@OggeVideo]

Honda E is a better choice. Shorter range, true very true. But overall a much, much, much better car than 500e. Honda E gives you great build-quality, it is small but feels big, living room-like interior, unique design, lot of useful screens, u-turns with no problem, lot of tech, HDMI-in, granny power socket, good soundsystem and it's comfy to drive. Honda E is a great car.

[@AutoEV]

I really couldn't decide. One day I prefer the Honda, the next the 500. The tech is only part of the Honda's appeal, and as you say, its the unique design and interior that I love. But don't think the Fiat is miles behind it in terms of quality. The 500 is a great car....but so is the Honda.....AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!😆

[@libertystock2186]

What model is this?

[@AutoEV]

This is the new Fiat 500 electric.

[@googlereviewer2743]

I would choose the Honda-e if only it had about 50 actual miles more, then it would be game over as far as super-minis are concerned and that includes the over-rated Peugeot e208 I test drove last week. As far as things are currently going the Fiat 500e is the more sensible approach.

[@AutoEV]

Yeah, tricky choice, I agree.

[@Lyndalewinder]

I dont think the boots are the same size for the cabrio and the hatchback - looked today and there seemed to be a big difference - hatchback much bigger.

[@AutoEV]

No, the boot capacity is identical up to the parcel shelf.

[@brickmissing8295]

Get real: This thing is £10K more than the equivalent petrol version which has 3x the range and 10x the refuelling speed. The only way this makes any sense is if you can get it as a company car to avoid 40% salary tax on the purchase price. True you can save about £1K fuel costs per 10K miles if you get one of those special 10p/kWh EV electricity tariffs - but how many years will those tariffs last? Not long enough to pay back the £10K price premium IMHO.

[@ccooper8785]

If I had the money to buy any of these cars I would buy the MG 5 ev instead. Give me practicality over "style" any day.

[@richardsmith2879]

The Honda is an almost brilliant small car that is essentially dull. The Fiat is gorgeous and you sit higher in it, which is one of the deal breakers. If you need to carry four people regularly in a small car then get a suzuki Ignis, which is a revelation.

[@AutoEV]

It is, but it's not electric, and we only review electric cars. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment.

[@marklola12]

tbh the 17inch wheels are crap and you fel every bump, its best to get the 16 inch

[@izo77]

Good as this 500e might be, the Honda e is still the supreme object of desire.

[@AutoEV]

I agree. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@domenicozagari2443]

E si.

[@minniesaab7255]

⚡💚⚡💚⚡

[@aollao1825]

What's with this guys English? from Eastern European or something>

[@AutoEV]

Scotland actually.

[@thetruthk5138]

FIAT ... Fix it again Tony

[@AutoEV]

Harsh.😉

[@groszmartoncsaba4025]

it.s too small,it,s not practical even for shopiing for 4people!?!it, s ...fancy car for Barbie girls..hahah

[@AutoEV]

Well Grosz, you're entitled to your opinion, although if I may be so bold to suggest, if you dont embrace other people's opinions and choices, then you can't be a true enthusiast. This car has its place and should be applauded for that. Its an excellent car.

[@tarbat]

Not everyone needs a car for 4 people. We’re loving our 500e, great range, great performance, and a very refined drive. And we’ve got the Cabrio version!

[@therealjetlag]

Only 2 people in our house. Why would I need a car big enough for 4?