2024 Fiat 500e front 3/4 redWe're coming up on one year since I first leased my Fiat 500e, which means I'm probably due for an update sometime soon, but part of the reason I haven't written more about my experience with the car is because ownership has been pretty uneventful. It may be a short-range electric vehicle built by Stellantis in Italy, but somehow, it hasn't been the rolling disaster you probably expected. It's never stranded me, the only issues I've had with charging have been the chargers' fault, and it's always started and driven every time I've tried to turn it on. Even when I took the 500e on a 760-mile road trip, it performed better than anticipated. I, of course, had to stop to charge more frequently than I would have if I'd been driving a car with more range, but it was more comfortable by than I expected it to be after driving all day, and it didn't catch on fire, which is always appreciated when you're driving an Italian car. And while more range would have made that one road trip go faster, I don't think I'd be willing to pay more for a bigger battery since I so rarely need more range than it already offers. Even in a rural area.Is it the most exciting daily driver an auto journalist could drive? Nope, but it does its job well, looks cute doing it, and has been cheap to run, while allowing me to set aside more money to put into my girlfriend's Mustang. I guess the 1964.5 models are special or something? Regardless, it's a much more exciting car than anything else I could reasonably hope to buy. I still have complaintsFiat 500e interior cabinBut just because the 500e has been an (almost annoyingly) reliable daily driver, that doesn't mean I think it's perfect. Oh no. The more time you spend in a car, the more stuff you notice, and things you didn't think would be that big of a deal at first can end up being some of the most annoying stuff to deal with. And for me, that's the 500e's sun visors. They aren't completely useless, but they may as well be any time the sun isn't directly in front of you but still high enough in the sky for the visor to block it. Sure, we're talking about a city car that was designed to be one of the least expensive EVs in the U.S., and better sun visors would probably only drive up the cost, but when (or if) Fiat redesigns the 500e, I really hope it fixes the visors anyway. Even with sunglasses on, it's just incredibly annoying not being able to block the sun, especially since we aren't talking about a lightweight performance car like a Lotus or a Miata. Maybe other owners don't mind as much, but I want to go on the record and say that I do. What about you, though? Is there anything about your car that you hope gets fixed with the next redesign? It can just be something that annoys you, such as a sun visor or an inconveniently shaped storage cubby, but I'll allow for more serious complaints, too. Whatever it is, be sure to tell us about it down in the comments. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox, and add us as a preferred search source on Google.
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