I attended the New York International Auto Show last year, and honestly, it was kind of boring. Sure, there were some cool brands there and lots of nice industry people to mingle with, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, the show has been a shadow of itself.
That is, except for one specific display. Tucked all the way in the corner of the Jacob Javits Convention Center, on display at Fiat’s booth, was, amazingly, a Fiat Topolino. It’s a tiny, city-minded EV based on the Citroën Ami with a top speed of 28 mph, and it looks absolutely adorable. Our own Matt Hardigree got to see it up close and got trapped inside.
The Topolino was designed to be used in European cities, but now, it’ll finally come to the United States, according to Fiat. Interestingly, the announcement has nothing to do with the Trump administration’s declaration to bring small cars to America, according to the brand. Either way, I’m hyped.
I Need More Details
Fiat CEO Olivier Francois revealed the news yesterday while presenting a Topolino art car created by artist Romero Britto at Art Week Miami. As it turns out, Fiat showing the Topolino at a few auto shows in the U.S. last year wasn’t just for fun.
“The Fiat Topolino, our small, joyful, colorful car that is now everywhere in Europe, has made several appearances in the U.S. over the past year, including last month at the LA Auto Show, where it’s creating tremendous excitement among consumers. So much so that I’m happy to share that we’ll be bringing the Fiat Topolino to the U.S., with more details to come next year.”
This announcement comes just one week after President Trump claimed to have legalized smaller kei-style cars for assembly and sale in America, but according to Fiat, the decision to bring the Topolino to the U.S. is unrelated to the administration’s comments. Its statement to CNBC lines up with what the CEO said in the release:
A Stellantis spokeswoman said Fiat’s announcement was unrelated to Trump’s comments last week and that the automaker has been gauging customer interest for the Topolino at U.S. events such as auto shows.
Fiat hasn’t shared any details on when the Topolino might come stateside, though it sounds like American buyers will have to wait until at least next year to know anything more. Considering the car is already in production and the president says cars like this are legal to drive in America, it might be as simple as putting it on a boat and selling it at dealers.
As for how much it’ll cost, the Topolino is priced from €9,890 (around $11,500) in Europe. Fiat hasn’t said anything about pricing in the U.S., though, seeing as how it’s built in Morocco, the microcar will certainly be subject to tariffs if imported.
Will Anyone Actually Buy This Thing?
I hate to admit it, but I’m not sure there’s a real market for the Topolino in the U.S. The car is inexpensive and straightforward, but it also comes with a healthy set of limitations for use on public roadways. Its single electric motor makes just 8 horsepower, fed by a 5.4-kWh battery that gives it just 46 miles of range. That makes the Topolino pretty much useless outside of suburban side streets and dense city landscapes. That’s on top of the fact that American buyers just don’t like small cars.
Personally, I’m over the moon. Living in New York City, I’m one of the very few people who might actually benefit from owning a car like the Topolino. I love using my Range Rover in the city, but this Fiat would be much more convenient and cost-effective. The Rover is annoying to park because it’s so big, and the back-up camera sucks, and it absolutely guzzles fuel in low-speed environments.
But even I, a target buyer for this car, still see limitations. Its low top speed means I can’t ever take the Topolino outside city limits, which is half the reason anyone in a dense city owns a car in the first place. As it’s designed right now, it uses a wall plug to charge, which means it’s not compatible with any real charging station (though U.S. market Topolinos might be different).
Even with those limitations, it’s hard to imagine the Topolino will sell worse than the current Fiat 500. Fiat has sold just 1,076 examples so far this year through September. While that car can be driven on highways, it also starts at $37,695, which is likely far more expensive than the Topolino will be. Even if the Topolino sells in minuscule numbers, I’d consider that a win. Because a few adorable microcars are better than no adorable microcars at all.
Top graphic image: Fiat
I’ll have a moment of Torch like obsession by saying the artist’s suit looks like several Team Mapei jerseys stitched together.
This car has a shot at the neighborhood electric vehicle market as a superior golf cart for gated communities and large estates. I’m not sure how useful it will be in cities but a beach car could do numbers.
I mean golf carts sell like crazy here so I don’t see why this couldn’t too.
I’m catching air on a sidewalk curb ramp.
It’s cute as heck, but a 28mph top speed? That’s not even adequate for city driving. The road between my house and the closest convenience store has a 45 mph speed limit. It’s a rolling road block. I know a guy with a Changli that can kick this things ass.
Fiat accompli-shed!
“fed by a 5.4-kWh battery that gives it just 46 miles of range. ”
That’s not even inadequate as a daily commuter for me… especially in the winter.
For what this costs new, I’d be better off with a cheap used early 1st gen Nissan Leaf which would give me around double that range for less money.
