Fiat 500 Hybrid (2026) Review

Introduction

The ‘new’ Fiat 500 has recently reached adulthood, having celebrated its 18th birthday in 2025. Of course, its roots date back much further than that – the original 500, which inspired the current model, first rolled off production lines in the mid-to-late 1950s.

The anniversary is significant, though, because it means the current 500 has been in production for as long as the old one, which was discontinued in 1975. Birthday cake aside, though, there’s been little to celebrate in recent years. Sales of the 500 have been declining for a long time, as more people shift their attention to larger, more practical SUVs, away from traditional hatchbacks and saloons. And, of course, more people are switching to economical alternatives such as hybrids and electric cars.

As a result, the all-electric Fiat 500e is a direct threat to the standard 500’s future. While some regard them as different versions of the same car, they’re actually markedly different, with the 500e having notably fresher looks. Curiously, when the 500e launched, Fiat didn't update the petrol 500 to match the looks of its battery-powered sibling, yet continued to sell both models alongside one another – and all it achieved was making the petrol 500 look even more dated.

Now, finally, Fiat has announced a new hybrid version of the 500, which belatedly inherits the looks of the 500e – five years after its electric sibling’s introduction – and states that it is the ‘natural evolution of an icon’.

But, really, that’s just PR spin.

The truth is, sales of the 500e haven't met expectations, and Fiat has all but admitted that it was a mistake to leave the old 500 on sale when it launched the new, modernised 500e alongside it – so now it’s hurriedly backtracking. While some manufacturers have taken an existing platform from a combustion-engined car and fitted an electric motor, Fiat is the first to do it in reverse, adding an engine to a vehicle built to be all-electric.

Will this revitalise the 500 (and 500C, given there’ll be a Cabriolet version, too)? We've got our hands on one, so we can find out.

At A Glance

Despite numerous changes over the years, the 500 has fundamentally the same recognisable shape. However, when the electric Fiat 500e launched, it had a more modern look than the petrol version, which, as we said, was kept on sale alongside it.

Now, Fiat has finally applied the ‘e’ look to the petrol model, meaning the new hybrid has taken a step forward in terms of design. As a result, the ‘eye-lidded’ round headlights, which look wider and meaner, now come to the hybrid, which also gets a perforated grille at the bottom.

The main grille is the same as the electric version, too, being just a blank panel with two horizontal lines going through the ‘500’ badge in the centre. There’s a smoother profile on the side, too, while retaining the iconic shape of the 500, giving it a slightly more rounded appearance.

At the back, there’s now a horizontal ridge above the number plate, while the new taillights don’t encroach as far inwards, resulting in a slightly wider tailgate for added convenience. It’s a welcome change – the 500e’s contemporary looks had cast the petrol version into the shadows, so it’s nice to see it finally getting an overhaul.

Key Features

The Fiat 500 Hybrid is available in two main trim levels, though at launch, there's a third special edition.

Entry-level Icon comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, DAB radio, a seven-inch digital instrument cluster, LED headlights, black and ivory fabric seats, and a body-coloured dashboard. Automatic air conditioning, rear parking sensors, and gloss-black door mirror caps are also included.

Then there’s the La Prima trim, which adds 17-inch alloys, tinted rear windows, a fixed-glass sunroof, chrome door sill plates, eco-leather seats, a matt pearl dashboard, and a two-tone premium steering wheel. It’s also fitted with heated front seats, automatic high-beam, satellite navigation, and a rear-view camera. The launch edition trim is called Torino; it gets less equipment than La Prima and comes with smaller 16-inch alloys, but it does get Torino badging and fabric and vinyl seats.

If you aren’t aware, Torino is Italian for Turin – Fiat’s home for more than 125 years. While the headline is “this is a hybrid”, the reality is that it’s only a mild hybrid.

As such, it only has a tiny electric motor, which improves fuel efficiency through energy recovery under braking, and an engine stop/start system that shuts the engine off in queues and while coasting to a halt when you push the clutch in. Other than that, though, it’s not capable of any engineless driving. Fiat’s ‘FireFly’ 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine offers front-wheel drive and a six-speed manual gearbox, producing just 65PS.

Performance & Drive

We are testing the coupe version in Torino trim. The Fiat 500 Hybrid isn’t powerful by any stretch of the imagination - and it’s rare to be testing a car with a horsepower (or PS figure) measured in double, rather than triple, digits. Indeed, it’s one of the least powerful cars available to lease in the UK today.

