The Topolino (“little mouse” in Italian) is a strange little thing designed for use in densely populated European cities. In addition to its cute design and small dimensions, it makes do with only 8 horsepower and a range of 75 kilometers. The top speed is only 45 km/h. Nevertheless, Stellantis should see a market for it in the US, especially beyond that President Trump praised Japan’s Kei cars and asked if they could be sold in this country. A Stellantis representative said CNBCHowever, the president’s comments did not influence the company’s decision to sell the Topolino here.
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Is Stellantis cunning or crazy?
Technically, the Fiat Topolino is not even a car according to legal standards. It’s classified as a two-seat electric four-wheeler and, at least functionally, has more in common with a golf cart than a small car. That may be Fiat’s way of circumventing a slew of U.S. regulations that must be met before foreign cars can be imported.
Fiat did reveal that it was motivated to make this decision after taking the Topolino around the US to gauge consumer interest. It appeared at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance and the New York and LA auto shows in 2025. The response must have been overwhelmingly positive, although we wonder if the public was aware of the Topolino’s technical shortcomings. This includes a small 5.4 kWh battery that can only be charged via a level 1 socket, so public fast-charging stations cannot be used.
That said, Fiat could upgrade the Topolino’s technical specs for American consumption. More power, faster charging and maybe even a bigger battery for longer range would help. However, doing so will affect the price of the microcar, which will presumably already have a tariff attached to it since the car was built in Monaco. In Europe, the Topolino starts around $11,500.
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TopSpeed’s opinion
On the one hand, we’re happy that an automaker is taking the chance on bringing such a cool and quirky little car to the US. On the other hand, Stellantis has a terrible track record of selling electric cars to date, including the forgettable Fiat 500e, and the Topolino’s use case is so limited that it becomes a niche product before it even goes on sale.
Cities in the US are different from European cities. The people who live there have a car, so they can leave the city whenever they want, which the Topolino cannot do. We see the target market as someone who is older and lives in a gated community and wants something bigger than a golf cart. The Palm Springs and Palm Beach set. We still wish Stellantis all the luck in the world selling Topolinos in the United States, because the company will probably need it.
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