Fiat 500 Cabrio long-term test: report 6
Is a convertible electric car a viable proposition or too much of a compromise? We're finding out by living with the Fiat 500 Cabrio...
The car Fiat 500 Cabrio Icon Run by Claire Evans, consumer editor
Why it’s here The Fiat 500 is our 2021 Convertible Car of the Year, and we’ve got six months to find out how it stacks up as a real-world runabout
Needs to Be comfortable, efficient and fun to punt around local rural roads, and have enough range for occasional longer journeys
Mileage 3806 List price £31,485 Target price £31,485 Price as tested £34,010 Test range 152 miles Official range 188 miles
9 January 2022 – Highs and lows of EV ownership
A recent short break at a hotel in Surrey put paid to any concerns that the Fiat 500 Cabrio is too much of a compromise on practicality. As a two-suitcase car, it certainly isn’t. The boot may have a narrow opening but the soft top doesn’t encroach on its capacity, so it easily took two overnight cases. While that’s one less than you’d get into a Mini Convertible, it’s enough for our needs.
Living with a pure electric car does require forward planning, though. The electric car charger at our hotel was only partly installed, so we drove to the closest public charger, a Geniepoint unit at a Texaco fuel station. However, my app for this network was out of date, so we couldn’t charge the car. In the end, we drove 15 minutes in the opposite direction to get to a Shell Recharge pay-as-you-go site. Next time I’ll have a better back-up charging plan.
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