Its small frame and low kerb weight of around a tonne means there’s not much mass for it to pull along – but it’s little consolation when the 0-62mph time is 16.2 seconds. If you opt for the forthcoming 500C Hybrid convertible, it'll take a painful 17.3 seconds. Perhaps inevitably, that also means it's one of the slowest cars on the market in the UK today.

Accelerate onto a motorway, and the Fiat will be found wanting; even if you change down a gear, you'll be surprised at how little response you get when trying to build up any meaningful pace. The gearbox is decent, the clutch pedal feels predictable and precise – both improvements over the old model – and the general driving experience is more hushed than before.

The engine isn’t especially pleasing to listen to at lower revs or when worked hard, though. Still, performance and engine note aren't what the 500 Hybrid is about – it's a city car, after all – and its setup, right down to its tiny size, is intended for zipping about in urban areas.

If you’re in stop-start traffic or navigating a busy town centre ring road, the 500 Hybrid comes into its own, providing the convenience and nimbleness to dart between lanes. Even the comatose acceleration feels like a distant memory when you’re in the city.

If you want the best of all worlds, then performance house Abarth offers its sportier version of the 500e, providing much more pleasing levels of grunt, while Fiat’s electric version offers models with up to 118PS. We’d recommend a more powerful 500e unless you’ll mainly be sticking to slow-paced, built-up areas, as the hybrid’s engine gets screechy when you work it hard – and you’ll need to if you want to go quickly, which can make things noisy.

In terms of handling, the 500 Hybrid again favours metropolitan areas. Getting from lane to lane is easy, and navigating slow, tight corners of a city centre’s backstreets is simple work thanks to the very light steering (which is even lighter if you engage the car’s ‘City’ mode). But out in the sticks, it feels like a fish out of water, with the steering failing to weight up much and offering little in the way of feedback or engaging driving dynamics, so there’s little excitement to be found.

There isn't a massive amount of body lean, but it’s still more than we’d like for a car of this type, and it doesn’t feel particularly planted at speed compared with its rivals. The 500 Hybrid offers decent suspension absorption when tackling potholes and bumpier surfaces, so it’s comfortable to ride around in. The 16-inch alloys of our Torino-trimmed test car likely help with this – you’ll find larger 17-inch rims on the mid-range La Prima, which will likely sacrifice a bit of ride comfort.

Running Costs & Emissions

The Fiat 500 Hybrid returns 53.3mpg, emitting 119g/km of CO2. That’s not bad, but it’s around 8mpg less economical than the old Fiat 500 Hybrid, and it emits fractionally more carbon dioxide, though it’s still roughly on a par with rivals.

And while it's unlikely that many city cars are used as company cars, their appeal won't be helped by higher Benefit-In-Kind tax. Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles make far more sense as company cars nowadays.

To add insult to injury, despite half-decent fuel economy and pitiful levels of poke, the Fiat’s first year’s road tax will still cost £440. Reliability isn’t a strong point either – Italian brands generally don’t tend to score well, and Fiat has been a persistent offender for many years. The old Fiat 500 Hybrid hasn't done well either, so maybe an overhaul can change its luck.

Interior & Technology

The interior of the new 500 Hybrid looks lovely, albeit a bit bare and basic, as to be expected given the limited space on offer. You get a nice dual-coloured cabin, with a white outline on the steering wheel, and a white outer casing covering most of the dashboard, which gives it a funky appearance to brighten things up.

Fiat has a tradition of using the exterior body colour on the interior, too, which looks lovely. The wheel has a slightly flat bottom, two horizontal spokes, and plenty of multi-function buttons. There is also an infotainment tablet perched on top of the dash. At 10.25 inches, it's much bigger than the seven-inch screen of its predecessor, making it easier to read on the move.

The system within it has also been refreshed – and it’s nice to use, with an intuitive menu layout and a crisply clear, responsive touchscreen. Meanwhile, the general look of the operating system is attractive and pleasing to the eye. Some of the icons are on the small side, but overall, it's a nice system to use.

Behind the steering wheel is another screen – this time a circular, seven-inch digital instrument display, which looks cool and is easy to read. The gear lever extends down from the dashboard, so it’s next to the steering wheel, rather than connected to the centre console, a feature carried over from its predecessor petrol model.

