Tiny Italian electric mini-car is due Down Under in the first half of next year, details TBC
Australia can add yet another reborn icon – and another EV – to its list of inbound models, this time in the form of the 2023 Fiat 500e.
The pint-size electric car has now been confirmed for release Down Under in the first half of 2023, but the local arm of Fiat parent company Stellantis won’t be drawn on any other details and says all will be revealed closer to launch.
Revealed back in early 2020, the all-electric Fiat 500e has been available in Europe and other key markets for more than two years now and has since been joined by a four-door version dubbed the 500e 3+1.
Fiat 500e 3+1
While it’s been absent from our shores, the 500e hasn’t been absent from Stellantis Australia’s product radar and evidently the business case has evolved enough since 2020 to justify bringing the tiny electric scamp Down Under, where the previous-generation Fiat 500 remains available in hatch, convertible and hot Abarth forms.
The all-new Fiat 500e, meanwhile, is powered by an 87kW/220Nm electric motor and either a 24kWh or 42kWh lithium-ion battery pack yielding an effective range of up to 320km.
Well down on power but with a superior driving range, the Fiat 500e won’t go toe-to-toe with the MINI Cooper SE Electric; instead occupying a more niche corner of the market and likely to come with a lower price tag to match.
At this stage there are no direct rivals for the 500e offered in Australia in terms of electric micro-cars, but the inbound GWM ORA Good Cat will be the closest thing to it when it lands here later in the year.
And internal combustion rivals will be limited to the Kia Picanto, given the Mitsubishi Mirage was shown the door late last year.
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Keyword: Fiat 500e confirmed for Australia