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Last week, President Trump’s administration announced that it wanted to open up a pathway for small cars — referred to as kei cars in Japan with special restrictions — to be available to consumers in the United States. I talked about what it would take for the cars to be viable here, both here on this site and over on Jalopnik, and regardless of what internet commenters say, the concept has a tough road ahead if it is to actually happen.
It also wouldn’t solve the affordability crisis, but I digress.
One of the rules that Trump stipulated was that the cars would have to be made in the United States. Tariffs, and presumably other restrictions on imports, would make an imported kei car’s price skyrocket to a number nearly the same as the cheapest cars currently on sale here.
Somewhat unrelated, Stellantis announced that Fiat would be selling its not-quite-a-car Topolino EV in the United States at some point in the future. It’s unlikely this is related at all to Trump’s desires, because a decision like this just doesn’t come out of the blue (only presidential decrees do that), but it does line up close enough that some outlets are making some assumptions.
The Topolino shares a platform with the Ami, and is downright adorable. It also has an 8-horsepower (yes, eight) electric motor and a top speed of 28 miles per hour. Under WLTP, which is hopelessly optimistic, the Topolino is rated for 47 miles of range. That’s thanks to a 5.5-kWh battery.
In Italy, the Topolino costs €9890, which is about $11,500. The car is assembled in Morocco.
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Now, the Topolino would likely fall under the NEV classification, which would limit where it can be driven, and that would also exclude interstates. Since you can’t even hit some residential speed limits, that’s a good thing.
Also, the Topolino doesn’t have air conditioning and uses a basic heater that would dramatically cut into overall range in the cold. That would seriously limit where the vehicle makes any sense.
💡Do you have information about Fiat’s Topolino plans? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me on Signal at chadkirchner.1701, or with another secure communication method.
So this isn’t going to be the kei car-like thing that Trump wants, but rather an interesting offering from a company that received enough interest at auto shows to bring a few over as an experiment. The beauty of experiments is that they don’t need to be profitable.
Speaking of, since they are built in northern Africa, they would be subject to import tariffs, meaning that the price will likely be higher than what it costs in Europe. It’ll likely be an incredibly niche vehicle purchased by people who don’t want a golf cart for non-golf activities around a small town or planned community.
It is, though, an interesting development on a quirky car. That’s always fun to talk about, even if I’m unsure how big a sales success it’ll actually be.
Also in European news, Ford announced a partnership with Renault and two new EVs. While those are also extremely unlikely to come to the United States, the rest of the world appears to be continuing forward on new and innovative products.