Very well done! Thanks for this explaining video. I ordered one recently in Germany for - hold your breath - 111€/Month for 11 Month. No extra costs. Insurance 39€ extra. That's it. Couldn't resist as my first car is a M3 LG. So its just the side kick...
I think its quite refreshing they haven't decided you 'need' more legroom and four doors; we've used the back doors on our id3 twice in the last year! With you all the way on this - we think its a great little car.
Had a 500e Red for the last two months and at £26,000 wasn’t cheap but we feel it represents good value and it’s averaging 140 miles in winter, feels well screwed together and in our eyes is a desirable car…
Great review! A correction : E-up is available again in Germany since this week! But… inside it’s… very basic plastic. This genetic Italian car is beautiful. Typical Italian. I hope the tech is not typical Italian;) I would always take the bigger battery if you don’t have a charger at home. It , not only gives you a bigger range, but also the possibility to drive to the next charger if one is occupied.
Love mine. I got the Passion - was the base model of the larger battery size but now discontinued. Given our regular journeys we needed the extra range. It does come in some pretty colours but I’m happy with the white - reminds me of the all white special editions of the late 80s. Love driving in range mode which works as full one pedal driving on my car.
Good review Bryan. I could tell from the start that despite living in the South you haven't become "nesh". Sleet? What sleet? Brolly? What's one of those ... !
I think it's a pity people tend to claim it "only has one mode of regenerative braking" in Range/Sherpa modes, that's simply untrue. It very effectively uses regenerative braking in the Normal mode when you apply the brake pedal (unless you really stomp on it, it only uses the actual brake pads when coming to a full stop). I drive it in Normal mode exclusively, and really get the same range as in Range mode - but without the hassle of it braking hard when you cancel the cruise control, or the leg getting cramped because you constantly need to adjust the "gas" pedal to the right speed. Normal mode is just that: Normal. And it gives you all the regenerative braking you need and that it can give.
I always put my phone into the holder it runs my Amazon Music and Waze etc on top of the range phone. So the holder and app idea makes a lot of sense. Phones progress each year but you'd stuck with old tech with built in infotainment. Plus if your into high quality sound the phone can function as your headunit connected to a DAC and amps in the boot.
No, I do get what you are saying Jon, and I do the same in the sense of playing my music or podcasts through the phone. I just prefer it when you can put the phone down and use the functionality through the headunit via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, thats all.
@@AutoEV I'm happy the car is not using the touch screen to control things like temperature and retains some physical controls. I prefer my phone it is more up to date and responsive and screen is higher res. Also I like the best possible sound quality and Bluetooth degrades that quite a lot. Plus my phone gets charged. I think its good you get the choice and unlike most cars so I don't agree that its a negititve.
Thanks for the entry point of view. Me almost never needing to do more than 100km round trips, would still have about 40miles to spare. My friend that lives the furthest away, is about 30miles. Get home to off street parking, recharge. If I was at my older office, drive between 7-10miles to work, depending on the route. Would still give me 70miles of stop start, where the 100miles would 50/50 freeway and stop start driving. Charge it at the end of the work week and go to the shops, visit friends and family, charge for the week if I drove a max of 50miles. Ideal for city living. I also rarely have backseat passengers, unless we talking on a Sunday, maybe. With this in mind, or the Mini Cooper SE, my ICE would be my weekend car where I have backseat passengers or longer distances. Yes, charging infrastructure sucksim South Africa.
Thank you for taking the time and making the real owner low spec review. Most reviewers take the top spec for a short ride, read the manufacturer's press release and call it a day. Without a practical experience of actually owning the thing it is impossible to communicate anything else than first impressions. As someone who is driving an ICE Fiat 500 for more than 5 years and took the Fiat 500e for a ride, my main concern with the car is its reliability. The electric one does feel like a major improvement over the ICE models, but by the end of the day it still a Fiat. Moreover, there are already reports on the internet of owners experiencing issues with squeaky brakes, self-restarting infotainment, multiple error lights on the dash cured by restarting the car (sounds like typical Fiat issues to me). During my time with the Fiat 500e I have also experienced some weird sounds from the brakes while trying to park the thing (sounds like the car grabs the brakes hard during every minor stop which results in an unpleasant sound). Another thing that is almost never mentioned in reviews is the collision detection (cruise control) being done via an optical camera instead of a Lidar. The camera can be blinded by direct sunlight (probably, not a real issue in the UK), some thick fog or heavy rain/snow. This results in a "not available" message on the dash and you driving without the safety thing you have paid for when you need it the most. This is not a 500e specific issue, it works the same on BMW i3 and I believe VW ID3 but it is an issue nonetheless. I have experienced it myself during my short ride due to camera being blinded by the sun. To conclude, the Action trim might be the only reasonable 500e one should consider. Paying 10k extra might not be worth it when one considers the historically questionable reliability of the brand. I have considered 500e for a while before picking the overpriced Honda E. At least with Honda there is hope that it won't break on you right away and it is a better ride than the 500e.
Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it, although I have to say, I never had any problems with any of my 500s, Uno or Punto. My 1991 did overheat once though.....😆
I have bought Fiats, Pandas and 500s, since 2005 and have not experienced any reliability issues other than a failed battery at 8 years and that first panda is still going with its second owner (250000ks) It’s a bit of a trope the whole “ Italian cars a crap” thing. Re brakes, if you manoeuvre the car in a mode that has re gen them in common with Audi and others the brakes do “grab” but use normal mode and it’s no different to any auto. We’ve had ours for three month and 3,000 miles are delighted!
@@gileshalliwell3591 I am happy to hear you had no issues with your Fiats. I would be more than happy to have the same experience, unfortunately, mine was not that great. I am fully aware that it might be a lemon, but I have looked at several 500s before purchasing mine, most of them had some issues. My Fiat 500 had a broken driver's side door handle which has been replaced by the dealer with a note that it is a common issue and one should not pull by the handle when opening the door (maybe this is one of the reasons the new 500e has no door handles ^^). Then my manual gear shifter stopped getting into any gear other than the 3rd and the 4th. Apparently, the gear cable connector worn off and popped out. Then I had to replace a leaking engine radiator and the A/C radiator. The start/stop system has never properly worked for me despite the battery being in healthy condition and fully charged (measured at the dealership). I won't even mention the countless suspension fixes since this is strongly correlates with the condition of roads one drives on. All this has been done on a car which is ~7 years old (was even newer when most of the fixes had to be done). Currently I am at 90k km mileage and have another long list of jobs that the dealership recommends to perform on the car. My previous car was a 15+ years old Toyota Corolla. Despite being much older, I had less issue with it than with the pretty fresh Fiat. I am not saying all Fiats or Italian cars are bad, I am just sharing my personal experience with it and why I would think twice before buying a 30k+ Fiat 500 :)
I like the review..thanks. I have a fiat panda 4x4 cross twin air (fab little engine) which is my mountain goat car but now am looking at this car too. I think it is a good option for local-ish driving…but may now be pressed by some of the Chinese cars coming here like the Ora Cat for space and price and range?
The 500 is a great little car (I've had three, a classic, a twin air - agree on the engine - and an Abarth), and I think this could be the pick of the range for local running. The Ora Cat is a much bigger car, and pricing-wise they could be coming in at just over £25k for a base car. It's more of an ID.3 size car. I suppose you'd just have to weigh up whats more important to you in terms of value v's space? Thanks for watching the review and taking the time to comment.
well, the model action is no ,onger available, it is an icon now with lower battery size, but mostly equipped like a normal icon, except for the smaaller wheels. but the result is: it is a bit more expensive now but no longer a "cheap" version.. the new action 22 with the small battery has the big touchscreen, uconnect and dab radio. and you can order split backseat back the price has risen from26.790 to 27.990 (german prices) but you get a lot more for that
@@pilotandthecity8527 We looked at other electric cars last year with longer range but traded our 2018 33kw i3 for a 2021 42kw i3s. Only problem is our next electric car. What car do you drive now all the best
Very well done! Thanks for this explaining video. I ordered one recently in Germany for - hold your breath - 111€/Month for 11 Month. No extra costs. Insurance 39€ extra. That's it. Couldn't resist as my first car is a M3 LG. So its just the side kick...
I bought one at end of march and love it, can confirm well screwed together. fitting my dash cam to remove the glove box 10+ bolts and 9 clips!
Not gonna lie, it's pretty damn cute.
We still talking about the car Wayne???😂
I think its quite refreshing they haven't decided you 'need' more legroom and four doors; we've used the back doors on our id3 twice in the last year! With you all the way on this - we think its a great little car.
Hi, finally how it was ??
