With a combination of good looks, personality and ecology, the Fiat 500e is already making a name for itself even before it hits the streets this summer. How? Because, in addition to being an attractive car, the Fiat 500e also offers best in class energy efficiency, and an unsurpassed EPA highway mileage rating of 108 MPGe! That's right, according to the EPA, the Fiat 500e beats all other EVs on the US market for Highway MPGe. The EPA also says that, on a full charge, the Fiat 500e can travel approximately 87 miles, which is again best in its class and out performs all other EVs built by major car manufacturers.
The nomenclature MPGe may be an unfamiliar one to those just getting into the EV market. It is a calculation devised by the EPA to determine how many miles an EV can travel on 33.7 kWh of electricity, which is the electric equivalent of how much energy burning a gallon of gasoline creates.
Besides the MPGe figures, there are two other calculations that are of importance to EV buyers. One is range, and the other is annual cost.
The Fiat 500e goes farther on a charge than any EV produced by a major car company. The Nissan Leaf, for example, only does 73 miles between charges compared to the 500e's figure of 87 miles.
Annual cost is also a key factor. The EPA estimates the annual cost to power the Fiat 500e is only $500. This cost compares well to the tiny Smart fortwo Electric Drive Coupe's annual cost of $550.
This is based on 15,000 miles annual driving with an electricity cost of $0.12/kWh and the Fiat 500e's combined city/highway performance rating of 116-MPGe (122 MPGe city/108 MPGe highway).
With best in class figures like these, a chassis tuned for driver evolvement and highly competitive pricing, the charismatic Fiat 500e is going to be a hot contender in the EV market this year.
Category | Fiat 500e | 2013 Smart fortwo Electric Drive | 2013 Mitsubishi i-MiEV | 2013 Honda Fit EV | 2012 Nissan Leaf |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Price | $32,500 or $199 Lease* | $25,000 | $29,125 | $36,625** | $35,200 |
Motor | 83 kW | 55 kW | 49 kW | 92 kW | 80 kW |
City mileage | 122 MPGe | 122 MPGe | 126 MPGe | 132 MPGe | 106 MPGe |
Highway mileage | 108 MPGe | 93 MPGe | 99 MPGe | 105 MPGE | 92 MPGe |
Combined city/highway | 116 MPGe | 107 MPGe | 112 MPGe | 118 MPGe | 99 MPGe |
Cost per 25 miles | .87¢ | $1.02 | .90¢ | .87¢ | $1.02 |
Range | 87 miles | 68 miles | 62 miles | 82 miles | 73 miles |
Charge time hr @ 240 V | Less than 4 hrs | 6 hrs | 7 hrs | 4 hrs | 7 hrs |
Annual cost | $500 | $550 | $550 | $500 | $600 |
* Fiat 500e Pricing Revealed!.
** Lease only, price converted for comparison
Discuss this story on the Fiat 500 USA Forum
Specification source: US Government
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