Fiat knows that Americans love tiny fashionable cars, especially when they’re powered by electricity. That’s not at all a sarcastic take on the current automotive market, which explains why Fiat has brought over one that’s even smaller, can barely make the speed limit on bike paths, and doesn’t have enough range to drive across Houston without a charge.
Yet somehow, we kinda want one. It’s just so… happy looking. Yes, it’s the Topolino, now available for consumption by US buyers for a price that’s thousands less than the cheapest new car currently on sale in America. Too bad you can’t really use it like a normal car.
Fiat’s Latest Car Isn’t One
Fiat TopolinoFiat
The Fiat Topolino isn’t a car in the traditional sense. Or in the legal sense, since it is approved in much the same way a golf cart is. Instead, it’s designed to give buyers something with more than a healthy amount of Italian flair when they’re driving around one of the neighborhoods that allows golf carts and vehicles like this on public roads.
It’s a rebadged Citroen Ami, because both brands are part of parent company Stellantis, but Fiat has added some interior and exterior touches. Fiat hasn’t touched the mechanical parts, though, and the Topolino has the same eight-horsepower electric motor.
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The Ami’s high center of gravity was no match for the tight turn.
Combine that monster of a motor with a 5.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, and you have an EV that can drive 47 miles (tested using a motorcycle range test) before it needs a charge. At least the battery is light, so the whole car weighs in at a rather nice 1,069 pounds.
Slower Than The Ship It Arrived On
Fiat TopolinoFiat
Yes, that motor is more of a joke than a beast, but when the top speed is limited to 19 mph, then it doesn’t really need more. If that’s not enough speed for you, then Fiat plans to offer a street-legal kit sometime in late summer. Add the kit, and you can reach the frightening pace of 25 miles per hour, enough to make it legal in low speed vehicle areas.
If you still think that’s too slow, you’re still missing the point. This is a car made for tooling around gated communities, especially ones in warm weather areas. It’s about getting to the store or to bingo without needing a full-sized car (and a full-sized license). You can even get it with a rope instead of a door, Fiat Jolly style.
Fiat will sell the Topolino starting from $13,995, plus $990 in destination fees to ship it from Morocco. The Dolce Vita, Fiat’s name for the one without doors, is the same price and it’s also a convertible. If you want a color other than Verde Vita Mint, though, you’re out of luck.
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At only seven years old, you can even have it with Bluetooth.
The list of standard features is as extravagant as its range and power. Highlights, according to Fiat, include a digital instrument cluster, gear selector, bag hook, and phone holder. Fiat will also offer plenty of custom extras and even bespoke services through Motori & Customs.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Fiat TopolinoFiat
Topolino is Italian for Mickey Mouse, and that seems extremely fitting for this car. It’s the name given to the Fiat 500 that came before the classic Fiat 500 you know. The model before the classic, that is, the car built from 1936 to 1955.
The car seems like a joke, but Low Speed Vehicles are serious business in the US. The country bought around $6.5 billion worth last year, and though commercial utility vehicles make up half that, people carriers like the Topolino took around a quarter of the total. That could lead to more sales of the Topolino than the unloved 500e.
