Five reasons why the new Fiat Grande Panda could be the best small electric car

There’s a whole raft of small, affordable electric cars making their way into showrooms at the moment. Citroen has the E-C3, Renault has the 5, there’s the Hyundai Inster and now Fiat fancies a piece of the action with the new Grande Panda.

Underneath the skin it’s pretty much identical to the E-C3 and the larger Vauxhall Frontera, meaning you get a single electric motor powering the front wheels and up to 199 miles of range – perfect for urban commuting.

While we can’t draw a full conclusion until we drive the car, we have been able to have a poke around it to get some first impressions. Here are five cool things.

1. Charging – why did no one think of this before?

When you pull up to a charging point which requires you to use your own cable, faffing around pulling them out of the storage area in the boot and untangling them can be really annoying.

Well the Grande Panda has a neat solution – the charging cable is built-in and retractable. Simply pull it out of the flap at the front of the car, plug it in and feed it back when you’re done. It’s such a great idea it makes you wonder how it’s taken so long for a car maker to come up with it.

2. Funky interior with clever design touches

The Grande Panda will be a cheap car when it goes on sale, with a sub-£22,000 price tag to be expected. To keep costs down the interior does feel pretty low-rent in places, but Fiat has peppered it with clever little touches to make it at least look more premium.

There are bright colours and funky textures to keep things looking interesting, and the blue seats, door and dash in this car look fabulous. Dig deep and you’ll spot shared switchgear with other Fiats and Citroens, but the Grande Panda’s cabin still stands out from the crowd.

3. Loads of storage

The cabin not only looks great, there are plenty of smart storage solutions to make it as practical as possible. The bamboo glovebox not only looks great, but it’s a good size as well. There’s also a wireless charging tray for your phone and some clever seat pockets for rear-seat passengers to keep their phones in.

4. The gift of choice

Not only will you be able to get the Fiat Grande Panda as an EV, there will also be a petrol hybrid version. The electric version will probably be better suited for city drivers, but if you’re not quite ready to commit to the all-electric lifestyle then being able to stick to internal combustion is great.

5. Just look at it!

That retro-inspired styling looks wicked. The way FIAT and PANDA are embossed on the bodywork is a really cool touch, and the boxy front end has some real road presence as well with the pixel-style LED headlights.

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