The return of the Fiat 500e and its huge significance for electric cars

The return to showrooms of the Fiat 500e carries enormous significance for the electric car industry.

The latest of the electric city cars; the first-generation Fiat 500e left showrooms in 2019. But it will return in roughly a year with an updated style and an expected range of around 250 kilometres. That isn’t much, but it is relatively consistent with a breed of small Euro-chic electrics such as the Honda E, the BMW i3 and the Mini Cooper SE. Moreover, small electric vehicles like the Fiat 500e could be the only segment that Tesla is ceding to the competition.

We will have confirmed the details in early March when the new Fiat 500e debuts at the Geneva Motor Show. In the meantime, the media speculate about an increase in power and a rise in range reaching around 250 kilometres.

Here is where things get interesting. The head of Fiat, Olivier Francois, assured last month that the new electric 500 would sit on a new bespoke electric car platform. That platform could be shared with other small electric Fiat models, including a model inspired by the highly customisable Centoventi multipack concept we just saw at CES. It will also be used for a petrol-hybrid 500 variant, which arrives first.

The Fiat 500e could put Tesla on the ropes

The platform will also be leveraged for the future fully electric propulsion systems of Jeep and Maserati. In December, spy photographers captured the new 500e in testing, revealing a redesigned dashboard with a larger infotainment screen and a rotary gear selector. Other tweet-worthy spy shots show a more angular interface.

A new fully electric 500 is expected to launch in Europe later this year and in the US in 2021. While most drivers aren’t fans of urban runabouts, Europeans like them, and they need them to meet regulations.

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The new Mini Cooper SE and Fiat 500e have starting prices below those found on a new Bolt or a Model 3. They are also arguably more stylish and easier to manoeuvre and park in crowded cities. Range for the three models is roughly 200-250 kilometres, respectively, so consumers would need to know how much range they actually use.

Those two models, together with the BMW i3 and the Honda E, form a new emerging segment of charismatic small electric vehicles.

Compact electrics, the birth of a new segment?

Perhaps most importantly, Tesla shows no sign of producing anything smaller or less costly than a Model 3. That may be an opportunity for competitors, including Fiat. (And it would be a small consolation for the hundreds of millions or billions of euros FCA pays Tesla in exchange for pooling EU emissions credits).

What makes the return of the 500e significant is that it is the beginning of FCA’s new EV efforts. With all the announcements about FCA’s EV investments, a few billion here and a few billion there, it is hard to pin down what it will mean for what you and I might drive.

In 2019, Fiat said it would invest nearly 800 million euros in the new 500e, including a new production line in Mirafiori, Italy. Fiat said it would build 80,000 units a year of the 500e, starting in the second quarter of 2020. Earlier FCA announcements put the investment at more than 10 billion euros for a broad range of electrification efforts, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid versions of new Jeep models.

And now, FCA and PSA are preparing to merge and become the world’s fourth-largest carmaker. In 2018, PSA said it would launch an “onslaught” of electric cars, with a battery-powered version of all its models in roughly five years. It starts in early 2020 with an affordable, stylish 50 kWh electric twin: the Opel Corsa-e and the Peugeot e-208.

Meanwhile, in China (the world’s largest electric vehicle market), Fiat Chrysler announced last week that it is partnering with manufacturing giant Foxconn to build electric cars. With the Foxconn plan, FCA/PSA cover all the global bases.

A small electric in 2021 may not be the most exciting news in the world. But across the industry, electric cars have a place for stylish, more affordable electric passenger vehicles.