fiat threatens the golf cart industry with new 8 horsepower topolinoFiat has officially opened the U.S. order books for the 2026 Topolino-a corporate gamble to see if American buyers can be convinced to trade their lifted custom golf carts for a piece of pint-sized Italian micromobility.The electric quadricycle carries a base sticker price of $13,995, though a mandatory $990 destination fee bumps the real-world entry point to $14,985. Built at the Stellantis factory in Morocco alongside its mechanical twin, the Citroën Ami, the Topolino is the smallest and slowest thing to hit American showrooms since probably ever. It's clearly intended to colonize gated golf neighborhoods, coastal beach towns, and the occasional retirement enclave.The Topolino's physical package is comically small-measuring just 99.6 inches bumper-to-bumper and tipping the scales at a featherweight 1,073 pounds. It's driven by a single front-mounted electric motor that coaxes out 8 horsepower from a tiny 5.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. Out of the box, the Topolino tops out at just 19 mph and provides an estimated 46 miles of range per charge. A dead battery requires roughly five hours to refresh using a standard 2.3-kilowatt AC household wall outlet.fiat threatens the golf cart industry with new 8 horsepower topolinoThere are no performance packages or real individual options; every unit leaves the factory wearing a pale mint shade called Verde Vita, paired with retro 14-inch wheel covers, a digital gauge pod, and a luggage rack bolted to the rear deck.AdvertisementAdvertisementBuyers can specify the machine in one of two structural layouts depending on how much protection from the elements they want. The closed-roof version comes with a fixed panoramic glass sunroof and a pair of asymmetrical, reverse-hinged doors. The more beach-centric Dolcevita version deletes the doors entirely in favor of thick woven ropes and trades the glass top for a canvas roll-back roof.fiat threatens the golf cart industry with new 8 horsepower topolinoYou can't actually legally drive the Topolino on public pavement yet because it bypasses federal crash-testing standards for highway-legal passenger cars. Fiat is sidestepping the Department of Transportation by marketing it strictly for private property, though the company plans to hand out a compliance conversion kit at no extra charge by late summer.The retrofitted hardware package swaps out some internal software code to bump the top speed to 25 mph while adding a physical rearview mirror, a backup camera feed, and an exterior pedestrian alert sound. Once those pieces are installed, the Topolino can legally be used as a Low-Speed Vehicle, allowing it to operate on public roads with posted speed limits of 35 mph or less.Stellantis is funneling the initial 2026 model-year allocation in highly restricted numbers through a handful of select franchise stores in sun-belt states, requiring a $2,500 online deposit to lock in a build slot.Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here.
+42 others