Had a 500e Red for the last two months and at £26,000 wasn’t cheap but we feel it represents good value and it’s averaging 140 miles in winter, feels well screwed together and in our eyes is a desirable car…
Great review!
A correction : E-up is available again in Germany since this week! But… inside it’s… very basic plastic. This genetic Italian car is beautiful. Typical Italian. I hope the tech is not typical Italian;)
I would always take the bigger battery if you don’t have a charger at home. It , not only gives you a bigger range, but also the possibility to drive to the next charger if one is occupied.
Thanks for the info!
Love mine. I got the Passion - was the base model of the larger battery size but now discontinued. Given our regular journeys we needed the extra range. It does come in some pretty colours but I’m happy with the white - reminds me of the all white special editions of the late 80s. Love driving in range mode which works as full one pedal driving on my car.
Good review Bryan. I could tell from the start that despite living in the South you haven't become "nesh". Sleet? What sleet? Brolly? What's one of those ... !
Super good and informative Review!👍 Thanks from Sweden. Is the comfort better and softer with 15 inch wheels? Less road noice?
I think it's a pity people tend to claim it "only has one mode of regenerative braking" in Range/Sherpa modes, that's simply untrue. It very effectively uses regenerative braking in the Normal mode when you apply the brake pedal (unless you really stomp on it, it only uses the actual brake pads when coming to a full stop). I drive it in Normal mode exclusively, and really get the same range as in Range mode - but without the hassle of it braking hard when you cancel the cruise control, or the leg getting cramped because you constantly need to adjust the "gas" pedal to the right speed. Normal mode is just that: Normal. And it gives you all the regenerative braking you need and that it can give.
Great info! 👏👏
Great review-thanks
I always put my phone into the holder it runs my Amazon Music and Waze etc on top of the range phone. So the holder and app idea makes a lot of sense. Phones progress each year but you'd stuck with old tech with built in infotainment. Plus if your into high quality sound the phone can function as your headunit connected to a DAC and amps in the boot.
No, I do get what you are saying Jon, and I do the same in the sense of playing my music or podcasts through the phone. I just prefer it when you can put the phone down and use the functionality through the headunit via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, thats all.
@@AutoEV I'm happy the car is not using the touch screen to control things like temperature and retains some physical controls. I prefer my phone it is more up to date and responsive and screen is higher res. Also I like the best possible sound quality and Bluetooth degrades that quite a lot. Plus my phone gets charged. I think its good you get the choice and unlike most cars so I don't agree that its a negititve.
Thanks for the entry point of view. Me almost never needing to do more than 100km round trips, would still have about 40miles to spare. My friend that lives the furthest away, is about 30miles. Get home to off street parking, recharge. If I was at my older office, drive between 7-10miles to work, depending on the route. Would still give me 70miles of stop start, where the 100miles would 50/50 freeway and stop start driving. Charge it at the end of the work week and go to the shops, visit friends and family, charge for the week if I drove a max of 50miles. Ideal for city living. I also rarely have backseat passengers, unless we talking on a Sunday, maybe.
With this in mind, or the Mini Cooper SE, my ICE would be my weekend car where I have backseat passengers or longer distances. Yes, charging infrastructure sucksim South Africa.
Hi Bryan, love the 500 and fully understand the review. One thing how much is the Radio pack?
850 quid
Thank you for taking the time and making the real owner low spec review. Most reviewers take the top spec for a short ride, read the manufacturer's press release and call it a day. Without a practical experience of actually owning the thing it is impossible to communicate anything else than first impressions.
As someone who is driving an ICE Fiat 500 for more than 5 years and took the Fiat 500e for a ride, my main concern with the car is its reliability. The electric one does feel like a major improvement over the ICE models, but by the end of the day it still a Fiat. Moreover, there are already reports on the internet of owners experiencing issues with squeaky brakes, self-restarting infotainment, multiple error lights on the dash cured by restarting the car (sounds like typical Fiat issues to me).
During my time with the Fiat 500e I have also experienced some weird sounds from the brakes while trying to park the thing (sounds like the car grabs the brakes hard during every minor stop which results in an unpleasant sound). Another thing that is almost never mentioned in reviews is the collision detection (cruise control) being done via an optical camera instead of a Lidar. The camera can be blinded by direct sunlight (probably, not a real issue in the UK), some thick fog or heavy rain/snow. This results in a "not available" message on the dash and you driving without the safety thing you have paid for when you need it the most. This is not a 500e specific issue, it works the same on BMW i3 and I believe VW ID3 but it is an issue nonetheless. I have experienced it myself during my short ride due to camera being blinded by the sun.
