Stellantis Thinks Your 16-Year-Old Wants An 8-HP Abarth

The Fiat Topolino has just landed in America at $13,995, which technically makes it the cheapest EV in the country. The catch is that it isn’t classified as a car and can’t be sold as street legal, at least not until Stellantis rolls out an optional Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) conversion kit that clears it for roads posted at 35 mph (56 km/h) or less.

In base form, its 19 mph (31 km/h) top speed keeps it well clear of any highway on-ramp. So it’s slow. Very slow. Then again, nobody buys something that makes the original Smart ForTwo look roomy expecting speed. None of which has stopped Stellantis from weighing an Abarth-branded version to make the tiny EV more tempting to young buyers in Europe.

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That hotter model would go beyond the Fiat Topolino Sport that was recently introduced in Italy. The Sport brought fresh colors, stripe graphics, black accents and wheels to match, though nothing underneath changed.

Fiat and Abarth CEO Olivier Francois told Autocar the company is developing an Abarth take on the Topolino. He called the idea a “dream” and predicted it would be a “total hit”.

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So why hang a performance badge on a heavy quadricycle built to crawl through city traffic? Gaetano Thorel, who runs Fiat and Abarth in Europe, laid out the thinking.

Chasing Teenagers Who Want Noise

“We want to make an Abarth feeling for the Topolino, because we are still trying to boost selling it to young people. It’s amazing: Topolino is the most successful quadricycle in Italy, and if we’re being honest we still don’t catch the heart of 16- and 17-year-olds. I want to gain their hearts, which is why we now have Topolino Sport. An Abarth Topolino could be another solution.”

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The Fiat Topolino, Citroen Ami, and Opel Rocks Electric triplets are classified in the L6 quadricycle segment, which lets 14-year-old teenagers legally drive them in countries like Italy and France. Even so, Fiat’s European boss admitted that parents usually prefer rivals like the Ligier, which feels sportier thanks to the sound of its 50cc engine compared with the “more gentle” Topolino EV.

Styling Over Speed

To win over that younger crowd, Fiat needs a spicier take on its retro-flavored quadricycle, possibly borrowing the fake engine noises from the fully electric Abarth 500 along with a more aggressive bodykit and special touches inside the cabin.

That said, don’t expect the pint-sized EV to turn into a pocket rocket. Regulations wouldn’t allow the Topolino to carry anything stronger than the current 8 hp (6 kW) electric motor. Abarth’s engineers would likely go no further than perhaps some minor tweaks to the suspension along with different wheels and tires. The special edition will be more of an Abarth lifestyle product than a genuine performance machine.