In terms of overall quality, it's about what we'd expect: lots of plastics, some of which feel a bit cheap. But it's hard to fault Fiat for the effort it's made in styling them. Again, fashion and an Italian car should go hand in hand, and that’s certainly been achieved here. It’s as funky as we’d expect.

Practicality & Boot Space

If you're very tall, this probably isn't the car for you, but two adults are unlikely to have a problem getting into the front seats. There isn’t much adjustment in the driver’s seat, though sliding it back as far as it will go will just about suffice for the long of leg - and, considering this is a small city car, you’re perched fairly high up. This gives you a better view of the road ahead, but if you’re of a lofty size, you may feel you’re looking through the uppermost section of the windscreen.

The front windscreen pillars aren’t especially thick, though rearward visibility isn’t the best, with wider pillars and a thick black outline around the rear windscreen obstructing your view. In the back, the seats aren’t as spacious – there are only two, so it's only a four-seater - and it lacks rear doors. Taller passengers won't be comfortable, but it's fine for a couple of kids; some competitors offer more space.

Boot space is considerably smaller than rivals, too, at just 183 litres compared with the Hyundai i10’s 252 litres. Even stepping up a segment to a supermini like the Vauxhall Corsa will net you 309 litres, so the 500 Hybrid is tiny by comparison to most other cars.

Boot space expands to 440 litres with the rear seats folded (they fold down the middle in a 50:50 split, given there are only two rear seats) – but this is less than the outgoing model. There is an impressive amount of storage space inside the cabin, given the Fiat’s small size. The door bins aren't particularly large, but the glovebox has plenty of space, and the cubby between the front seats has decent capacity.

Safety

The 500 Hybrid has yet to be tested by Euro NCAP, but as it's based on the 500e, its 2021 four-star rating is likely a good indicator of how the new one will fare. That said, Euro NCAP raises the bar from time to time to keep up with technological progress, so if the 500 Hybrid is assessed, it would be understandable if it didn’t score as highly.

The 500e was awarded 76% for adult occupants, 80% for children, and 67% for safety assists. Making up the latter category in the 500 Hybrid is a suite of systems, including automatic emergency braking (a feature notably absent from its predecessor), lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition and rear parking sensors. A reversing camera is also offered on the La Prima trim.

Options

An official options list hasn’t been revealed yet for the Fiat 500 Hybrid. However, the outgoing model had plenty of add-ons, including decals, body paint and other accessories. The standard car, though, comes reasonably well-equipped.

Rival Cars

The three main rivals to the Fiat 500 Hybrid include the Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto and the Toyota Aygo X.

There are also slightly larger cars such as the Mini Cooper (available nowadays only in electric form), Vauxhall Corsa, Citroen C3, and the Dacia Sandero. Another electric car to consider is the BYD Dolphin Surf.

None of these are style icons in quite the way the Fiat 500 is (though Mini fans might disagree), but many offer better ride comfort, superior performance, or greater practicality. We’ve covered the 500 Hybrid hatchback here. Still, if you're considering the convertible Cabriolet version, there are very few alternatives, with the Mini Cooper Electric having a very limited run of convertible models a couple of years back.

Verdict & Next Steps

The Fiat 500 Hybrid is the big step forward that was needed following the launch of its newer all-electric 500e sibling five years ago. Its styling and cutesy looks are its main selling points, along with its funky, brightened-up interior, while the improved infotainment system is a big plus.

It’s difficult to recommend a trim, but our Torino test car is lacking in features compared with the La Prima trim, while the entry-level Icon is reasonably well-equipped as standard. As a car to drive around a city, it's lovely, but in more rural settings, its weaknesses are exposed, with lacklustre performance and unengaging handling.

True, city cars are built for around-town convenience, not for being thrashed through corners on a B-road, but direct foes can do better, while offering more thrills, more comfort and superior practicality. If you don’t care about looks, then one of the Fiat’s rivals will likely tick more boxes. But if your priority is leasing a motor that's nice to look at, you'll struggle to find a city car you'll want more than this one.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Fiat 500 Hybrid. 

**Correct as of 19/01/2026. Based on TBC months initial payment, TBC miles annually, over a TBC month lease. Initial payment equivalent to TBC monthly payments, or £ TBC (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.