Fiat 500 Convertible 87kW Icon

Our electric convertible seeks to prove that green motoring can be fun and easy on the purse strings

- Claire Evans

THE FIAT 500 Convertible breaks new ground in the small car segment by being both a drop-top and a pure electric car. It adds a new dimension to green motoring, doing away with a common assumption: that electric cars have to be either worthy but dull or hyper-fast and expensive (like the Porsche Taycan).

For me, as a keen convertible driver and proud owner of a 1995 Eunos Roadster (Mazda MX-5) sports car, the 500 is a way for me to indulge my passion for open-top motoring while doing minimal harm to the environment. It also limits the pain to my bank balance after the recent introduction of E10 bio-petrol, which propelled the cost of the Eunos’s preferred E5 unleaded petrol up past £1.60 per litre.

The 500 has a two-stage electric roof that can open like a large sunroof or fold back completely, so I’ve added a £450 Winter Pack to get heated seats, allowing me to use the car to the full without freezing in the often inclement British weather. To help on cold, dark mornings, the pack also provides rapid demisting for the windscreen, and I’ve added heated door mirrors and auto-dimming LED lights by selecting the £850 Eye Park Pack.