Perfect for wealthy beach towns. It’s the new Jolly.
Yeah this is aimed at the neighborhood golf cart crowd.
It’s a moped that people can’t drive around. Prepare for road rage. And to get passed by middle schoolers and DUIs on ebikes. As others have said, it needs to do at least 40 to be useful for anything outside a limited number of small urban centers where a bicycle does a better job for a lot less.
Its an an NEV, it will compete with existing NEVs in areas where NEVs are used and sold
A high volume market with plenty of room for competitors on its own, I’m sure.
Pretty high volume, yeah, and quite crowded, but FCA/Stellantis has been wanting a piece of it back since Chrysler had to sell their NEV division during the bankruptcy, which has continued to do well under new ownership
It does seem like a different entry than most in that segment, but it’s too restricted a use for the author who is writing about it as if it’s a car that can be used on the street. If it could do 40mph, it could be used as an “off highway” sort of thing, but I’m pretty sure there would need to be some changes to existing laws/classifications for that to work (which I would be all for as something like this could be an affordable way for people to do simple errands and get around in inclement weather where a bike is less optimal).
It can be used on the street, as long as the street is 35mph or slower. That said, I live on a 45mph road, and its crazy how many of my neighbors own fancy, enclosed, road legal golf carts, which is what this class of vehicle really is. They seem to use them for running around on their properties, pulling trash cans to/from the end of the driveway, and towing behind motorhomes (the advantage there, I assume, is that they can be used in the campground like a normal golf cart, but also potentially driven out of the campground into town, depending on where the campground is located and what sort of town its near). That said, I’ve been seeing more and more of them zipping up and down the road, which isn’t legal here, but who’s going to stop it, I suppose
Up here, because it’s a significant contributor to road rage, cops will actually pull people over for impeding traffic in real cars and there’s little tolerance for vehicles that are used where they are not supposed to (unless they’re bikes in urban areas because they’re numerous and difficult to catch, but this thing would be neither). Someone doing 25 in a 40 (that’s likely a real world 50+) in front of the wrong Ram might also find out that the truck isn’t only named for the animal.
Its out in the country, there’s no cops hanging around other than the county police officer who lives a bit down the road. No place for them to sit and watch cars, either, unless they block a driveway or something
My Civic learned that about Rams when stopped at a red light.
I don’t know where you are, but they were doing the same in Indiana shortly before I moved to Texas. I saw several people get pulled over for driving under the speed limit in the left lane.
I’m around Boston. They started doing it maybe 10 years ago? Probably longer. I’ve heard of them giving tickets, but I’ve seen them just generally scare the losers by hitting the flashers and siren so they move over. It seems to have helped. Parade floats are still around, there just seems to be a good deal fewer of them than before (at least on the highways). Of course, factoring COVID, I’m not sure, as people went absolutely nuts during that time and the level of aggressive driving hasn’t really returned to pre-COVID levels and cops seemed to have never returned to the old enforcement levels, so maybe the maniacs scared the parade floats off the road? Then again, maybe COVID itself took a bunch of them out.
I’ve been in one of these at the LA Auto Show, and it’s so crappy inside, the fact that it looks nice in the pictures feels like an outrageous lie.
It’s good that it can’t go any faster. It would shatter.
When I hit the lottery and have my own mansion with a long drive down to the beach, this will be the perfect car for me.
There is a guy not far from me who has both an original Topolino and a first generation 500. He drives them around a lot in the summer. I doubt either can go faster than 50KM/h. I’m pretty sure he’s not frowning while driving them.
Technically, the original Topolino is the first generation 500, as that’s what Fiat called them, Topolino was just the commonly used nickname, but was never official on anything until the current model. A bit like how Volkswagen never named anything Beetle until the New Beetle
You are right. I guess the switch from front engine to rear cleaved them apart in my mind.
BTW, the original front engine car is quite pretty in person. It really defies the humble mission it had.
Yeah, the 500 is one of those cars that’s been almost everything
FR from 1936-1955
RR from 1957-1975
FF from 1991-1998 and 2007-present
It would need a Tesla or J1772 as a bare minimum to be viable.
Unfortunately 28mph would keep it off of neighborhood arterials in most of the US. So I just don’t see how this works. If they can get it to top speed at 40mph, and comfortably and reliably do 30-35mph it becomes useable.
Ah, so the “can you get out of the car without me telling you how?” thing wasn’t just a last-day-of-the-show-laugh but rather a carefully considered marketing technique?
That’s… interesting.
wow how many of these things wind up places like “The Villages” where Gad golf carts are the basic transportation, or is this too underpowered for there too?
It’s a really cool golf cart with much more range than a golf cart. I’ve seen plenty of golf carts driven recreationally in the US. I hope it’s successful!