Advert
The Fiat Grande Panda is full of character in terms of design, it’s compact on the outside but offers practical amounts of space on the inside, it’s agile to drive, and it’s affordable.
We think it’s fair to say that the 1980s Fiat Panda is a classic, and the brand has now reimagined that concept for the electric era with the Grande Panda, featuring distinctive styling that evokes the original. The Panda of yesteryear was also available as a 4×4 version, but at the moment the new model is front-wheel drive only.
The Fiat Grande Panda looks great, with its boxy styling and a variety of interesting exterior and interior design details, ranging from its front grille with pixel lights to the appearance of the dashboard, complete with a small 1980s-style Fiat Panda encased behind plastic. Our test car was perfect for photography thanks to its Limone Yellow exterior paint, with yellow interior trim details (Fiat has banned grey paint, which we’re completely in favour of).
The Fiat Grande Panda sits in the B (supermini) segment, primarily with urban use in mind. It measures 3.99 metres in length, even though it’s based on the same platform as the Vauxhall Frontera Electric and the Citroën E-C3 Aircross, which are 4,385 mm / 4,395 mm long respectively. However there’s a practical amount of space inside the Panda, especially in relation to its external footprint, it can seat five people, and even though the boot is smaller than the Frontera’s 460 litres, it still offers a useful 361 litres. There’s no space under the boot to store charging cables, but this isn’t needed, because the Panda has a retractable charging cable hidden behind the front grille – the first car to offer this novel idea.
The Grande Panda has a 43.8 kwh battery and is front-wheel drive.
The Fiat Grande Panda only has 113 hp of power, a leisurely 0-62 mph acceleration time of 11.5 seconds, and it’s front-wheel drive. So it sounds like an unlikely candidate to tackle some of the UK’s most infamous roads. But that’s exactly the challenge that we set the Panda.
The Panda is primarily intended for urban use, where its compact size is ideal. But this compact size, combined with a relatively light weight for an EV (1,554 kg), translates to agility – in the city, but also on the narrow, twisting and frequently steep roads of the Lake District.
You would imagine that the lack of power and slow acceleration would render the Panda unsuitable for driving in such environments, but the instant torque from the electric powertrain, and the lack of manual transmission and clutch, help to make up for this. The steering is responsive and the car’s extra ground clearance also helps on Cumbria’s uneven roads. So we can report that the Fiat Grande Panda was a lot more capable than you might imagine tackling mountains and valleys, see the Panda’s adventures in the Lake District here.
The Panda’s handling actually feels more agile, engaging and fun than the Frontera, its shorter length is likely to be a key factor, and the Frontera has a softer ride. However the Panda’s ride quality is comfortable over most road surfaces, and in addition to being able to cope with cities and the countryside, it’s also perfectly capable on the motorway, when it’s quieter and more refined than you might imagine.
Like the Vauxhall Frontera, the Panda doesn’t have any drive modes; having the ability to switch between Normal, Eco and Sport would be better.
The Panda has the gear selector ‘switch’ that appears in virtually all Stellantis EVs, but in the Panda – like the Frontera – rather than having a ‘B’ button for increased brake regeneration, it has a ‘C’ button, for ‘Comfort’, although it could also stand for ‘Coast’, because that’s basically what this mode does – it allows the car to coast rather than brake. So this is basically the opposite system: in Drive, the Panda has brake regen, compared to Stellantis EVs with the B setting, when Drive offers no brake regen. We’d prefer steering wheel-mounted paddles for controlling the level of regen.
The Panda has a 10-inch driver’s display and a 10.25-inch touchscreen, and another brilliant feature is the collection of physical buttons – including for climate controls, such as cabin temperature and fan (and heated seats and steering wheel on our ‘La Prima’ trim test car), as well as the lane departure warning and the speed warning, along with a button to switch off the alarm, for example if you have dogs in the car. And unlike most Chinese EVs, there are physical buttons to adjust the mirrors (hooray!).
