Last updated on August 19th, 2024 at 01:29 pm
- Stylish design inside and out
- La Prima model is well equipped
- Decent ride quality
- Relatively mediocre value
- Cramped rear seats and limited boot space
- Range and performance behind competitors
Range (WLTP): 254 miles Top Speed: 93mph 0 to 62: 9 sec Efficiency: 5 miles per kWh
Introduction
Fiat has had some success with its EVs so far. Its 500e has been a bestseller in its class, garnering nearly 15% of the European electric market. The company has finally followed up the promising start of the original car with a bigger model, the 600e. It also signals Fiat fully coming into the Stellantis fold, using one of the latter’s standard drivetrains rather than Fiat’s own, like the 500e. Does it still have enough Italian Fiat charm to lure electric purchasers?
Price and Options
The Fiat 600e marks Fiat adopting Stellantis platforms, in this case e-CMP2, the successor to e-CMP, which will be further developed into STLA Small in 2026. That's the same drivetrain as the Jeep Avenger, and there are other similarities we will get to. This is also the drivetrain now used on other Stellantis smaller cars, such as the Peugeot e-308 SW. That means this is a front-wheel drive vehicle with 154hp and a 54kWh battery.
The trim options are simple. There's the basic RED trim like other Fiat cars, and the premium La Prima, which we had for testing. The La Prima comes with a lot more safety tech, which we will detail in a later section. Beyond the trim levels, there are no option packs, making configuration easier.
The standard RED trim colour is, as the name suggests, red, but you can also choose white and black. La Prima comes in orange as standard, with options for sand, blue and the rather attractive colour green of our test car. All optional colours are £600. The RED has 16in steel wheels with bicolour covers, whereas the La Prima has 18in diamond cut alloys.
One of the attractive aspects of the Fiat 500e was that it wasn't too expensive. The 600e isn't hideously pricey, either, starting at £32,995 for the RED version. However, while the La Prima car costs £36,995, which isn't terrible either, bear in mind you can pick up the MG4 Extended Range for less and that is both faster and goes a lot further on a charge. The Smart #1 is only a bit more expensive for more speed, greater range, and a bit more space inside. Overall, while the 600e isn't extortionate, it's not a bargain either.
Until the end of 2024 and possibly beyond, Fiat is offering a £3,000 “Fiat e-Grant” that makes the Fiat 600e a bit more affordable, although it’s for “selected stock and participating retailers”. We couldn’t find any cars with this discount at the time of writing.
Exterior Design
A lot of current cars, battery-electric or not, have become quite angular in appearance. But it's reassuring that Fiat has kept to its curvy brand identity with the 600e. This car has more than a passing resemblance to the 500X, but it's not a successor, and its proportions are much more mature. While the 500X will continue to be sold in the USA for the time being, the 600e will be mostly European only.
It's built on a different platform and is a little bit shorter and lower than the 500X. These subtle differences make the 600e look less chunky and not so much like an obese Fiat 500. The oval lights are bifurcated by the bonnet, with sidelights echoing their shape below. Plastic wheel surrounds lend a rugged, utilitarian look. Overall, though, the 600e keeps some of the cuteness of the 500 but with more space inside.
Interior Comfort
The 600e La Prima has a reasonable sense of quality and Italian style inside. The RED trim comes with black cloth seats, attractively textured with the FIAT logo and red stitching. The La Prima seats are synthetic leather with a creamy “ivory” hue and have an even more premium feel. On the La Prima trim, both front seats are heated. There's even a massage function for the driver, albeit lower back only.
The central console appears to be borrowed from the Jeep Avenger, with a folding cover over the front cubby, which also contains a wireless phone charger. However, it’s hard to fold this so it stays out of the way, making it somewhat annoying. Further back in the central console is an open space with movable dividers that can be used for cupholders or something else. There’s also a cubby under the central armrest.
The rear is a bit cramped, however. The headroom is decent, but knee room is more limited. There's no sunroof option to provide a greater sense of space, either. You can’t pull the back of the middle seat forward to make an armrest or cupholders. There’s no rear air conditioning, but there is a single USB port and the two outer seats have ISOfix points.
Storage and Load Carrying
The boot has a powered release with the La Prima, including kick-to-open, but its capacity is not huge. You get 360 litres with the rear seats up, which is typical for a regular hatchback. It's less than a Peugeot e-2008, but more than a Vauxhall Mokka-e or a Volvo EX30.
The space rises to 1,231 litres with the rear seats forward, which have a 60/40 split. That's quite a bit more than the Smart #1, for example. But it's still not huge in this class. Even the VW ID.3 has more. You can't tow with the 600e, either, which is a surprise when the 500X can.
