Earlier this year, an all-new Fiat 500 debuted in Europe as an adorable, electric city car. It’s the successor to the Fiat 500 the Italian brand once sold to us Yanks. Unfortunately, this new EV version won’t be imported to the United States. And neither will the recently revealed 500 3+1, a new three-door version that features a small, rear-hinged door behind the conventional front passenger door.
That makes it distinct from the other three-door hatchback we’re most familiar with, the Hyundai Veloster. That vehicle features a B-pillar and a front-hinged rear door on the passenger side. Meanwhile, the new 500 3+1 doesn’t have a B-pillar, so if both doors are open, there’s a gaping hole in the bodyshell—making it a lot more convenient to load large objects or small children.
After all, Europeans have a different sense of how big a vehicle needs to be to accommodate a family. The 500 3+1 is a small car, sure, but Fiat hopes that families with a child or two can use it to run around town and drop the young ones off at various appointments. That said, the 3+1 isn’t a swollen version of its two-door 500 sibling (we’re looking at you, 500L). In fact, the model retains the same interior and exterior dimensions as its stablemate—there’s just an extra door, and about 66 pounds of additional weight.
Otherwise, the 3+1 is just like any of the other new 500s. There are a few flavors of EV motor output, with a 94-hp motor and 24-kWh battery packing serving as the entry-level option. The combo is good for around 112 miles of range on the European cycle. Higher trims offer more output and more range. There’s a convertible version of the two-door variant, too, for those willing to sacrifice the 3+1’s convenience for an open-air experience.
