The New 500 has filled all of Fiat with its positivity, bringing with it an energy and creativity unparalleled since 1957 and 2007. From that point, it came naturally to design a car with more ‘bodies’, such as the cabrio and hatchback versions, but that wasn’t all. To accompany the evolution of the 500 customer base, we needed to go further, to respond to the developments in the requirements of customers who have grown and whose habits have changed. The young person who darted onto the city streets aboard their 500 after a day’s work, is now a ‘working mom or dad’, struggling to get their one or more children to school in the morning before heading to work, then to their dance class or foreign language lessons in the afternoon, all the while keeping their own personal commitments going. That customer has therefore become a family that needs the interiors to be more accessible, but still ‘cool’ as only the 500 can be by nature. That’s where the New 500 3+1 comes in. All new, all electric and with one extra door. But still a 500. This has enabled Fiat designers and engineers to look to the future without letting a single opportunity pass them by, at the same time maintaining continuity with the current success of the 500.
Exclusivity. The New Fiat 500 3+1 “la Prima” is marked out by a range of exclusive details: full LED headlights with an ‘Infinity design”, two-tone 17″ diamond-cut wheel rims and chrome-plated inserts on the windows and side panels. Seats, dashboard and steering wheel in eco-leather, Fiat monogram on the seats, two-tone steering wheel and exclusive “la Prima” tag on the console. When it comes to comfort: six-way adjustable front seats, mats, electrochrome internal rearview mirror and 360° ‘drone view’ parking sensors. It also features automatic air conditioning, a wearable pebble key, 85 kW fast charging and an 11 kW Mode 3 cable for charging at home or in public, all as standard. Even better, it comes with level 2 autonomous driving, for the first time in a city car. Connectivity. The new UConnect 5 infotainment system: 7″ TFT Display, 10.25″ Touch Screen NAV, DAB Radio, Wireless CarPlay / Android Auto, Uconnect Box (a telematic box enabling the connected services) and a wireless smartphone charger. As well as in the opening edition, 3+1 trim will also be available on the PASSION and ICON versions.
The New 500 ACTION is aimed at young customers with a hectic lifestyle and a daily routine made up of short journeys, who require an environmentally responsible car. They therefore need range for driving in the city and optimum safety, achieved with all the ADAS on board. The Entry-Level New 500 is the ideal electric city car, aimed at those who live life in the city, town centers and ZTL restricted traffic zones to the full, at those who drive an average of 50 km per day and favor dynamic and cost-conscious mobility. The 500 ACTION is fitted with a 70-kW e-motor, with 0100 km/h acceleration in 9.5 seconds and its speed self-limited to 135 km/h. The ACTION is the perfect car for millennials who are fans of alternative mobility such as car-sharing. The New 500 ACTION includes a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 23.8 kWh, resulting in range of more than 180 km in the WLTP cycle, or over 240 km when only driving in the city. If we calculate that on average, daily use comes in under 50 km, that means customers would need to charge their New 500 every few days.
A major concern for customers looking at switching to electric cars is charging time, so the New 500 ACTION is equipped with the 50-kW fast charging system, to charge the car’s battery very quickly. For example, all you need to build up a sufficient energy reserve for daily mileage requirements (around 50 km) is less than 10 minutes, about the same time it takes to have breakfast in a café. The fast charging system also offers the option of charging the car overnight in your garage at home, using the included Mode 2 (3 kW) cable, or during the day while you’re at work. The ‘Combo 2’ socket located on the rear right side panel of the car powers fast charging, in both AC and DC. For charging at home or in public, customers can also buy a three-phase 11 kW Mode 3 cable or a Wallbox by Mopar.
Designed for a young audience, the New 500 ACTION includes all the ADAS you could need for driving in the city as standard, such as ‘Drowsy Driver Detection’, to monitor driver concentration levels; ‘Autonomous Emergency Braking’, which can also recognize cyclists and pedestrians; ‘Lane Keep Assist’, a system that alerts the driver to get back in lane when it detects any drifting in trajectory; and ‘Traffic Sign Recognition’, which reads road signs and recommends the correct speed to drive at. Where connectivity is concerned, the New 500 ACTION comes with an infotainment system designed for those who always want to stay connected. We call it ‘smart audio’. It consists of a smartphone cradle, an ergonomic base to mount your smartphone both vertically and horizontally, a Bluetooth connection whereby your smartphone links up to the loudspeakers built into the New 500 and a specific app for ideal use of and interaction with the car. That’s how your smartphone becomes the fulcrum of the car’s infotainment system.
The New 500 is designed to be the ideal car for urban use. In its creation, we considered every aspect of its interaction with the city, starting with safety, i.e. 360° protection. The 500 therefore includes Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), making it easier, safer, simpler and more fun to drive, as well as being the first car in its segment equipped with level 2 autonomous driving. But FCA’s engineers didn’t stop there. Their aim was to humanize the technology, by implementing specific solutions tailor-made for the 500: from advanced driver-assistance features to control the car longitudinally and laterally to sensors that detect whether the driver has their hands on the steering wheel. Risk level monitoring is therefore much more accurate, meaning we could make the automatic warnings less intrusive. And there’s more: ‘Lane Centering’ keeps the New 500 in the center of the lane, whereas ‘Urban Blind Spot’ uses ultrasonic sensors to monitor blind spots and warn of any obstacles with a triangular warning light on the wing mirror. At the same time, the eleven 360° sensors provide a drone view to avoid any obstacles when parking or performing complex maneuver: almost a bird’s eye view of any obstacles in your path.
With the “3+1”, the 500 aims to remain alongside customers who have changed their habits and requirements, but not their taste. For customers who do not want to relinquish the beauty and allure the 500 brings with it, the New Fiat 500 3+1 is the answer. Thanks to the smart solution of the third door, everyone can take all their passions with them without compromising on style, while benefiting from the functionality the New 500 3+1 can offer. In terms of safety, it’s worth noting that the ‘small third door’ can only be opened with the front door already open, to ensure the rear passengers can’t open it by accident. The third ‘small door’ opens in the opposite direction, and given the lack of a center panel in the door itself, means you can jump in more comfortably, load and unload large items more easily and put your child on the back seat or booster seat in a quicker and more straightforward way. Once you’ve closed the small door, there’s no difference from any other 500: the same style, the same size. All this with a weight increase of only 30 kg, with no effect on the car’s handling or fuel consumption. Just like the cabrio and hatchback, the New 500 3+1 is being presented at launch in the “la Prima” Opening Edition, distinguished by its style, exclusivity, technology and connectivity.
