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.
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