A few days ago, Fiat announced the first new update to a non-battery-electric Fiat 500 in, let’s see…the last refresh to a gasoline-powered Fiat 500 was in 2016 (that was just a facelift), so it’s been nine years if I’m being generous. This new updated version of the fun little city car is actually based on the 500e battery-electric car from 2020, making it one of the very few combustion-engined cars ever to have started out as a battery-EV platform, which is interesting (this was a result of a decrease in EV demand). But what everyone seems to be fixated on is the new Fiat’s speed, or lack of it. Just so you know, everyone is wrong.
Before I get into that, let’s dig into what this new 500 is: it’s a hybrid, with a 12-volt lithium-ion battery and a one-liter three-cylinder engine, which together make a modest but respectable – to me, at least – 65 horsepower (and 68 pound-feet of torque). It also has a six-speed manual transmission that sends that trim congregation of horses to the front wheels.
The electric motor is pretty modest here — a starter-motor making about 4.8 hp — but it does have regen capability. The car is expected to sell for € 19,400 to start, which is about $22,300 in American freedombucks, making this car pretty dirt cheap.
More importantly, it’s a manual hybrid car! How many of those are still around? I love it! Fiat was also nice enough to give some specs in their press release, covering some basic performance and fuel economy:
A top speed of 96 mph, 0-62 mph acceleration of 16.2 secs (17.3 secs for Convertible) and combined WLTP fuel consumption of 53 mpg (52 mpg for Convertible) make Fiat 500 Hybrid the perfect choice for efficient, urban motoring.
53 mpg seems pretty good, but what everyone seems to be fixated on are 0-100 kph (o-62 mph) times: 16.2 seconds and 17.3 for the convertible. Here in the Land of Free Refills, we generally use 0-60 times, so I’m gonna roughly guess this new hybrid 500 will be able to get to 60 in 16 seconds flat.
Most of the reporting about the new car seems to reference these acceleration numbers which are, by modern standards, perhaps a little, um, relaxed. Motor1 says the “The New Fiat 500 With a Gas Engine Is Never In a Hurry” and AutoEvolution calls it “painfully slow” and CarExpert is a little more reserved, saying “performance traded for affordability” while AutoBlog is unashamedly snarky, saying it “makes the Nissan Kicks look like a rocket.”
You know what? All of these chumps need to grow up. Going from 0 to 60 in 16 seconds is fine. Look at these babies:
Yeah this is kinda my point about the manual 500. 17.3 seconds might be fine in a small Italian town, but it’s almost dangerous in a situation where the speed limit is above 35. https://t.co/TbY01KqLiB
— Motor1 (@Motor1com) November 23, 2025
Ugh, I’m so sick of this narrative. “Almost dangerous?” Really? You know what “almost dangerous is?” Not dangerous. Sure, the new 500 isn’t fast – but it is nearly two seconds or so faster than a ’74 AMC Gremlin (17.7 seconds) and faster than a ’62 Triumph Vitesse 1600, and that name means “speed!” More importantly, just fine.
I say this as someone who has been driving cars with about 50 hp for decades and so far has never ended up dead as a result. I’ve been in more than my share of wrecks, but none have been because any of my slow cars were too slow. Sure, a car that goes to 60 in 5 seconds or so is fun, but that’s just not how people drive! Most people are not burying the pedal into the carpet every time they go on an on-ramp. They just aren’t.
Getting to 60 in 16 seconds is plenty for, like, 98% of the traffic situations you’ll encounter. I’m not saying there aren’t exceptions where more speed is genuinely helpful, but you know what? You’d be fine with a 16-second-to-60 car. Again, I say this as someone who has done it. Over and over again. I daily-drove an old Beetle in LA, and it was fine, and now I daily-drive a Nissan Pao, which does 0-60 in the same 16-ish seconds as the new Fiat 500. It’s not a big deal.
Seroiusly, how quickly do you think the tens of thousands of semi trucks get to 60 mph? It’s nowhere near as quick as 16 seconds.
Besides, all the people whining about the new 500 being too slow, where the hell do you need to get to in such a rush? The Candyass Convention? Are you the Keynote Crier? Is that why you need to rush? You don’t want to be late to whine like a little baby in front of the adoring crowd? You better hurry! I hope you can get to a full mwile-a-mwinute in 5 seconds, little fellas!
I’m sorry. That’s not fair. I’m being mean. I think I’m just sick of this whole narrative that somehow you need a car that goes to 60 in former-no-joke-sportscar times just to be “safe.” It’s silly. 16 seconds to 60 will work; nobody is going to pool-cue you into orbit as you merge onto the highway if you have even a modicum of sense about how you drive.
I mean, maybe someone will, but that can happen no matter what you drive.
Point is, everyone complaining about how slow this is just needs to calm down. It’s fine. It’s a little hybrid manual city car that sells for $22 grand. The hell do you expect?
A Fit, priced comparably, took under 9 seconds to 60.
Ancient cars taking 16 seconds to 60 were fine when everyone was taking 16 seconds to 60. Now that every takes 10 seconds or less, the assumption from other motorists is that you can merge like them, and they don’t have the same patience or slowness as their parents did.
And if some jacksedan is driving dangerously and impatiently around you, you can’t gun it and get out of their way.
Both scenarios are why I drive quicker cars. Not fast, but quick.
Any car that’s well outside the bell curve of current car performance is hazardous, because it’s unpredictable (to others).
Guess I’m gonna find out for myself. Just bought a ’79 Fairmont with the Thriftpower 6 which made 85 HP when new and was good for a 14 second 0-60 time.
Geez, I thought my car was slow and it takes 10 seconds to go from 0-60. And I think it’s fine. It’ll cruise comfortably at 75 all day and get over 40 mpg doing it. And here I am fantasizing about owning a modified Model T speedster that I would be happy if it topped out at 60, never mind the time it takes to get there…
My 2000 Ranger Electric will do it in around 17, within a couple seconds so it’s down to skill of the driver, if I ever catch eyes with the driver of one of these at a light, it’s on!
Has this even been announced for the US market? I’m assuming they won’t bother. But I agree it’s just fine for a city car. And fun it’s a manual hybrid, and it’s perfect for its job. Enthusiasts should be excited.
That’s my question too. A brand new car with great mpg for $22k, I might consider one just for the heck of it, and it’s adorable!
So sixteen seconds with your right foot pushed all the way to the floor? What does that do to the fuel economy? Also, what sort of speeds are you doing to achieve 53mpg??
Too many trade offs. Too many better options.