It feels like it’s been ages since there was more than one model of Fiat on sale new in America. First, there was that stint when the only offering was the 500X. Next, there was that run when the only model available was the 500e. However, a second Fiat has crossed the Atlantic. It’s called the Topolino, it’s unbelievably cute, and we finally know what it costs.
Back up a second: What on Earth is a Topolino? Well, the name was originally associated with the mousey-looking 1936-through-1955 Fiat 500, but has since been applied to a more modern small, low-output machine. The Topolino we’re talking about here is a sibling to the Citroën Ami, a low-speed electric vehicle built in Morocco that serves as a cuter alternative to a golf cart.
We’re talking just eight horsepower here, and a standard top speed of a mere 19 MPH. Juice comes from a little 5.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and the Topolino sports a modest range of 46 miles. Granted, there is a quicker version coming. Fiat’s planning to launch a street-legal kit this autumn that raises the top speed of the Topolino to a dashing 25 MPH. Enough to keep up with city traffic, but don’t you dare try to take one of these on the interstate.
While the Topolino normally features the exact same door assembly on either side of the vehicle, you can have Fiat leave them behind at the factory. Should you live in a particularly sunny locale, the marvellously camp Dolce Vita version swaps the doors for ropes and adds a canvas roof. Just enough elemental protection for a light shower, not quite enough for gale-force winds. Best of all, the beach car version doesn’t come at a premium. Both Topolino variants carry a sticker price of $14,985 including a $990 freight charge. Yep, essentially $15,000. However, in the world of golf carts, that’s surprisingly okay value.
Let’s say you want a two-seat Club Car with a comparable propulsion system. That would be the Club Car Onward 2 Passenger Li-ION XR, which starts at $14,099 before freight. For that money, you get a top speed of 19 MPH and comparable range to the Topolino, but you don’t get doors or side panels or rear panels. It’s also not exactly street-legal, but then again, neither are the earliest Topolinos at launch.
What about something more substantial? Say, a GEM e2. With street-legal tires, proper rollover protection, and a real windshield, it was arguably the most car-like of the golf cart crop before the Topolino came along. However, the GEM e2 starts at $15,240 before freight, and that doesn’t include doors.
As crazy as it sounds, the Fiat Topolino might actually be an alright deal. It’s priced competitively against similar golf carts while offering no-cost weather protection and a windscreen defroster. Sure, nigh-on $15,000 is still a lot of money to spend on something limited to roads with speed limits of 35 MPH or less, but it could steal some real sales in this sort of space. Of course, it’s no Changli, but then again, what is?
Top graphic image: Fiat
These are resonably abundant in EU metropols.
€8000 is more than a scooter. But you get added comfort, crash safety and luggage capacity. These things have a real heater and ventilation. Just no AC.
And like the typical EU scooter, a quick tiktok tutorial will teach you how to remove the limiter. They are supposed to do about 70 kph (just under 50 mph). Try to keep out of trouble at those speeds!
They’ve got to be really easy to roll over at anything above 20mph, I imagine
Yes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ01fDQEw1k&pp=ygURY2l0cm9lbiBhbWkgY3Jhc2g%3D
see these everywhere in italian cities, never once did I expect to see these in the states but hey if there’s a market then who am I to complain?
Wonder if these will be popular in Peachtree City (over 100 miles of golf cart paths).
I’d never buy a golf cart, but I see a few in my neighborhood. If I were in the market for a car, I’d totally rock this over a golf cart. Easy decision.
idk how i would get this thing home, but once i did it could work as an around the neighborhood car, even though i’d feel guilty about driving this instead of walking or biking.
Why does Fiat bring us this? And the tiny, overpriced 500e?
Are they trying to lose money in America? Do they want to soil their reputation even more?
How could anyone at Fiat actually think the 500e and Topolino would be sell more than a Grande Panda or something else from their catalog?
What sort of bizzaro universe are we inhabiting here?
Agreed. Fiat’s USA lineup, and Alfa Romeo’s to a lesser extent, makes little sense. Given how most of the Fiat dealerships are standalone from JCDR dealerships, the argument of Fiat taking sales from the other brands doesn’t hold up. Why they wouldn’t bring the most popular automotive form, a crossover, over to the states makes no sense to me. At the very least bring a gasoline version of the 500e.
I’d rather an underaged kid drive this than a golf cart. But I really don’t want underaged kids driving this, either. My underaged kid wouldn’t, but some parents around me seem to think golf carts on neighborhood streets (including 35mph neighborhood streets) are perfectly OK for 13 or 14 year olds to drive around.
I love the math! $14,985 + $990 essentially 15K. If there was anymore puff in this piece, it would be a children’s breakfast cereal.
The $14,985 includes the $990.
Ooooops. Somebody didn’t read the sentence correctly.
You were all kind enough to assume that I made the mistake in reading comprehension and not simple math and I thank you for it.
Eh, that would be downright dangerous to use on regular roads.
for the price/range/road use needs, a used Leaf would be better all around and those things are just terrible. Maybe the 300 mile S+ that came out this year will be better in the long run, but the leaf has some work to turn heads back to it. Still, it is only $30k New.
Perhaps if you took the time to read this article, or the dozen others that hit at the same time regarding the Topolino, you’d see it was intended for operation in closed communities with strict speed limits.
meh, golf carts are supposed to be as well and end up on public roads. and even in a place with just a 25 mph speed limit a vehicle that struggles to get to 19 is dangerous.
We have different definitions of “solid deal.” Just because one golf cart is laughably overpriced does not mean a different golf cart from Fiat is not. 😉
“a dashing 25 MPH. Enough to keep up with city traffic”
What city?
City traffic’s movin’ way too slow,
Drop the pedal and…
No?
Oh, ok. Never mind then.
Plenty of UK cities are mostly 20mph, eg Bristol.
I would have bought one years ago back when I was living in town and never really left town, but I paid $21,500 for my 2025 Nissan Leaf S brand new.
It’s not hard to justify paying an extra $6500 for 3x the range, 3x the top speed, and 3 extra seats.
Well, your Leaf is a car. This is just a glorified quadricycle.
19 mph top speed?! so it’s a high-end golf cart. I have zero interest in this. Can’t you order something like this off Alibaba for $5,000 or less? And I wouldn’t even want it a that price.
May we please have The Bishop design a USPS version of this for last mile deliveries in the “communities” (kinda voluntary-ish) on Jasonia? Preferably with the ability to drive in and out of the back of the new USPS vehicle Knight Rider style?
Don’t many of the people who use golf carts in their elderly communities also golf? I don’t see anywhere here to put the clubs. Also, $15K for a golf cart is obcene. That may be what they cost, but damn, they just aren’t that good.
There are a fair number of golf carts in my city, which leans into being a city cor retired folks. None of them are golfing, at least anywhere in range of their golf carts.
19mph. NOPE.
My shitty scooter is 10mph faster than this. This misses the mark by 20mph, IMHO.
Yep, I fixed a friend’s kid’s e-Bike and it could go 30.