Fiat 600e | Review | DriveElectric

Stylish retro-inspired design

Comfortable ride quality

WLTP 252-mile range

Relatively affordable price

Design & Powertrain

The Fiat 600e is a bigger version of the 500e (as was the case with the 600 versus the 500 in the 1950s), with five doors and five seats, and because Fiat is part of the Stellantis Group, it’s a safe bet that the 600e will be sharing a platform with another car; in this case, it’s the Jeep Avenger.

That means a 54 kWh battery (with 51 kWh usable capacity) and a 154 hp electric motor delivering front-wheel drive.

The dashboard is also very similar to the Jeep, even down to the folding cover over the large storage compartment in the centre console, but the exterior design aims to share the stylish retro-inspired design of the Fiat 500e.

Although the 600e is bigger than the 500e, this is no large SUV; within its length of 4,171mm, rear legroom is tight (and not helped by a transmission tunnel), and the boot isn’t huge at 360-litres (or 1,231 litres with the rear seats folded). There’s a false boot floor, under which you can just about fit the charging cable, and there’s even a small additional compartment below the lower boot floor.

The Fiat 600e, which has a towing weight of 0 kg, replaces the 500X crossover, although the 600e is almost 10cm shorter than the 500X.

Fiat 600e Driving Experience

Because the Fiat 600e is compact, and it weighs 1,520 kg – less than most EVs – it feels relatively agile. However think ‘easy to drive’ rather than ‘sporty’ in terms of the Fiat 600e’s driving dynamics; the ride quality is comfortable and the steering is light.

There are three driving modes to choose from, Eco, Normal and Sport; even in Sport mode, acceleration from standstill isn’t as rapid as most other EVs (the 600e has a 0-62 mph time of 9.0 seconds). Despite this, because the Fiat is front-wheel drive, wheelspin is still possible when pulling out of a junction enthusiastically.

Gears are selected on the 600e by means of four buttons on the centre console, which is a hangover from previous Fiats (and this is another feature shared with the Jeep Avenger), but separate buttons that you have to reach out for are not as user-friendly as a gear selector in our opinion. Pressing the D button twice gives you ‘B’-mode, which provides a greater degree of brake regeneration.

The 600e has a 10-inch touchscreen, which is ‘letterbox-shaped’, ie. quite narrow. Underneath the screen is a physical ‘home’ button, but other than that, there are no permanent shortcut buttons for items such as navigation, media/radio or phone. This makes it quite hard to easily swap between items such as Apple CarPlay and the radio. To find the satnav, you have to swipe the home screen to the side. Swipe again and you’ll get a screen with a selection of car controls and apps.

Further down the dashboard is a row of buttons for the climate controls, one of which brings up a screen allowing you to select items such as the heated seats and to choose where the heating and ventilation is directed.

As with virtually all new cars, the lane departure warning system has a strong intervention on the steering if you drive near a white line; to switch this off you need to select the vehicle button (next to the home button under the touchscreen) and the ADAS screen will appear, offering you options to switch off various items.

Despite the driver’s seat having electric adjustment it might be a challenge for some people to get the ideal driving position in the 600e, with a relatively short reach adjustment for the steering wheel, a seat base with no ability to have its angle adjusted, and the driver might find their left leg pressed up against the large storage compartment in the centre console.

Range & Charging

The Fiat 600e has a WLTP combined range of up to 252 miles, and a figure of up to 367 miles is quoted for the WLTP city cycle. An average real-world range of 210 miles or more should be achievable.

Like most of the current Stellantis EV models, the 600e can rapid charge at up to 100 kW DC, when a 20% to 80% charge should take 27 minutes.

The 600e also has an 11 kW onboard AC charger, which can benefit from a three-phase electricity supply typically found at workplaces in the UK, when a 0% to 100% charge should take 5 hours 45 minutes.

A heat pump comes as standard, which aims to minimise the loss of battery charge when heating the cabin in cold weather.

The 600e has an 8-year/100,000-mile battery warranty.

Price and Model Range

The Fiat 600e is available in two trims: the Fiat 600e (RED) from £32,995, and the Fiat 600e La Prima from £36,995. The La Prima trim level features extra equipment such as heated front seats, driver’s seat massage, navigation and voice

recognition. The La Prima model is also available in four colours: Orange - Sun of Italy (standard); Blue - Sky of Italy; Green - Sea of Italy; and Sand - Earth of Italy.

Fiat offers its own electric car grant scheme in the UK; the Fiat E Grant provides customers with a £3,000 contribution towards an electric Fiat.

As well as the EV version, the Fiat 600e is also available as a petrol hybrid.

Conclusion

We need as many electric cars as possible that are priced towards the more affordable end of the scale, and Fiat is aiming to achieve this with the 600e. The car also has strong visual character inspired by the 500e city car – even though under the skin the 600e shares more with the Jeep Avenger in terms of its powertrain and cabin. The official driving range of 252 miles should make the 600e reasonably practical, and 100 kW rapid charging provides a 20% to 80% charge in under half an hour. Although the 600e is larger than the 500e, it’s still not a big car, and space is tight in terms of rear legroom and the boot.