The Fiat 600e borrows the steering wheel from the 500e. You get cruise control buttons on the left and media control buttons on the right. There are conventional stalks for indicators and lights on the left, with windscreen wipers on the right.
Fiat hasn't adopted the integrated wraparound display of the Peugeot e-3008. The instrumentation and infotainment panel are separate, but both digital. This is another area that has echoes of the Jeep Avenger.
All the drive controls are in a row of buttons on the dashboard, which takes a little getting used to but works well once you have. There's a rocker in the central console for the power levels, which include Eco, Normal and Sport. You also get an electric parking brake, which is quite handy because there's no auto hold on this car.
There’s a 7in instrument cluster display behind the steering wheel. While there is a full range of buttons to operate the climate control, some functions like the heated seats require a trip to the 10in infotainment screen. The best word to describe the Fiat's infotainment is mediocre. It isn't always obvious how to get around the interface, with the physical home button beneath the screen required to go back.
On the plus side, the satnav interface is recognisably from TomTom, which is an excellent pedigree for navigation. The latter is a feature only available with the La Prima trim, however. Otherwise, like the basic Fiat 500, you can use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto instead, which are delivered wirelessly or via a USB cable.
Performance and Driving
The Fiat 600e is not particularly quick for an EV, despite the reasonable 154hp of the eCMP2 drivetrain. It takes a full 9 seconds to get to 62mph. You still get the immediate responsiveness of the electric motor, though. There will be a more powerful Abarth 600e, too, with 237hp, although that’s unlikely to be a performance monster.
Handling is somewhat soggy, although the ride quality is good. The 600e feels light and manoeuvrable around town, too, which is probably where it's most meant to be. However, it also feels planted on the motorway. While the range isn't outstanding (see below), at least you'll arrive in reasonable comfort.
Range and Charging
Despite the fact that Stellantis has increased the battery size and efficiency with the second version of its e-CMP platform, this car still only has 54kWh with 51kWh usable. This delivers a range of up to 254 miles in the WLTP combined cycle. That's a big improvement over original e-CMP Stellantis cars, which could barely exceed 200 miles, but still a little behind the curve.
Efficiency isn't too bad, however. We drove this car up the M1 motorway and back, achieving 3.5 miles per kWh in one direction and 3.4 coming back. That would make for a real-world long-distance range of around 174 miles, which isn't stunning, but at least a heat pump is standard, so you won't lose too much in cold weather.
The DC charger goes up to 100kW, taking 27 minutes to replenish from 20 to 80% charge. You can do a bit over 100 miles of motorway driving and then stop for half an hour, which is functional but not great. There's 11kW AC as standard, so you could recharge from zero to full in under six hours with a fast enough charger, although a typical 7kW home wall box will take more like 8 hours.
Running Costs
The Fiat 600e’s WLTP rating would equate to close to 5 miles per kWh, which would make this a cheap EV to run. Our recorded efficiency of 3.4 miles per kWh is 68% of this, which is about par for the course compared to WLTP and not a terrible result. You would still be getting 2.2p a mile with a 7.5p per kWh overnight charging tariff. There are more efficient EVs around, but this isn’t bad.
The basic car warranty is the typical Fiat three years for unlimited miles, although lots of vendors provide more. The battery has the now typical eight-year warranty, for 100,000 miles. The insurance groups are 25 for the RED and 26 for the La Prima, so premiums should be reasonable.
Safety
Fiat has equipped even the basic RED version of the 600e with a decent range of safety tech. However, the 600e doesn't have a Euro NCAP rating yet. There's traffic sign recognition and autonomous emergency braking including pedestrian and cyclist detection. You also get lane departure warning and keeping assistance. There’s “Drowsy Driver Detection”, too, and basic cruise control.
The La Prima upgrade adds a 180-degree rear view camera with ultrasonic sensors front, side and rear. There's blind spot detection, which is signalled with the orange LEDs on the end of the wing mirrors. This trim level also adds Level 2 autonomous driving, which is adaptive cruise control that includes lane centring. This means you can let the car do the steering, although you will need to keep your hands on the wheel. This cruise control also includes traffic jam stop and go.
| Price: | RED – £32,995; La Prima – £36,995 |
| Range (WLTP): | 254 miles |
| Charge time (7.4kW): | 8 hours |
| Charge time (11kW): | 5.75 hours |
| Charge time (100kW, 80%): | 27 minutes |
| Battery: | 51kWh net (54kWh gross) |
| On Board Charger: | AC: 11kW; DC: 100kW |
| Efficiency (WLTP): | 5 miles per kWh |
| 0-60mph: | 9 seconds |
| Top Speed: | 93mph |
| Power: | 154hp |
| Wheels driven: | Front-wheel-drive |
| Cargo: | 360 litres or 1,231 litres with rear seats down |
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