The Panda’s steering wheel has a good amount of adjustment (height and reach) for a B-segment car. One slightly old-fashioned feature is that you need to insert the key in the ignition to start the car. And note that the Panda has no mirrors in the sun visors (for the driver or passenger).
The Fiat Grande Panda La Prima has a WLTP electric driving range of 199 miles. During our week with car the real-world electric range was averaging 162 miles.
The Panda didn’t have a consistently reliable range estimation figure, with the range dropping a lot quicker than the car was forecasting at motorway speeds – something that we’ve found to be the case with most Stellantis EVs over the years.
The Panda has a WLTP consumption figure of 3.7 miles/kWh – although the Panda is relatively lightweight, its boxy body style isn’t particularly aerodynamic.
In keeping with most Stellantis EVs in this class, the Panda has a maximum DC rapid charging rate of 100 kW, which should deliver a 10% to 80% charge in 27 minutes.
An interesting feature of the Panda is that it has a retractable AC charging cable hidden behind the front grille – the first car to incorporate this idea. The aim of this is to avoid having to store and remove a charging cable (there’s actually nowhere to store such a cable in the Panda). There’s also a conventional charging CCS port at the rear of the car for AC and DC charging.
The Panda is capable of charging at up to 7kW, completing a charge from 20% to 80% in 4 hours and 20 minutes. As an alternative to the retractable cable, a rear-only 11kW charging port can be chosen, with a recharging time from 20% to 80% in 2 hours and 50 minutes.
The electric Fiat Grande Panda is available in three trim levels: Pop (£20,995), Icon (£21,995), and La Prima, as tested, available from £23,995. The petrol hybrid model is priced from £18,995, but both the petrol and electric models are offered with the same PCP finance offer, from just £199 per month with £2,999 customer deposit.
Pop trim features 16-inch white steel wheels on the electric version. Icon models gain 16-inch black alloy wheels, front and rear skid plates, roof rails and rear privacy glass. La Prima trim includes 17-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats and steering wheel, front and rear parking sensors with rear view camera, and satellite navigation. The interior features the ‘BAMBOX Bamboo Fiber Tex’ dashboard storage box.
The Grande Panda is available in seven colours: Limone yellow, Luna bronze, Acqua azure, Lago blue, Passione red, Cinema black, and Gelato white (Fiat has a ‘No Grey’ initiative, which we’re all in favour of).
The Fiat Grande Panda has lots of character, with its overall design and various styling details being inspired by the original 1980s Panda. The packaging also reflects the concept of the original car, with a compact footprint on the road, but practical levels of space inside the car. The compact size, and relatively light weight, translates to agility in terms of the driving experience, which is ideal for urban areas, but as our test showed, the Grande Panda was also a lot more capable (and fun) than you would expect when faced with some of the UK’s most challenging roads. The cabin features creative design but is also functional, with physical buttons for climate controls and to switch off ADAS features. The retractable AC charging cable that’s hidden behind the front grille is another interesting feature. The Panda’s 199-mile driving range is not the longest for an EV, its power output and acceleration time could both be better, and the ability to change driving modes would be useful. But overall the Fiat Grande Panda is very capable, especially for an EV with a price tag that starts at just £20,995, and it’s awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 9 out of 10. We look forward to a 4×4 version with a bit more performance in the future.
Drive an EV for less than you think with Select Car Leasing 
Save 20-50% on an EV through salary sacrifice with The Electric Car Scheme 
ClearWatt supports buyers, sellers and owners of EVs with app-based battery health testing and detailed EV data insights available for every used EV in the UK. Take the stress out of buying a used EV with ClearWatt and save 10% on all their products with promo code “GCG10”. 
Zapmap: UK's No.1 EV charging points app 2025. Zapmap helps EV drivers search for EV chargers, plan longer journeys and pay for charging. 
With Pod, you're in good hands. With over 15 years of EV charging experience, drivers trust Pod to keep their EVs charged and ready to go. 
Paul Clarke, GreenCarGuide Editor
