Fiat 600e review

March 6, 2024 Matt Allan

The Fiat 600e is the Italian brand’s effort to reclaim a leading position in the small car market where it was once a major player.

Since the death of the Punto way back in 2018, Fiat hasn’t had a competitor in the B segment, and the 600e is not only the brand’s re-entry into the market but also its attempt to inject a little of ‘la dolce vita’ into the market.

It describes the 600e as a Fiat 500e with 100 more things to love, including more seats, more doors, more power and more range, plus a cute Italian flag in the rear bumper.

It’s also at the forefront of the brand’s march towards electrification, which will see the arrival of a new electric Panda towards the end of the year.

Design and interior

Every image makes the 600e look like a fairly chunky mid-sized SUV but, in the metal, it’s actually a far more compact package. It’s a little longer than your average supermini but smaller than a lot of B-SUVs and around the same size as a Jeep Avenger or Vauxhall Mokka. No surprise as, under the skin, it uses the same eCMP2 platform as the Jeep and Vauxhall.

While it’s pitched as a supermini-class car, the 600e has the almost mandatory lean towards SUV design, sitting slightly taller than a hatchback, with some thin black body cladding around the arches, doors and lower bumpers. But it retains the bubbly shape of the smaller 500e and the distinctive split headlights that straddle the bonnet gap. It’s a friendlier, less aggressive style than something like the Avenger or larger Peugeot e-2008.

Inside, the 600e is a mix of Fiat flair and standard Stellantis bits. The lower half of the dash and centre console are borrowed straight from the Avenger, so there are sensible physical controls for the air conditioning and a huge storage area hidden by a neat folding magnetic cover. Above that, the 600e has its own style with a rounded, coloured dashboard panel that’s topped with a 10-inch touchscreen and a small round instrument pod hiding a simple digital display.

There’s an emphasis on recycled and sustainable materials in the seats, mats and steering wheel and although the doors and dash are finished in a bland plastic, it feels made to last and a significant improvement on older Fiats.

The Fiat 600e interior is a mix of Fiat flair and standard Stellantis parts

Fiat says it has worked to maximise space within the 600e’s 4.17m footprint and, technically, it seats five. However, this is a small car and adults (and even taller children) will struggle to find space in the back seats. On the plus side, the boot is a useful 360 litres – twice that of the 500.

Battery, motor and performance

Fiat is part of the massive Stellantis group, so the 600e shares its underpinnings with everything from the Jeep Avenger to the Vauxhall Corsa and DS3 E-Tense.

That means it gets a 54kWh battery providing energy to a front-mounted 152 bhp/192lb ft motor. Larger rivals offer more power and performance but cost more, so it’s down to how much performance you need.

Acceleration to 62mph takes 9 seconds even in ‘sport mode’, and it feels pretty sluggish. That’s with access to the full 152bhp, too. Select ‘normal’ or ‘eco’ modes and the car limits the power output in the name of efficiency. That’s not too bad around town but less than helpful on faster roads.

Driven carefully, the 600e should return up to 254 miles on a charge and I saw consumption of 3.5m/kWh on a chilly March day. Not bad but not remarkable either. The 600e accepts DC charging at up to 100kW, taking it from 20-80% in 27 minutes, and a heat pump is standard to help maximise efficiency.

Fiat has softened up the 600e’s suspension compared to the Avenger and this shows in a slightly more compliant ride that’s better suited to our crater-strewn roads but does create a touch of body roll.

Like every car based on this platform, the 600e lacks much in the way of excitement or engagement (unlike the brilliant 500e). Nonetheless, it gets on with the business of going from A to B well enough and copes well with high-speed roads while being small and light enough to feel at home in congested urban environments.

The Fiat 600e feels at home around town but copes well at higher speeds, too

Price and specification

Fiat keeps things simple when it comes to trim levels and specifications. The 600e only comes in two specs – RED or La Prima and there are no options or bolt-on packages. List prices are £32,995 and £36,995 respectively but to help with its ambition to make electrification for everybody Fiat is offering private buyers a £3,000 eGrant on both trim levels. That means you can have a 600e RED for £29,995, which represents impressive value among its rivals.

Both versions come with LED lights, 11kW AC charging, a 10-inch touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, cruise control, automatic air conditioning and keyless start. The £4,000 extra for La Prima brings 18-inch alloys, chromed badges and trim, plus tinted rear windows, a powered tailgate, 360-degree parking camera, heated massage seats finished in synthetic leather, plus sat nav, auto high beam and adaptive cruise control with lane assist. Nice as those extras are, I’d save the cash and go for the Red, which has most of the key functions you need in a supermini and rides better on its smaller wheels, plus has a vibrant red dash rather than a subdued pearl-effect one.

In keeping with Fiat’s “no more grey” policy, standard colours are red, black, or white, while La Prima buyers can also choose from Sun orange, Sky blue, Sea green and Earth stone (which looks suspiciously grey in the metal).

Verdict

The 600e is an intriguing new entry from Fiat, offering a slightly odd middle ground between supermini and small SUV. The marketing line of a “Fiat 500 with 100 more things to love” is stretching things but the 600e is a competent companion to the 500e, offering more practicality, power and a decent usable range along with a healthy dose of the 500’s style and charm. On the road there’s not a huge amount to separate it from other Stellantis models or convince you you’re living la dolce vita, but in the showrooms, that lower price makes the Fiat a sweet deal.