Fiat 500e: the best electric city car ever? 

Thanks mate. :) Ora Good Cat video should be live this Friday! -Gav

They really are snazzy. I don't know why I love it so much! -Gav

[ I am teasing you. ] First you get the EV, then some PV for the roof. Soon you want more PV. Then you want even more PV. No good can come from this! [ I was teasing you. ] PV is a good thing, though seeing it in action will likely make you want more and more of it. This is especially true if you have the skills to install it yourself because that makes it even more affordable.

werll the granny chargis is a bit risky, because the wall sockets are not made for a long.time use wiith 2 kilowatts: it b´may cause a fire, especially when the conntact is not perfect. chooe a maximum of 1,5 kW (with 230V) and you have high loading losses of up to 20 percent, because the constant loss from the loading control which changes the AC to DC and provides safe charging, is proportionally higher with low loading the best way is a three-phase wallbox with 11 kW. the charging loss is only ~5% and the loading ist faster and still safe fpr the battery. high loading powers with 100 kW will damage the battery on long term and the result is a much faster degregation (dendrits), which can dramatically reduce the lifetime of the battery.

@@friederich66 So you gonna pay the owner to install a dedicated EV charger then for me??? I have paid myself with zero input from the owner a dedicated 16A circuit with 22A wiring and 15A outlet. The electrician that did it has done other EV charger installs so he knew what he was doing. Plus interestingly he said using the extension cable I had been using to charge off a non-dedicated 10A outlet was also fine, my extension cable was heavy duty type as well. Not everyone is able to be in the small percent owning a home thanks to over-inflated real estate prices.

​@@TassieEV Well, let me tell you a few things. 1) The socket is not designed for more than 2 kW in the long term. If you can regulate the charging power, you should not exceed 1.5 kW. charging will be longer, but you will gain security. The manuals state that the Grannycable should only be used in an emergency. neither should you use extension cables, every car manuals stress that., compare the size of the granny cable: it is much thicker. The contact in a socket can develop a higher resistance over time, and therefore overheat and cause fires. I had this in my garage when I used astrong electric heater with an old outlet that was starting to smell and realized a blackburntoverheated plug. No insurance pays in casae of fire, It's risky! for this reason i had bigger wires and a special outlet installed to eleminate even the lowest risk wwhen i use thaat cable in case my wallbox refuses. Wallbox: no owner that has to pay for that, what a stupid argument. i own the house myself. of course not everyone can afford that, but the owner must allowe a wallbox on your own costs, but only if the wiring allowes that. if not you mst charge with a public charging station, i have a cheap version with a fixed 11 kW 3-phase, nothing else. 400€, plus 200€ for installation by a gedistered master electrician. i had it installed for safety reasons so that i needd not use the nirmal outlet in germany you must register such a wallbox to your provider and there is an 11 kW limit to prevent overload for the public grid. as an alternative you can have a "strong-power" three phase "red" socket, of course with reasonable fuses and wiring, also with the need of registration.and again installed only by a registered master electrician. stronger boxes wit 22 kW must be akllowed by your provide, and this is expensive becausse you need special wiring, special meter and fuses, an it costes a special´monthly fee for providing such high currents.rules are strict in germany. to make it short: charging on nomal sockets are erisky and nly in case of emergency. extension cables are forbidden. istallastions only with master electricians. and respecting the rules.( here you are not allowed to do any work in your installation, not even install a wall socket. you are only allowed to connectdevices,. change (old) fuses and change light bulbs. )

Look into used ones. I bought a used 500e, 2022 model year and 12 000km on the odo. The price was 25 900 EUR so alot cheaper already than new. Also take into account the possibly cheaper fuel aka electricity in this case. Depends on where you live tho, in Finland electricity is cheap so driving a 100km costs like 2EUR

I am about to buy a 2018 fist 500e for 15000 usd. Probably a bit overpriced considering where I live. It’s got way less range than the new version but a hell of a lot cheaper. I hope tiny cars will return to America. Small cars are amazing. There’s also some used electric minis with somewhat reasonable prices

@@Roach_Dogg_JR Consider also that the old gen does not have fast charging, so you can’t really go out of the city much

Will NZ ever get the Twizy?

They were never officially sold in NZ as far as I know but I'm pretty sure I drove past one last year in a small town! -Gav

All cars are overpriced

@@astra-rb6sz no they aren't,Chevy bolt isn't,MG 4 isn't MG ZS EV isn't,Neta isn't.....

