► Fiat’s new urban electric runabout
► Uses the original 500 as its muse…
► … and the Citroen Ami as its base
It’s official. The Italians still know how to make a great-looking car. This adorable little lunchbox is the new Fiat Topolino. It’s a pure-electric quadricycle that aims to change the way we travel around our cities – and it’ll hit the UK market in 2024 with an expected starting price of around £8,000.
If you hadn’t already guessed, the Topolino is based on the Citroen Ami. It shares the same battery pack, motor and basic body shell – but Fiat’s designers have given it a fresh face, a new backside and a more stylish interior in a bid to capture the interest of the next generation of car enthusiasts.
Fiat has recognised that the youngest motorists aren’t particularly concerned about driving dynamics. Instead, the brand reckons they’re captivated by a car’s looks and environmental impact – so its designers have pulled styling cues from the ever-fashionable classic Fiat 500 while recycling most of the Ami’s development work. The result? A chic, affordable, eco-conscious runabout.
So, what’s different between the Topolino and the Ami?
Just enough. The Ami looks identical at both ends – but Fiat’s designers have given the Topolino a face and a rear end, neither of which would look out of place on a car from the 1950s. Their muse is clear, too. It’s an obvious homage to the original 500, right down to its name.
The cabin is a lot brighter than the Ami’s, too. The seats are trimmed in cream rubber, the gauge cluster is clad in beige plastic and there’s a canvas storage box atop the dashboard. You can even specify the cabin with some bolt-on extra such as a fan and a wireless speaker.
Buyers will be able to choose from two versions. The standard Topolino has doors and a fixed glass roof like the Ami, but the Topolino Dolce Vita swaps the doors for ropes and replaces the roof with a canvas roll-top to turn the car into a beach-crawling cruiser. You can even spec it with a shower, so you can rinse off the sand after a hard day of lounging by the sea.
What’s powering the Fiat Topolino?
Not a lot. It has a tiny 5.4kWh battery pack and a dinky 8bhp electric motor. The powertrain gives the Topolino a maximum range of 47 miles and a dizzying top speed of 28mph. Its rather stunted performance means that, on the continent, children as young as 14 will be allowed to drive it. Sadly, you’ll need a full driving licence in the UK to get behind the wheel.
Like the Ami, the Topolino only has a 2.3kW charging system, which means it can’t reap the benefits of 7kW wallbox chargers or public DC rapid chargers. But, because its battery is only tiny, that isn’t such a problem. It only takes four hours to brim the battery using a normal three-pin plug.
What else will Fiat do with the Topolino?
Olivier Francois, Fiat’s CEO, explained his plan to use the Topolino as a testbed for Fiat’s future subscription model. On the continent, at least, drivers will be able to have one on their drive for just €39/month. That’s less than the average cost of commuting to work on public transport in London.
He said: ‘We had a lot of debates about this subscription thing. Is it the best way? Is it a bit too new? People love our dealerships. But we are going to leverage our dealerships – so thank God especially in Italy where we have more dealerships than churches. But we are having this debate.
‘Then, at some point, someone reminded us of the available production volume this year and even next year. And we say, you know what? We can make a test on subscription. We won’t have enough cars. To be totally honest, we won’t have enough cars – at least not in 2024, so we can totally test it. I think that we’re going to sell the yearly production in two months. It’s just my guess.’
Francois also expressed his desire for a commercial version of the Topolino. ‘Honestly, I’d like to have something like a Topolino cargo. A Topolino pick-up? That would be really nice. I would love to unveil it at some point, you know, because that’s a huge market for a lot of countries. Remember the little Piaggio Ape, with the three-wheeler?
‘So, a four-wheeler like this – I mean, I don’t know – that’s something I asked the team to look at as soon as possible. But it’s not easy, you know, because the sad truth is the weight that we have to carry on the platform and compatibility with the power. But yeah, that’ll be cool.’
Watch this space. Fiat is on a bit of a roll lately – and the company has some big plans for its future. If Francois’s complete vision for the Topolino comes to fruition, we’ll update you with more info.