Stellantis said it will bring an all-electric small “car” called the Fiat Topolino to the U.S.
The Topolino is actually categorized as “an all-electric quadricycle” rather than a car, according to Stellantis and has a top speed of roughly 28 miles per hour.
Fiat’s announcement comes less than a week after President Donald Trump praised small “Kei” cars from Japan and expressed interest in bringing tiny cars to the U.S.
28mph? It wil be a death trap on American roads.
I would legit rather be on a 50cc scooter. There’s a 25 mph section of stroad near me that people always go like 40+ mph in (because the stretches around it are 35 mph)
yea thats not fast enough for literally any road. useless. But it is Stellantis after all.
Trump praised small “Kei” cars from Japan
Im sorry he did what now? Id buy a kei truck, holy shit kei me up
Colorado is in the process of legalizing Kei trucks, but only old gas-burning Japanese ones, not new electric Chinese ones.
That’s because of the federal level 20 or 25 year rule on importing cars that’s been on the books for more than half a century.
Ive driven in over half of the states in all manner of areas both urban and rural, and I genuinely dont see these kind of vehicles as feasible for the vast majority of American drivers.
Theyre great for specific use cases within very narrow ranges as work vehicles. But as a commuter vehicle? No way it will work.
I live in a rural town now, and it would be great for driving around the whole 5x10 block area of the city. It isnt making it out of town on a 55+mph highway, which is the only option to get to where most people live.
In any major urban area that doesnt have constant gridlock like LA, NYC, etc. It is limited to being stuck within major roads that also outclass it in speed limits. Albeit slower ones that would more accommodate an even slower vehicle more than a highway. Even still, if this thing cant even go 30, and people consistently go 40 in the 30, then you dont want to be in this thing going under 30 and get rear ended to death by some 6k pound suv.
Even if that never happened, you would spend a lot of time running the engine at its top speed which cant be great for longevity.
They should totally be legal for local low speed road use, but they would be mostly useless and/or a death trap as a commuter vehicle for the vast majority of people
Yeah this is actually exciting, I’d love for functional lil trucks and cars to become a trend in America.
KEI CARS CAN REACH HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS
Fit It Again, Tony!
I wonder what that classification means for licensing/insurance/registration. At $9k~, it’s competing with top tier ebikes that have a lot of benefits over a pseudo-car. I can use bike infrastructure, don’t need a garage or parking space, there’s no license/registration/insurance, and I can easily repair most things on it myself. My ebike cost less than $2k and can do everything this can from the safety of a bike lane/trail, while all of the non-residential urban roads around here are rated 25mph-45mph. I couldn’t safely get groceries in this.
Tbf, you’re not the target market.
I’m the exact target market down to owning a car that’s the 2010s version of this for the same reasons they’re importing it. I’m selling that car for an alternative and this speed is what I think all cities should max out at. I like goofy Italian shit and can’t afford an actual electric car. For someone in my consumer position, this would have been an ideal car in 2015 and I’d have bought it in a heartbeat.
In 2025 that isn’t the case. If this is competing with cars it can’t do so at a legal speed which is why I don’t ride my ebike on roads. If it’s competing with bikes, it can’t do so on the infrastructure that lets bikes survive the vastly heavier cars. It’s offering the same range and speed as an ebike at 2x the cost of a high-end Tern cargobike that fits more passengers in safer conditions. An electric kei truck would offer utility that I don’t currently get from the much cheaper option, but this would be much more impractical to own and use in a city.
Then who is the target market, scam victims? What a bizarre thing to say.
Stellantis
You could not pay me to drive a Stellantis vehicle of any breed.
Absolute trash.
gosh you don’t want ads on your head unit?
Reminiscing about the halcyon days of Daimler-Chrysler, which ended with their QA getting better when they split from Daimler Benz and merged with fucking Fiat
…I had a 2005 model 300C AWD at one point. Apparently they’re not that bad if you keep up on oil changes (and fix all of the inevitable suspension bushing rot and broken steering components and cheaply made CV axles). The previous owner did not keep up on oil changes, so in spite of my best efforts, that 4ish-year ordeal ended with me narrowly missing a visit from ol’ Uncle Rodney on account of some oil sludge dislodging and clogging all the things. At least it was fun in the snow. And I don’t mean that sarcastically – it did great as long as I didn’t plow into too deep of a snowbank. RIP, gas-guzzling dadmobile. You got me from point A to point B, and got out of your own way in a big damn hurry every time.
Just give me a Chinese EV ffs
As long as they market it right, it’ll have no problem.
Option 1: Market it as a golf cart, but for the streets.
Option 2: Market it as the car you drive to your actual car to cut down on needing to walk from your front door to your car in the garage.
top speed of roughly 28 miles per hour
finally, a car to match my sub energy 🥺🥺🥺
SOYCAR
i am car
No va
The lowest speed limit streets in my typical amerikkkan city have a speed limit of 25, people typically drive 30+ on them.
I’d be amazed if I saw anyone going less than 35 in a 25 in my area.
And then you get on the 60mph road and some motherfucker is sitting in the left lane at 30
Stellantis
This thing is gonna be more recall than car. Oops! All backordered!
Topolino
Disney licking their lips waiting for a yummy lawsuit to hit stateside
Also isn’t this a glorified e bike without the practical factors of an e bike?
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
trump fighting f-150 and nfl, that’s ballsy