To conclude, the Action trim might be the only reasonable 500e one should consider. Paying 10k extra might not be worth it when one considers the historically questionable reliability of the brand. I have considered 500e for a while before picking the overpriced Honda E. At least with Honda there is hope that it won't break on you right away and it is a better ride than the 500e.
Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it, although I have to say, I never had any problems with any of my 500s, Uno or Punto. My 1991 did overheat once though.....😆
I have bought Fiats, Pandas and 500s, since 2005 and have not experienced any reliability issues other than a failed battery at 8 years and that first panda is still going with its second owner (250000ks) It’s a bit of a trope the whole “ Italian cars a crap” thing. Re brakes, if you manoeuvre the car in a mode that has re gen them in common with Audi and others the brakes do “grab” but use normal mode and it’s no different to any auto. We’ve had ours for three month and 3,000 miles are delighted!
@@gileshalliwell3591 I am happy to hear you had no issues with your Fiats. I would be more than happy to have the same experience, unfortunately, mine was not that great. I am fully aware that it might be a lemon, but I have looked at several 500s before purchasing mine, most of them had some issues.
My Fiat 500 had a broken driver's side door handle which has been replaced by the dealer with a note that it is a common issue and one should not pull by the handle when opening the door (maybe this is one of the reasons the new 500e has no door handles ^^).
Then my manual gear shifter stopped getting into any gear other than the 3rd and the 4th. Apparently, the gear cable connector worn off and popped out. Then I had to replace a leaking engine radiator and the A/C radiator. The start/stop system has never properly worked for me despite the battery being in healthy condition and fully charged (measured at the dealership).
I won't even mention the countless suspension fixes since this is strongly correlates with the condition of roads one drives on. All this has been done on a car which is ~7 years old (was even newer when most of the fixes had to be done).
Currently I am at 90k km mileage and have another long list of jobs that the dealership recommends to perform on the car.
My previous car was a 15+ years old Toyota Corolla. Despite being much older, I had less issue with it than with the pretty fresh Fiat. I am not saying all Fiats or Italian cars are bad, I am just sharing my personal experience with it and why I would think twice before buying a 30k+ Fiat 500 :)
Great info about the ACC 👏👏
2022 red edition. Range at one year old is now just 71miles! Not good enough.
I like the review..thanks. I have a fiat panda 4x4 cross twin air (fab little engine) which is my mountain goat car but now am looking at this car too. I think it is a good option for local-ish driving…but may now be pressed by some of the Chinese cars coming here like the Ora Cat for space and price and range?
The 500 is a great little car (I've had three, a classic, a twin air - agree on the engine - and an Abarth), and I think this could be the pick of the range for local running. The Ora Cat is a much bigger car, and pricing-wise they could be coming in at just over £25k for a base car. It's more of an ID.3 size car. I suppose you'd just have to weigh up whats more important to you in terms of value v's space? Thanks for watching the review and taking the time to comment.
well, the model action is no ,onger available, it is an icon now with lower battery size, but mostly equipped like a normal icon, except for the smaaller wheels. but the result is: it is a bit more expensive now but no longer a "cheap" version.. the new action 22 with the small battery has the big touchscreen, uconnect and dab radio. and you can order split backseat back
the price has risen from26.790 to 27.990 (german prices) but you get a lot more for that
Our old 22kw Renult Zoe 90% fine 🙂 now we have a BMW i3 42KW 100% brilliant 👏 😀 Land Rover hope they dich toxic fossil ice soon 🤯
I used to have an I3. Still miss this little hero
@@pilotandthecity8527 We looked at other electric cars last year with longer range but traded our 2018 33kw i3 for a 2021 42kw i3s. Only problem is our next electric car.
What car do you drive now all the best
@@buzzofftoxicblog791 it’s a VW ID.4 .
Actually I’m happy with it, but it’s missing the special feeling of the i3.
Good second car, pity they could not put a basic radio in it rather than of having to buy a radio pack.
I agree.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
i dont like the headlights.....sleepy cat appeal
it's raining! quick cover the Fiat, nobody likes to see instant rust appear.
Harsh......