New Fiat 500 Electric review.

The Fiat 500 is a stylish city car that uses its classic heritage to pull at your heartstrings. Inspired by the 1957 classic, the Fiat 500 delivers modern city car motoring with an Italian twist. 

Let's be honest, if you’re here it’s probably because you’ve already fallen in love with the retro looks of the Fiat 500. And we agree - the Fiat 500 is one of the best-looking city cars you can buy. Its compact and cute styling gives a heavy nod to the past.

Is the Fiat 500 Electric a good car?

The Fiat 500 has been reborn as an electric car, but it keeps its all-important retro-chic looks and you can still have it as a hard-top or cabriolet.

Rather than add a bunch of fiddly details to the outside, Fiat’s gone back to basics and made the 500 look smoother, more rounded and even more minimalist than before. It’s like your grandad suddenly ditching the dyed comb-over and shaving his head instead. Smoother, simpler, cooler.

For starters, the old car’s headlights have been ditched in favour of two semi-circular lamps with a curved daytime-running lights that shine out through the bonnet.

The flush door handles and hidden indicators are pretty much the only difference you’ll spot from the side, and the lack of an exhaust pipe is a dead giveaway that you’re looking at the new car from behind.

What we love most about the electric Fiat 500:

• Head-turning looks
• Decent electric range
• Nippy performance in town

Fiat 500 Electric interior.

As you’d expect the 500 is pretty funky inside, but gone is the 1960s influence seen in the old model and instead there’s a swooping dashboard with a touchscreen on top. The lower Action and Passion models have a 7-inch touchscreen, while high-spec Icon and La Prima models get the larger 10.25-in affair.

Infotainment.

Entry-level Action models come with only a cradle for your smartphone, which seems decidedly stingy.

Thereafter, there are two sizes of touchscreen on offer, a 7-inch model and a 10-inch version.

Both of these systems are fairly good, with sharp graphics and decently quick responses. Only the larger of the two offers sat-nav, which again is quick to respond to inputs. The software behind the two systems seems logical and easy to use, too.

Better still, both offer the ability to mirror your smartphone through Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which makes using them on the move even easier.