Road & Track names Fiat’s compliance car, the 500e, “Best Electric Car of 2013”

Road & Track Magazine has named the Fiat 500e the “Best Electric Car of 2013.”  Which begs the question of why is Fiat making such a good electric car, but building it in such limited quantities?

“It is deeply satisfying that Road & Track editors are so taken with the 500e,” said Jason Stoicevich, Head of FIAT Brand for North America, Chrysler Group. “The combination of modern Italian style, sporty feel and a zero-emissions powertrain makes the 500e a truly unique proposition in the marketplace.”  If it’s so satisfying then why build just a few of these cars, and distribute it only in California and Oregon?

I just don’t grok this Compliance Car thing – the Fiat 500e, the Chevy Spark EV, the Gen2 Toyota RAV4 EV, etc, are all good or excellent electric cars, whose makers are building in limited quantities and distributing in limited localities.

Do the manufacturers not realize they’re demonstrating a lack of commitment?

And, what is Road & Track saying by naming a compliance car the best electric car?

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

About David Herron

David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.

• Highway design could decrease death and injury risk, if “we” chose smarter designs - March 28, 2015
• GM really did trademark “range anxiety”, only later to abandon that mark - March 25, 2015
• US Government releases new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, that some call “toothless” - March 20, 2015
• Tesla Motors magic pill to solve range anxiety doesn’t quite instill range confidence - March 19, 2015
• Update on Galena IL oil train – 21 cars involved, which were the supposedly safer CP1232 design - March 7, 2015
• Another oil bomb train – why are they shipping crude oil by train? – Symptoms of fossil fuel addiction - March 6, 2015
• Chevron relinquishes fracking in Romania, as part of broader pull-out from Eastern European fracking operations - February 22, 2015
• Answer anti- electric car articles with truth and pride – truth outshines all distortions - February 19, 2015
• Apple taking big risk on developing a car? Please, Apple, don’t go there! - February 16, 2015
• Toyota, Nissan, Honda working on Japanese fuel cell infrastructure for Japanese government - February 12, 2015