Following several teasers released this week, Fiat has confirmed the second-generation 500e will indeed be coming to the United States, but not immediately. The announcement was made today at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show where the Italian brand plans to launch a US version of the electric hatchback next year. It is slated to go on sale in North America in the first quarter of 2024 or roughly four years after the European model.
While we’ll have to wait another year to see US-spec models, Fiat did build three one-off electric cars based on its cute EV to ease the wait. Shown at the LA show, the 500e Giorgio Armani, Kartell, and Bvlgari gave the charismatic city car a sophisticated edge. All three are fully customized inside and out, and the automaker says the cars embody the “three souls of the model: sustainable design, sustainable fashion and sustainable luxury”.
It’s too soon to say whether the US-bound 500e will be any different from the version available on the Old Continent. Fiat is selling the pint-sized electric hatchback exclusively with a front-mounted motor that produces 117 horsepower and 220 Newton-meters (162 pound-feet) of torque. The more powerful Abarth derivative will premiere on November 22nd, so here’s hoping North America will get its performance version as well.
The regular Fiat 500 in Europe is available with two battery sizes, 24 kWh and 42 kWh, with a WLTP range of 115 miles (185 kilometers) and 199 miles (320 kilometers) respectively. As we’ve seen with many of the other EVs originally sold in Europe before coming to the US, the numbers tend to drop for the EPA certified range.
It is worth mentioning that the previous generation Fiat 500 is still being sold in Europe with internal combustion engines even though production for North America ends in 2019. Not only that, Abarth still has an ICE powered hot hatchback and even gives the forbidden fruit. update for 2023 by bringing back historic livery.
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