In My Garage: An electric car... 2016 Fiat 500e

A new kind of powertrain 

I had wanted to add an electric car to my fleet, for about the last year. The cheaper, the better. I was thinking about something for $10,000 or less. I knew it would have limited range. Just a toy really.

The reason I decided that this would be my next powertrain, was because I do a lot of wrenching on my old, gas powered cars, and in theory, EVs should be much lower maintenance, and have fewer hard part failures, as there are less moving parts. I wanted to see if it caused me to view my ICE cars, from a new perspective.

Initially, I was considering a first gen Nissan Leaf. I test drove one in Sept '22, but the amount of money dealers were asking was still way too high. I decided to bide my time, believing that the market would come to me, as interest rates rose. It was around this time, that I also became aware of the used EV tax credit, that would be kicking in as of January 1st, 2023. So I would test drive, but not purchase until then.

The down side to the first gen Leaf is battery degradation. Due to poor design of the battery pack, the battery capacity dropped noticeably over time.

A friend had mentioned a Fiat 500e to me, which I didn't know existed. It was a "compliance car" made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, solely to comply with California's zero emission mandate. They were also sold and leased in Oregon. Nowhere else in the country got these cars new. The CEO, at the time claimed that they lost $14,000 on everyone sold. This was because they sub-contracted the whole powertrain out to Bosche. MSRP was $32,800. This was not a cost effective car, and they only wanted to sell the bare minimum required by law.

I had always liked the Fiat 500 design...the retro look. But I would never consider an FCA powertrain. the fact that it was Bosche, intrigued me. So I did some research, and started shopping.

I ended up buying this 2016 Fiat 500e with 32,000 miles on January 5th 2023 My out-the-door price was $11,459 cash, including tax, title, and all fees. This will be knocked down to a $8,384 total, once I collect on the tax rebate of 30%, at tax time in 2024

Car in the showroom at the dealer

A few mods

This orange graphic package is known as the "e-sport package". I didn't mind the colorful wheel spats, but I took them off to see how it looked with a simpler color scheme.  I added a 20% tint, and I changed the projector headlight bulbs to LED, as stock was a little dim.

Here is how the car looks now

Earlier this month, I entered this in the annual car show I usually participate in. I took off the fake plastic engine cover, and got a few "High Voltage" stickers to put under the hood, so one could tell it was all electric, at a glance, with the hood up. None of the boomers paid any mind to it. As a 2016, this is my most modern car, with technology such as: a USB jack to charge my phone, WHILE I listen to music.

This car has a 0-60 of 8.8 which doesn't sound that impressive. However its 0-40 is very quick, and makes this car so fun from a dig. It is actually a stoplight monster, but top speed is only 85 mph.

Specs:

111 horsepower

147 lb ft torque (from 0 rpm)
2980 lbs. curb weight