New Fiat Multiplina is a super-cute, four-seat city car based on the Topolino

Having surprised us earlier in the year with a first look at the new Multiplina, Fiat has brought the finished version to the Paris Motor Show with a few design tweaks for the cutesy, retro-inspired EV.

A few months ago, Fiat CEO Olivier François originally told us the Fiat Multiplina “will be much better looking” than the one we saw in the summer. In Paris we’ve had the chance to see a new front end with additional strakes besides the Fiat logo and ‘Multiplina’ branding on the front bumper, though the rest of it looks very similar. Even the same two-tone orange and white paintwork remains.

Fiat says the Multiplina design is a “bold, socially relevant reinterpretation of the legendary 1956 Fiat 600 Multipla”, rather than of the wacky six-seat MPV of the late nineties. The simplistic, rounded profile and inoffensive front fascia are all in-keeping with the Topolino city car - which is not by accident because the Multiplina shares the same platform.

While the Topolino EV is classified as an L6 quadricycle in Europe, the Multiplina has a stretched platform and the additional room is used for a larger battery. It complies with L7 regulations, which basically means it’ll be faster and have a longer range than the Topolino, which tops out at 28mph and 45 miles respectively. 

Fiat claims the Multiplina will reach a top speed of 55mph, just 1mph shy of the maximum allowed within L7 regulations. The range figure hasn’t been announced, but we’ve been told to expect a bump over the Topolino’s 5.4kWh battery and 8bhp electric motor. Speaking to Auto Express, Gaetano Thorel, head of Fiat Europe, said that compared to the Topolino, the Multiplina “will have a bigger battery for obvious reasons, will certainly have higher miles [range] and speed will link to the [L7] category.” 

As for a tie-up like the Citroen Ami and its Fiat Topolino sibling, we asked Thorel whether to expect a Citroen-badged version of the Multiplina. “Oh, we're working on it, it's still early. Though for the time being, it's Fiat.”

The Multiplina was first shown as the Quattrolino concept that Fiat revealed at the Stellantis Investor Day in May, alongside the new Panda-based Grizzly SUVs and the Tris three-wheeler. However, Fiat had to change the name as Audi’s long-held trademark over the ‘quattro’ term, made the Quattrolino name “impossible to use”.  

Pricing hasn’t been hinted at for the Multiplina, but given that it’ll be positioned between the £9,000 Topolino and the £21,000 all-electric Fiat 500, expect the new four-seater to rival the likes of the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03, starting at around £14,000. 

Get even more from Auto Express, follow our channels...
• Google
• Reddit 
• Whatsapp