![Driving the latest Fiat 500 – an EV with serious character Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Fiat 500](/sites/default/files/styles/article/public/2023-01/Classic%20%26%20Sports%20Car%20%E2%80%93%20Future%20classic%20%E2%80%93%20Fiat%20500%20%E2%80%93%20LEAD.png?itok=uJ_tta29)
Much of the reticence enthusiasts feel towards electric vehicles is due to the lack of character in a car without an engine.
But when it comes to injecting a bit of soul into an automobile, turning to Italy has always been the default answer, and so it proves with the electric city car and the Fiat ʻNew 500ʼ.
Much of that sense of fun stems from the styling, a subtle but significant update of Frank Stephensonʼs 2007 design.
Note that this is not the ʻ500eʼ, though it is colloquially still known by that name: that was the previous-generation car, in essence a modified internal-combustion 500.
![The new Fiat 500 – not 500e Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Fiat 500](/sites/default/files/2023-01/Classic%20%26%20Sports%20Car%20%E2%80%93%20Future%20classic%20%E2%80%93%20Fiat%20500%20%E2%80%93%208.png)
The latest Fiat 500 is an electric-only model
This new, electric-only model echoes the nomenclature of the ʻNuovaʼ 500 that replaced the original 500 Topolino in 1957.
It has modernised but still retro-inspired good looks and, most importantly, the interior retains the special feel that was always the 500ʼs main selling point.
Body-coloured glossy plastic wraps the dash, while the detailing has a rounded, chrome-finished style to make a stylistic link to the ʼ50s.
Itʼs a thoroughly lovely place to be, and a hell of a lot more interesting to sit in than its VW e-up! competitor.
![Inside this new Fiat 500 Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Fiat 500](/sites/default/files/2023-01/Classic%20%26%20Sports%20Car%20%E2%80%93%20Future%20classic%20%E2%80%93%20Fiat%20500%20%E2%80%93%203.png)
![The Fiat 500’s electric motor gives 118bhp Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Fiat 500](/sites/default/files/2023-01/Classic%20%26%20Sports%20Car%20%E2%80%93%20Future%20classic%20%E2%80%93%20Fiat%20500%20%E2%80%93%206.png)
![Classic interior details in this new Fiat 500 Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Fiat 500](/sites/default/files/2023-01/Classic%20%26%20Sports%20Car%20%E2%80%93%20Future%20classic%20%E2%80%93%20Fiat%20500%20%E2%80%93%207.png)
The Fiat 500 has a classy, characterful cabin, while the electric motor gives 162lb ft torque