I think being based on the same car, the Abarth version will not be a lot different to drive - a little faster, but it will be about $10,000 more expensive again. Is it worth waiting for? I dunno :)

@@alexshepherd If like ICE Abarth handling and steering much sharper than 500, at the cost of ride comfort :)

it's adorable

Out of interest, how long would your Model Y take to granny charge from 10% or so charge? I can see it both ways, if you're mixing short commutes with road trips and fast charging then a granny charger will keep you topped up no worries. If you're doing longer commutes or driving for a lot of your work day, a good home charger would be essential.

@@mrgilbe1 It charges about 37% in 10 hours. Which is what I usually try keeping it at since that's when I get my night rates. That's enough for about 150km. Even my really long days staying within Auckland doesn't exceed 120km. So I'm really question what people mean when they think 'commute'. If they're commuting from Hamilton to Auckland daily. Then yes I agree you should get something more. But I really don't think most people are doing that kind of commute. Even my co-worker who commutes from pukekohe to Albany is only pulling in bit over 120km. And that's already a rediclious commute.

Howdy! Certainly not an official view, just my own and it's purely from a convenience viewpoint. Granny chargers can work for many people who only drive short distances (I used mine for years) but as many former "petrol heads" are now buying EVs, many don't want the inconvenience of waiting 24 hours after a long drive. Bottom line is, once you've got a 7kW charger installed and got used to the convenience & speed, trickle charging feels like using a dial up modem. -Gav

Expensive in the U.K. too, approx. £30,000, which is a lot for such a tiddler.

@@geoffreyjones6019 Yeah, I can't understand why some of the more basic EV's are so expensive here in the UK too. Some of the so-called city cars have price tags not too dissimilar to that of cars with much larger battery packs, luxury features & finishes. Even making allowances for the high price of refined lithium, cathodes, anodes & chip shortages due to incredible demand levels, something still smells a wee bit fishy.

Stellantis is not making money on their BEVs (or much on anything actually). “I hope you don’t buy it because every time I sell one it costs me US$14,000. I’m honest enough to tell you that.” Sergio Marchionne. Fiat CEO 2014. “We are talking about a very strong change in the direction of the industry. We can’t simply put this new world on top of the old world; it’s a complete transformation. The technology for EVs means that our production costs are 40% higher than for an internal-combustion car. We can’t just pass those costs on to consumers because we would lose half of our customer base. We can’t stop the middle class from having access to new cars. So because of regulations we have no choice but to absorb that 40%." Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, Mar 2023. ICE OEMS make EVs not because they want to, but because it allows them to sell ICE in countries and states that require them to reduce their average CO2 pollution. Known as compliance cars. Small cars are unprofitable, regardless of their drive system, are usually not on display at dealers but are special order and only available as loss leaders to entice new buyers into a brand relationship.

Coming soon!

lambo cant to your boat 800km without stopping tho

Hi Patrick, I've not had much luck with lane-keeping assist working well outside of smooth, predictable motorways with nicely painted lines. They all tend to struggle on country roads unfortunately so I'd not recommend using them outside of highways. All the best! -Gav

@@EcotricityNZ thanks Gav. Now to find how to turn it off permanently.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QkcldWIp3KA.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QkcldWIp3KA.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b_Y_JcRVwKg.html

yeah but its bigger, thats a bad thing.

The Ora is definitely the smarter decision financially (and the video's coming this week) but the Fiat is undeniably more "fun" in the city! -Gav

Hi there! Most New Zealand homes do not have three phase power. Hope that helps! -Gav

As I mentioned a the end of the video, the Fiat 500e is definitely a "fun" purchase, not a purely logical one. Like buying a brand name watch or a fancy bottle of champagne, it's something you'd buy to feel good. And it does that VERY well. If you get the chance this weekend, book a test drive in one and let me know what emotions you felt. It's hard to convey in text, but there's an emotive, human element to this little city car that makes it really shine! I just love it. -Gav

A 2021 crash test saw the Zoe receive poor safety ratings across the board, with a final safety rating so low it didn't warrant a single star. Hugely outdated now, and not worth the price if you care about safety for your family.

The official launch is coming very, very soon so I'll let you know! -Gav

What a bizarre comment. Definitely the strangest one this week. Thank you! -Gav

@@EcotricityNZ it was a pleasure.i can add another fact. The spiral staircases in fortress towers are Always clockwise upwards. So the defender had more space for his sword one the outer wall, where the (triangularish)steps are larger whereas the aggressor could hardly use his sword on the inner side of the staircase where the steps are small and the Center ist in His was.

Maybe a reference to: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IBrDPSYzP3Q.html Never mind the width, feel the quality!

Best selling car in the world is a BEV. You're on the wrong site!

Yeah, we'll see how long this EV/SCAM FAD lasts.@@waynerussell6401