What was the 1936 Fiat Topolino electric utility car that gives its name to the new Fiat Topolino electric?

The Stellantis group continues to bet on electric mobility, and with solutions that go beyond cars or commercial vehicles, as its range of emission-free quadricycles, consisting so far of the Opel Rocks-e, which for now is not marketed in our country, and the Citroën Ami, will soon be reinforced with the Fiat Topolino, which will also be manufactured at the Moroccan plant in Kenitra.

A Fiat Topolino that will indeed come to the Spanish market, although the launch will take place in April 2024. Between now and then the Italian brand will announce its characteristics, although logically they will be almost identical to those of its Citroën and Opel relatives. That is, a lightweight two-seater quadricycle with approximately 2.4 meters long and 1.4 meters wide, weighing approximately 470 kilos and powered by an electric motor, manufactured by Valeo, of 6 kW of power (8.2 hp) that is fed by a lithium-ion battery of 5.5 kWh capacity, with which the official range will be around 75 kilometers and can be recharged in 220-230 volt household electrical outlets in about three hours. And its top speed is limited to 45 km/h, in accordance with current regulations.

The new Topolino draws its front design inspiration from the mythical 500, and takes its name from a classic of the Turin-based brand: the first 500, baptized by the public as Topolino when it was born in 1936, in reference to the cartoon character Mickey Mouse, created a few years earlier. Usually considered the first Fiat of the modern era, the 500 Topolino is also, for many, the first small utility car in the history of the automobile, a two-seater that was only 3,215 millimeters long, 1,275 wide and 1,377 high, had a wheelbase of exactly two meters and weighed 535 kilos empty, with a maximum authorized mass of 745 kilos, because in addition to two occupants, it was designed to carry up to 50 kilos of luggage.

With a price at the time starting at 8,900 lire, the 500 Topolino soon became a hit with the Italians, being marketed between 1936 and 1948. It was equipped with a small four-cylinder gasoline engine in line with Solex carburetor, located in a very advanced front position, whose displacement of 569 cubic centimeters gave its name to the model. Its 13 hp of power, achieved at 4,000 revolutions per minute, was associated with a four-speed manual gearbox and allowed it to reach a top speed of 85 km/h, with an official average fuel consumption of six liters per 100 kilometers, which translated into a range between refuelings of more than 350 kilometers thanks to the 22 liters of fuel tank capacity.

Fiat manufactured 122,000 units of its genuine 500 Topolino until 1948, when the car was replaced by the 500 B, also nicknamed Topolino and produced until 1955, whose 569 cubic centimeter engine already produced 16.5 CV of power to raise the top speed to 95 km/h.

The Stellantis group continues its commitment to electric mobility, and with solutions that go beyond cars or commercial vehicles, since its range of emission-free quadricycles, consisting so far of the Opel Rocks-e, which for the moment is not marketed in our country, and the Citroën Ami, will soon be reinforced with the Fiat Topolino, which will also be manufactured at the Moroccan plant in Kenitra.