Overview

The electric car market is already chock full of small SUVs, but Fiat reckons it can drag some buyers away from the established competition with this – the 600e. It’s supposed to be a family-sized crossover that’ll lead the charge on the company’s electrification strategy but, as we’ll soon explain, it doesn’t quite meet its brief.

Fiat’s plan for the 600e was to take the design and character of the Fiat 500e city car and upscale it to a more practical package. The brand made this job as easy as possible by pinching the 600e’s platform, electric motor, battery pack and interior technology from the Stellantis warehouse. As such, it feels an awful lot like the Jeep Avenger – especially in the cabin where Fiat’s parts bin pilfering is screamingly obvious.

Using existing components isn’t such a bad thing, though. Competition in the compact electric SUV segment is fierce right now – and that means buyers simply aren’t prepared to tolerate poor quality or iffy reliability. The trouble is that the components Fiat used to build the 600e have, until this point, only delivered average results.

None of Stellantis’ small electric SUVs (that’s the DS 3, Peugeot e-2008 and Vauxhall Mokka) are particularly inspiring to drive and they all offer rather average range figures, which means this little Fiat has its work cut out if it’s hoping to challenge class-leading cars such as the Kia Niro EV and Smart #1. And that’s Fiat’s biggest problem. If the 600e can’t deliver what its drivers expect, they’ll simply shop for one of its better rivals.

Fiat is confident its strong branding will see it right, though. The 500e has long been the best-selling electric car in Stellantis’ arsenal. In 2023, it raked in 60% of the group’s EV sales – and Fiat is hedging its bets that the response to the 600e will be equally popular.

Plus, the 600e has price on its side. To try and boost sales, Fiat introduced its own electric car grant, which shaves a whopping £3,000 off the 600e’s sticker price. That means it comfortably undercuts most of its rivals. To further boost sales, Fiat also now offers the car with a 1.2-litre mild hybrid powertrain which cuts down its price even further and broadens its appeal to those who perhaps aren’t quite ready to make the switch to an EV.

But has the company’s gamble worked? Or is the 600e just as average as its sisters? Scroll through our review to find out – and if you’re curious about how we reached our verdict on the car, check out our explainer page that walks you through how we test cars here at Parkers.

We’ve also pitted the 600e against two of its biggest rivals – the Volvo EX30 and the Hyundai Kona Electric. If you’re more of a visual learner, scroll down to watch our group test video and find out how the Fiat stacks up against its rivals.

Watch our Fiat 600e video review