Stellantis-owned Italian car maker Fiat has announced a bigger sister for its 500e city car. The five-door 600e subcompact is designed for city life, but ready for weekend adventures beyond the city limits.
The retro-modern 600e compact SUV sports a 115-kW motor for a 9-second sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) from standstill, and makes three driving modes available for flexibility.
Its 54-kWh Li-ion battery pack is reported to offer a per-charge range in excess of 400 km (248.5 miles) on the WLTP combined cycle or more than 600 km (372.8 miles) on the urban cycle. Either way, 100-kW fast-charging will see top-ups to 80% in under 30 minutes, and if you're not in a hurry, the onboard 11-kW charger should get the batteries up to full capacity in less than 6 hours.
The 500e's sibling has a similar-looking front face, with Fiat treating it to a "sharper and more assertive" expression plus fresh LED lighting. Elsewhere there's glossy black detailing, chrome accents and an Italian flag on the rear bumper to cement its identity.
The car measures 4.17 m (13.6 ft) in length, which makes it just a little shorter than Volvo's recently announced EX30 compact electric SUV, and rolls on 18-inch wheels. Fiat has cooked in Level 2 driving assist, plus Adaptive Cruise Control, Intelligent Speed Assist (which detects local speed limits and makes recommendations to the driver as necessary) and Blind Spot Detection.
Autonomous Emergence Braking will be applied when cyclists and pedestrians are detected while on the move, the vehicle monitors driver awareness levels, there's a 180-degree rear-view camera for parking ease and an electronic parking brake too.
The 600e has room for five occupants inside, plus 15 liters of storage space and 360 liters more available in the trunk. The seating comes in either recycled fabric or synthetic leather rocking the Fiat monogram, depending on model – with the latter option accompanied by powered adjustment and a back-massage function for the driver.
In front of the steering wheel is a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, there's a 10.25-inch customizable display with support for CarPlay and Android Auto, audio is served up via a six-speaker sound system, and connected services include TomTom navigation, voice command support and Uconnect services.
There are USB Type A and USB-C ports available for topping up mobile gadgetry, plus a wireless smartphone charger, and the vehicle comes with keyless entry courtesy of a proximity sensor. There's also a hands-free powered liftgate to help overloaded shoppers get their purchases safely inside.
The Fiat 600e is being offered in a standard RED edition, and a more premium La Prima version – though pricing is not available for either, and Stellantis is also keeping mum on international availability as well.
Source: Stellantis/Fiat
