I tested the weird, tiny, low-cost electric car soon coming to the US
Electric vehicles are everywhere these days, but few are as intriguing – or as polarizing – as the tiny urban EV soon headed to American roads. Fiat recently announced plans to bring its diminutive new model, the Topolino, to the US this year. At roughly the size of a golf cart and priced far below most traditional EVs, it is technically more of a quadricycle than a true ‘car’ and offers a radically different vision of personal mobility: ultra-compact, affordable, and perfectly tailored to short city commutes.
I’ve long espoused the merits of car drivers shifting away from battle tank-sized vehicles and into something smaller and more appropriately-sized for the average trips many urban drivers take.
And so I jumped at the chance to spend a week test-driving what amounts to the original European version of this vehicle: the Citroën Ami. The Topolino, which is merely a rebadged Ami with slight aesthetic modifications for branding, is a bare-bones two-seat electric vehicle with a stripped-down interior and a deliberately minimal feel.
Don’t expect plush seats, booming stereos, or rapid highway sprints. What you get instead is more like a motorized city cart, getting you from A to B with zero emissions. And considering the sub €10k price in Europe supporting a roughly US $12-13k price before any local incentives, there’s a chance this could give golf cart pricing with real-car styling (almost).
On the road, I personally found the experience surprisingly fun and practical for urban life. While my wife wasn’t as enthralled with the quirky little vehicle as I was, I definitely appreciated its merits. You can see our experience spending a week driving the quirky little vehicle in the video above.
The Ami’s small footprint made navigating narrow streets, tight parking spaces, and busy intersections a breeze. It’s slow – intentionally so – but its 45 km/h (28 mph) top speed is already above the speed limit in many major US cities like NYC. And its 5.5 kWh battery’s range is modest, but for trips to the market, commuting through downtown traffic, or just zipping to a café, it feels surprisingly natural and liberating.
Still, it’s hard not to wonder how much Americans will warm to this type of vehicle. With a limited top speed, reliance on slow Level 1 charging, and safety considerations more similar to a golf cart than a conventional car, the Topolino challenges traditional expectations of safety and performance.
Whether US drivers embrace the simplicity or dismiss it as too bare-bones remains to be seen – but one thing is clear: this little EV has sparked big questions about the future of urban mobility.
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