8-09-24 Featured Vehicle
By Rich Taber
Everything about the Fiat (500e)RED screams efficiency. Not only does it squeeze every inch of 3.2 miles out of a kilowatt-hour of energy, it makes no excuses for its diminutive size and frugal accommodations.
Those who would scoff at its 117-horsepower performance would do well to first remember that the two-door fully electric vehicle weighs just 2952 pounds, and second consider that its all-electric system produces 167 lb-ft of torque – that’s more than what small SUVs such as the current standard Buick Encore GX produce. In our week-long test, the (500e)RED never felt pokey, whether jumping off a green light or cruising at highway speed.
Sure, you might argue, but it only gets 141 miles on a full charge. Big deal! The 500e isn’t meant for cross country travel. We at RPM were dropped into the special edition (500e)RED in Kennebunkport, Maine with just over 82% charge and made the 147-mile trip to home-base in SouthCoast Massachusetts with just one 30-minute stop to fill-up and get a coffee in Wakefield, MA (78 miles from the start), and then got to our destination with 38% (54 miles) charge remaining… and that’s with driving in traffic straight through Boston at 6:30pm on a Wednesday evening.
Granted, sometimes charging is challenging. Home charging with regular household AC is glacially slow, but adequate overnight to get one through most days worth of local driving. Without a Level 2 charger at home, one’s best option is to use a DC Fast Charger if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby (within a 15 mile radius).
But don’t count on your nearby DC Fast Charger being unoccupied or in service. We’ve run into both situations with the EVs we’ve tested. Notwithstanding those scenarios, we did have a bit of difficulty fast charging the 500e at both an EVgo and an EVConnect station. For some reason, seemingly related to scheduling, the charging session would initiate then stop abruptly about 22 seconds in regardless of whether the Fiat was set on a schedule or not.
Fortunately, there was no such difficulty with the ChargePoint station we used in Wakefield.
Anyway, getting back to the all-around efficiency vibe this little munchkin exudes, just look at it. Haven’t you ever wished you had a car its size after you’ve driven around the block four times looking for a parking space and had to forego a few spots because parallel parking into them would have taken a dozen to-and-fros and still left you more than 12-inches from the curb? At 142.9 inches long, the Fiat (500e)RED can park in spaces that won’t fit a current model MINI Cooper Hardtop.
Wait, there’s more. In a somewhat OCD efficiency frenzy presumably to reduce weight, the design team for the (500e)RED managed to yank one of the two pro-forma cup holders out of the center console, leaving driver and front passenger to argue over who gets dibs on using the single one between the seats. Yes, there are circular spots in the doors either side for a water bottle, but one of the occupants sitting up front is going to have to keep a steady hand on their hot coffee. Same goes for the two folks in the rear seat (although only children would relish sitting there anyway– presumably non-caffeinated).
In a similar efficiency freakout, the perfunctory driver’s side vanity mirror got nixed. I suppose there’s a cost factor to this as well as the weight, but really?
Nevertheless, we are better for this if we remind ourselves to focus on the bottom line. Over the course of five years, the (500e)RED fitted with all-season tires as in our test vehicle will save its owner $5750 in fuel costs compared with the average new vehicle according to EPA estimates. That’s not even considering purchasing incentives which here in Massachusetts include a $1000 vehicle retirement offer if you’re trading in a qualifying internal combustion engine vehicle, and an up to $5000 rebate just for buying an EV.
If it sounds like too much sacrifice to save $95 bucks a month not counting rebates, there is another side to consider. The Fiat (500e)RED, despite its economy, manages to provide a stylishly charming driving experience that doesn’t skimp on tech savviness. Standard equipment includes the next-generation FIAT connectivity technology featuring Uconnect® 5 NAV with a 10.25-inch high-definition touchscreen, Integrated Voice Command with wireless Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ compatibility, Alexa built-in wireless integration and a Navigation system.
At the recent annual New England Motor Press Association Awards Night, the Fiat (500e)RED earned recognition as the Best Around Beach Town Vehicle. That’s really a Big Deal considering the thousands of miles of coastline we enjoy here.
One more thing, the (500e)RED comes by its name because of Fiat’s partnership with RED, the global organization whose funding supports life-saving programs that empower health workers and provide testing, treatment and care in places where injustice has enabled pandemics to thrive.
RPM News Weekly Photos by Rich Taber
2024 Fiat (500e)RED
MANUFACTURER’S SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE $32,500.00
DELIVERY, PROCESSING AND HANDLING $1,595.00
TOTAL MANUFACTURER’S ESTIMATED NET SELLING PRICE $34,095.00
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EQ Factor
The ratio of the cost of a gallon of gasoline to the cost of an equivalent amount of electrical energy, based on a gallon of gasoline having 115,000 BTUs which is equivalent to 33.7 kilowatt-hours. The eQ factor is used to determine how many miles one gets in an electric vehicle for the same dollars spent on a gallon of gasoline. This is different than MPGe which does not account for price differences between gasoline and electricity. To figure the eQ factor, first calculate the the cost of an equivalent amount of electrical energy in your locale by multiplying 33.7 KwH by the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity (including delivery charges, if any). Call that the “Cost of a Gallon of Electricity”. Take the cost of a gallon of gasoline in your locale, and divide it by the “Cost of a Gallon of Electricity” to get the eQ factor. The eQ factor changes depending on the prices of gasoline and electricity in a particular location on any given day.
To figure out how economical that electric car really is for you, multiply the MPGe rating from the EPA by the eQ factor to see how many miles you’ll get for the same dollars you spend on a gallon of gasoline.
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