Fiat 500 Hatchback (2026 - ) review

We don’t have confirmed prices for the 500 Hybrid yet, but its whole purpose is to be more affordable to buy than its electric sister, so we expect it to start below £20,000. Rivals like the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10 will likely offer better value for money, but the 500’s unique style goes some way to justify the extra premium. Given hardly anyone buys a new car in full, it will all come down to how competitive Fiat can be with its finance offers. The 500 Hybrid’s small engine shouldn’t be too thirsty and should manage around 50mpg on a good run, though during our spirited city test drive we were getting closer to 30mpg.

Fiat has previously had a mixed reliability reputation. However, the new 500 Hybrid takes the body of the electric 500e and adds the mild hybrid system from the previous generation 500 and Panda, so the parts are tried and tested if not in this exact combination. Fiat claims when it has used this system before less than 0.3 per cent of the engines have had issues recorded, which certainly sounds promising. Fiat is also very proud to build the 500 Hybrid in Italy with final assembly taking place alongside the 500e in its hometown of Turin.

As the 500 is pint-sized you don’t have as much metal between you and any obstacles as you would in a larger car. However, there’s a whole new array of safety systems compared to the previous model including driver attention monitoring, traffic sign recognition and emergency braking. Visibility out the front in pretty good, helped by the sloping bonnet which don’t obscure your view. However, the small rear windows make looking out the back more challenging, you do get rear parking sensors to help you out, though, and range topping La Prima trim gains a reversing camera, too.

There will be two main trim levels when the 500 arrives here next year: Icon and La Prima. Plus, there’ll be a special launch edition Turino model to celebrate Fiat’s founding city. The 500’s interior looks just as appealing as the outside, so you’ll forgive some of the scratchier plastics and the limited space in the back. The Turino model we tested didn’t have a split in the rear bench, which reduced practicality further, though we are told the Icon and La Prima version will get this extra flexibility. In the front the seats are very high with no height adjustment, and they aren’t very supportive for longer journeys, however, we do love two-tone upholstery. In La Prima models the front seats will be heated, and you’ll get a matt pearl dashboard rather than the external paint colour. Out on the road the 500 Hybrid can be a little bouncy over lumps and bumps, but it generally copes well with rough surfaces around town.

You don’t get loads of features, but this iteration of 500 Hybrid is a big upgrade on the previous version. All cars come with automatic air-conditioning, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a 10.25-inch central infotainment display. We’d love to tell you how intuitive it was to use, but it was set to Italian, so we didn’t get very far through the menus. It seemed responsive, though, and we liked the handy toggles for controlling the temperature settings so you’re not overly reliant on using the touch-screen. La Prima cars get larger wheels, a fixed glass sunroof, tinted rear windows, and chrome door sill plates. We particularly like the Turin skyline motif on the little central shelf, which doubles as a wireless phone charger.

The Fiat 500 Hybrid offers a driving experience you'll remember. This is a car you can drive enthusiastically, upping the revs and working through the gears without instantly hitting the speed limit. It is slower than its predecessor with just 65 horsepower to play with and, while this number looks tiny on paper, around town the 500 is nippy enough to keep up with traffic. We enjoyed embracing the busy streets of Turin, dodging trams, buses and parked cars on our test route. Yes, the steering is super light with a lack of feel, the six-speed gearbox is imprecise so it’s easy to catch the wrong gear by mistake and you do have to work to gather pace, but the little 500 put a big smile on our face and the plucky little engine has real character. Our test drive didn’t include a section on the motorway, however, so we will have to wait until it arrives in the UK next year to find out how quickly it runs out of puff.