It’s been fun. The MINI is sold.

My wife and I have had the 500e for a few weeks now. We are enjoying it and find it ideal for driving and parking in San Francisco. It makes city traffic almost fun.

The steering is pretty good but not up to the level of the 1st gen MINI (I haven’t driven 2nd or 3rd gen to compare with those). The interior styling is clean and ergonomic. However, the materials are lower grade. Especially the seats, which feel like they are made from a particularly thin vinyl.

During 9+ years with my R52, I had grown accustomed to the flex and shake of the convertible chassis. Near my house, there is an intersection with bad pavement, where I would always brace for shake in the steering wheel and hop in the rear wheels. It caught me by surprise that the 500e handles it with no fuss, despite a shorter wheelbase. Between the extra torque and stability, the 500e out-gokarts my R52 in city driving. My perspective is from 90% San Francisco street driving, 10% freeway.

For a perspective from a gearhead enthusiast, some of you may remember Dr Obnxs (Matt Richter) from various MINI forums. He has a highly modded R53 and a Clubman, and also got a 500e two years ago. He lives in the Santa Cruz mountains and drives hard on twisties every day. His impressions of the 500e:
http://www.fiat500owners.com/forum/66-fiat-500e/12938-after-week-ownership.html

You have to give me credit for one thing. From a 1st gen MINI, I didn’t go to a larger vehicle. I went even smaller, and it’s our only car (for a family of 3, plus 2 large dogs)! No, it doesn’t fit all of us at the same time, but neither did the R52.

 

I estimate our range to be about 90 miles overall, but it varies so much depending on driving conditions of each trip. We use the car 10-40 miles/day and top off the charge overnight when the battery level gets to somewhere around the middle.

 

A year later...

Just passed the first year of our 3 year lease. The verdict... I like the car a lot. The size and electric drivetrain are ideal for the traffic, hills, and parking in San Francisco.

It's also a lot of fun to drive. I say this as someone who drove an R52 for 9+ years, and before that a CRX for 10+ years (both stick shift).

 

pro: no engine noise or vibration
con: no engine noise or vibration!

The driving dynamics are very good. Reviewers compare the 500e with the Abarth on level of fun. The electric drivetrain provides instant full torque and smooth linear response without power hesitation or surge. Think about it… those are goals that automakers have been striving to achieve in gas engines for decades. The 500e is 400 lbs heavier than the Abarth because of the batteries. However, the car has low center of gravity that makes it feel stable and planted. The 500e has a 53/47 weight distribution vs the Abarth's 64/36.

Most of our driving is on San Francisco streets in traffic, frequently combined with hills. What matters in this situation is low end torque, and the electric drive is a big advantage over the low torque 1st gen MINI. Wife and I are lifelong stick shift drivers and we also hadn't realized how much of a chore it had been in San Francisco. All of that start-stop driving was taking its toll on the R52 and expensive repairs were piling on.

This car has EV technology from 2013 (first release date). The 500e's weakest point is the range, which is around 70-100 miles depending on conditions. That would rule out this car for many people. Full charge from empty takes about 4 hours on 220V. It's fine for me because we mainly do in-town trips and only need to charge up at home every few days. When I drive to work (I usually take the train), it is 40 miles one way and I use charge stations at my workplace. It is really awesome never going to a gas station.

The 500e is a "compliance car" sold only in California and Oregon to meet state emissions regulations. Fiat/Chrysler pushed out the car as soon as it was "good enough" and it didn't undergo the full development and testing cycle that a 50 state model would receive. I've been fortunate that I've had zero issues with my car, but online some people have reported serious malfunctions in the electronics systems.

Other notes related to the Fiat 500 (not specific to the electric 500e model):

• Seating position is high compared to a MINI.
• The Fiat 500 is an economy series, and it shows in the relatively low quality of materials in the interior. However, they did a great job with design and styling. Where most econo interiors look cheap and ugly, the Fiat's interior is stylish and appealing.
• Nice tight turning radius, very useful on city streets. One of the disappointments when I got my R52 was that the turning radius is large for a car its size. My CRX had an even smaller turn radius than the Fiat.
• The first time I cleaned the windshield… omg, it's HUGE compared to the MINI, even though the Fiat is much smaller.
• (small) size matters in San Francisco. I can now fit into parking spaces that even my R52 would be too large for. It's a big deal when you can dive into a parking spot instead of circling around the streets an extra 10 minutes.

Some people are doing lowering springs, but the only mod I'm contemplating is better tires. There is very little modding going on for the 500e, because almost everybody (including me) is on a 3 year lease. The lease deals are good and the purchase deals are bad. My own lease isn't that great, but occasionally there have been some insane lease deals.