Has there ever been a car as perfectly packaged as the Fiat 500? Styled to within an inch of its life, the tiny vehicle has encapsulated la dolce vita since its inception in Turin in 1957, when it was born as one of the world’s first cars for city living. The Cinquecento, as it was badged, was designed to be cheap and accessible for all, but soon got snapped up by celebrities drawn to the verve and spirit of this little pocket gem and the carefree joy it exuded. Then along came Abarth, the performance division of Fiat, which rightly saw the potential of giving the 500 a bit more power, lowering the body slightly, firming up the suspension and sticking a scorpion badge on it.
The result? The pocket gem became a pocket rocket, and drew in more fans. And now here we are, in 2024, with the world pivoting to electric cars. Fiat has started selling the 500e, a pure electric version, and so Abarth has sprinkled its fairy dust over the 500e to produce this, the stunning Abarth 500e Turismo.
It does everything: it’s a convertible, it’s electric, it’s stylish and it’s small enough to fit into every parking space left vacant by massive SUVs in town. In short, it’s pretty much the perfect car. We’ve been driving it for six months now, and loving every second.
The range is about 136 miles, which has most people wincing, but, as a second family car or your only one if you don’t go far most weeks, it’s ideal. We use it for the commute, shopping and school drop off, and because it has a small battery, we can charge it to 100 per cent easily every night in our five-hour off-peak tariff (midnight to 5am), so it’s costing peanuts to run (a full off-peak charge is costing me less than a fiver). In a possibly misguided effort to show how much you can fit in an Abarth 500e, I folded my two gangly teenage boys, with mini-break bags, into the boot (which is surprisingly bigger than you might think – I’ve had a full sized cricket-bag in there, and an electric guitar), and set off for a weekend at Calcot Manor near Tetbury in the Cotswolds.
Tootling along country lanes in this dinky Italian car, roof furled right back, sun bouncing off the road ahead, it’s impossible not to be happy. A small car with the right weather and roads can really make your heart sing. And people love this Abarth 500e, with its bright blue paintwork, lurid scorpion badge and white front lip below the cute headlights.
They laugh out loud when you turn on the fake engine noise, which makes this electric car growl with all the menace of a toy poodle with a cough. It’s just a smile-spreader so you feel like some magnificent benefactor, spreading joy wherever you go. We burbled through the Cotswolds, down the steep street in Burford, past the tourists and the ducks and the old houses with their wonky mullioned windows and tumbledown tiled roofs, to the bridge at the bottom of the hill.
Then up the other side, streaming past lavender fields, the big open sky with its bilious clouds puffing past, high above our open roof. Even second son in the back was loving it, with enough leg space, his rucksack beside him with an endless stash of sweets and games. We swung smugly into a tiny parking space in Tetbury, and had a little wander around the old marketplace and the Highgrove estate shop – the King’s home from home is just up the road.
The shop is well worth a visit, if only for the delightful shortbread and coffee and a look at Charles III’s paintings. Back in the Abarth, it was a short hop from Tetbury to Calcot Manor. The hotel, a gracious collection of stone buildings surrounded by manicured box hedges, stone fountains, courtyards and gravel pathways, is still one of the best UK getaways for children of all ages (and their parents).
My 11-year-old loved the play barn with its Xboxes, Nintendo Switches and movie room, while the 16-year-old and I headed straight to the best gym either of us have experienced in this country in the new Grain Store. This beamed, high-ceilinged barn houses fitness studios, an industrial-chic gym with fantastic equipment and a beautiful coffee bar and work space. It’s an incredible asset for hotel guests and local members and we spent a couple of chilled hours working out, stretching and breathing.
The rolling estate grounds behind the hotel can be explored on bikes, so the three of us pedalled out into the fields, following the pathways through woods, past the disc golf course and finally streaming down the grassy runway straight back to the spa, with its offer of massages and an indoor pool. The sun was out, however, so we opted for the heated outdoor pool and its shepherd’s hut ice-cream stand. You do feel incredibly complete, having spent a weekend in nature, eating healthily, exercising and practising mindfulness, before returning to your pure electric car, knowing that you are contributing precisely nothing to air pollution.
People often wonder how green electric cars really are. The answer is that, while they emit more carbon during their manufacture than petrol cars, they soon reverse that status when you drive them, because they don’t emit any carbon, and can be charged using renewable electricity, so over the course of their lifetime, they contribute a third of the carbon emissions of petrol and diesel cars. Really, the argument has been made.
It’s time to make the switch. The car: The Abarth 500e.
