FIAT Grande Panda: the affordable electric car you've been waiting for

FIAT has just unveiled the Grande Panda, its new electric model based on the affordable CMP Smart Car platform. As many other manufacturers are doing, the Italian brand has in this case chosen to revive one of its most legendary models. A formula that seems to be delivering very good results.

FIAT has wanted to highlight the iconic and unmistakably Italian design of the Grande Panda. A completely new model, which has been developed on a shared global platform. Although this is the first model from the Italian manufacturer to use the CMP Smart Car platform, it is not the first Stellantis model to do so, as Citroën already offers an electric vehicle based on this platform, the ë-C3.

As for its technical specifications, the Italian manufacturer only mentions a length of 3.99 metres. However, the drive system is expected to be similar to that of the Citroën ë-C3. The battery pack, with LFP cells from the company SVOLT, will have a capacity of 44 kWh, allowing around 320 kilometres to be covered on a single charge. A range, therefore, very similar to that of Citroën’s sister model. On the other hand, everything points to the power of its single electric motor reaching 83 kW.

The similarities with the Citroën ë-C3 allow us to know much more about the new Grande Panda

Although FIAT has not provided official details about the charging system of this model either, it seems it will be similar to that of other models already presented based on the CMP Smart Car platform. Thus, the maximum power supported in direct current should reach 100 kW, thereby allowing the battery pack’s charge level to increase from 20 to 80 percent in just 26 minutes. Likewise, for occasions when a Wallbox on alternating current is used, the vehicle has an internal 11 kW charger, with which a full charge can be completed in approximately 4 hours.

FIAT considers that the new Grande Panda will mark the start of the company’s transition, focused until now on local production, to a new global supply strategy through a common platform, also global. Thus, this new model will not initially be launched only in Europe, but also in the Middle East and Africa.

With compact dimensions and good interior space, the Grande Panda may be the perfect city car for many potential customers. In terms of design, it incorporates stylistic elements from the legendary FIAT Panda of the 1980s, such as the silhouette and the slightly angular headlights. With this design language, the Grande Panda also aims to be a symbol of the path the brand will follow in the future.

Although the Italian manufacturer has not yet revealed the price list for the Grande Panda, nor the exact date of its launch in Europe, everything points to the price of the entry-level version being around 23,000 euros. This would place it on a par in this regard with its French sibling, the Citroën ë-C3.