Want a Cheaper Ride? Fiat Introduces a Tiny $14,000 EV to US Drivers

Stellantis is looking to fill a small niche in America’s car market. A very small one. 

On Tuesday, the automaker announced that its Fiat Topolino, a two-seat electric vehicle that weighs just 1,073 pounds and is only about 8 feet long, is coming to the US. The low-speed vehicle, technically classified as a quadricycle rather than a car, is more on par with a golf cart than what you’d actually see out and about on most roads. It can go up to 19 mph (or 25 mph with a low-speed vehicle conversion kit needed to make it street-legal). With a $13,995 price tag on the EV, Stellantis aims to convince Americans that bigger isn’t always better. 

Two Americas  

The Topolino’s journey to North America comes as drivers in the US may very well be looking for a less expensive way to get around. Car prices have surged in recent years as companies focus on developing pricier high-end vehicles as opposed to the budget-friendly ones families drove for decades. Higher price tags are also partly due to automakers dealing with the aftermath of shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The average price for a new vehicle was $49,220 in May. 

As a result, customer demand is shrinking. Tack on the fact that carmakers around the world are struggling to compete with China, and it’s no wonder that companies like Stellantis are looking for new ways to fill gaps: 

• Toyota appears to be taking the opposite approach by doubling down on larger vehicles. The company just announced a $3.6 billion expansion of its San Antonio manufacturing campus to move production of its Tacoma midsize pickup truck from Mexico to Texas. The move will result in 2,000 new jobs. 
• Rivian, meanwhile, is going cheaper with its R2 mid-size SUVs. The direct competitor of Tesla’s Model Y began heading to customers last month. 

Beep Beep: So what if the Topolino, which means “little mouse” in Italian, is more appropriate for retirement communities and small downtowns than cruising the highway? More and more towns are becoming golf-cart friendly, paving the way for Fiat’s offering.