2018 FIAT 500e Consumer Reviews

With my EV debut, I've fallen smitten with the FIAT 500e. It's perhaps the best value in today's market at well under $10K with low low miles. No more gas stations! Full comfort amenities. Quick, fun, stoked.

I have been driving Fiat 500e's for 10 years. First, I leased a brand new one, then 3 years later, I purchased a used one. I am tall (5'11") and have plenty of leg and head room. Occasionally, I have had a short friend in the back and average height person in the passenger front seat. It's doable. I live in LA, which is an ideal place to have this car which is so easy to park and does not need gas. Parking spaces in Hollywood are hard to find and tend to be small due to the high population and demand. Due to traffic, I rarely drive more than 5 miles each day. I don't have kids, pets or clutter in my car so I have plenty of space. You can put the back seats down for hauling boxes or small furniture. The torque is incredible, especially for a 10 year old car. I leave everyone in the dust when the light turns green- unless there is a Lamborghini or Tesla driver next to me who is showing off their car. Surprisingly, it has a high crash test rating for a small car. One day, the driver's side was hit hard by a giant van which was speeding and running a red light. Miraculously, I had zero injuries and the car was still drivable. (although my insurance deemed it a total loss due to the car value being lower than repair cost, typical of older cars). Even after that, I bought the exact same one. I love the design, the ease of parallel parking and power. I have not had to spend any money on maintenance, besides tires and bulbs for headlight. It could use more space in the glove box and center console, but the limited space for junk forces you to be organized. It costs me between $2-4 to fully charge this car and takes 3-4 hours. Be warned, if you buy a used Fiat 500e which was someone's 2nd or 3rd car which sat idle for a long time, the battery could be degraded and your range could be as low as 35 miles. In any case, you need a charger at your home or work which is accessible whenever you need. Public chargers are too competitive now. This is a city car, the bigger the city, the more you will benefit from it as it is easy to park and navigate around traffic. The carpool access has saved me countless hours in traffic. If you can afford to, lease a new one so you have a fresh battery with maximum range, warantee, etc. But if you work from home and live near everything you need, you may be happier saving the money on a used one. If you drive long distances for work or need to drive clients around for work, I'd go with the Nissan Leaf or Tesla instead. Not everyone wants to drive in such a tiny car. It is not luxurious or cushy like some clients may want. It's a fun which has saved me $30k in gas and oil changes over the last decade.

I also own a Ram crew cab and a new Benz. Of all of my cars I own, the Fiat 500e is the most fun to drive especially those everyday trips to the office or shopping. I fold down the rear seat and the hatchback makes loading easy. It accelerate great; very quick and agile. The 500lb battery is located below the axles so it has the stability of a go cart. I used a regular 110volt outlet to charge at first. Now I have a 220v. The range is 80-90 miles. Rarely do I ever drive more than that in a day. Even if it is totally out, I will plug it in when I come home and in the morning it is fully charged. I have had zero problems with this car. The charger got crazy and Fiat let me buy whatever charger I wanted and then they reimbursed me for the full amount; very nice!

Purchased the car used 2 years ago from a private sale. This has been a really nice little car for commuting and around town driving. My commute was 22 miles each way, so on a full charge at 70 mph I would typically get to and fro from work with 30% battery left. The "Guess-O' meter" is useless but you can rely on the percentage of battery left. Around town and short trips I would average 84-90 miles at best. Use of the A/C or heater would typically reduce the range by approx 10 miles. Other than new tires and wipers the car has been faultless. Fun to drive with great pick up and easily charged on a level 2 charger. Traded it in for a bigger pack as my commute is now longer otherwise would have kept it. Would definitely have bought the new 500e if Fiat was still doing business in the States.

I live in San Francisco and thought this would be a fun and cost efficient car to have in the city. The range is a joke, it says 84 miles but it's more like 50 and you need to learn how to drive it in a specific way to extend the mileage or boost energy used to get that much out of it, it's a hassle and a gamble every time I try to drive further than 50 miles. It says it takes 4 hours or so to charge but that's only with the 240v charger which you have to get specially installed in your home or find one in public and it has taken around 5-6 every time I've had to fully charge it. I understood that there would be a bit of an exaggeration but am truly regretting buying this car and am trading it in asap.

Absolutely a wonderful little car. Extremely quick. Fun to drive. It really is best for local driving ,city use or round trip commuting of about 50 miles. This vehicle requires ZERO MAINTENANCE!, NO OIL, FUEL, FILTERS! The most affordable ev that is practical. I have put this little car thru its paces i.e. snow,highway,dirt roads, hills and flatout top speed for miles (its limited to 88mph). Never thought I'd like this car so much.

I got this car in March 2017 from a winning bid on Ebay for $5500, and I must say it's been one of the smartest purchases I've ever made. Without virtually no maintenance nor gas, this car is the perfect candidate for a commuter and local driver. In LA where the weather is more temperate I get about 80 miles in the winter and 110 miles in the warmer months. I top off the charge at home and at work, not unlike charging up your phone whenever you get a chance. I save easily $1500 a year driving this and it will easily pay for itself many times over.

I've been driving a 500e for my daily commute of 40 miles round trip for the last 18 months. It's fun to drive and surprisingly reliable. It gets the published ranges, but drops significantly when the temperature approaches 0 degrees Fahrenheit. If purchased for $10k or less, it's an extremely affordable way to get from A to B. A loan for $10k for 48 months at +/- $225 month, minus fuel savings of $125 month = $100 monthly expense compared to a car driven 1,000 miles per month at 20mpg. One down side is that the MN DMV uses the original MSRP for calculating annual license fees, which is really high compared to the KBB used average plus they add a $75 EV fee because you're not purchasing fuel and avoiding the state gas tax.