There aren’t many people in North America who have driven the quintessential four-wheel-drive Fiat Topolino. I’m one of the lucky few, and so is my friend and colleague Adam Ismail, so at least 40% drive The staff is excited that this thing will finally be available for sale in the United States. But it has only one drawback: it is very expensive.
Stellantis announced today that “a little piece of La Dolce Vita is now crossing the Atlantic and heading to America.” The Topolino, which is Italian for “little mouse”, is available for purchase at select Fiat dealers nationwide, although frankly, I don’t think there were any Fiat dealers left as I haven’t seen one for several years. Two trims of the Micro EV will go on sale: the base Toppolino and the Toppolino Dolcevita, the convertible no-door variant which I drove.
Buying the Topolino trim will set you back $13,990 plus $990 destination charge, bringing the out-the-door price to $14,980 plus taxes and fees. That’s really a lot of money for the equivalent of a fashionable, two-person golf cart powered by a 5.4-kilowatt lithium-ion battery and an electric motor driving the front wheels. Fiat also claims a top speed of 19 mph for the US-bound Topolino – although I know for a fact that my top speed in the hilly terrain in the south of France is 30 mph.
According to the automaker, owners will be able to increase the top speed to 25 mph to become road-legal through the installation of a Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) conversion kit by the end of summer 2026. I’m not entirely sure why this is, or how it makes any sense to engage the already highly specialized, expensive small toy buyers, but I’d bet there are some regulatory loopholes necessary to import and sell these things here.
Price aside, the Topolino is extremely practical, comfortable, and ideal transportation for major cities where parking is a challenge, or for those who don’t need more than a small roof on wheels for commuting, but otherwise don’t really need a car. Despite its impressive 46-mile range, I don’t think the Topolino is much more than a novelty in America, and it will never be taken seriously. In contrast, I spent some time last month in Amsterdam and several cities in France and Italy, where these things are extremely common.
Sadly for me, buying it in my state of Indiana would cost me $16,300, and that’s before registering the thing or getting that conversion kit to increase its top speed. This is too much.
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