The all-electric revival of the Fiat 500e in the United States is proving to be less a triumphant return and more a barely perceptible whimper. The numbers are damning. FCA US LLC’s own sales reports show that in the last quarter, a paltry 288 units were delivered. Year-to-date, total deliveries hover around a measly 1,076. Given this truly embarrassing sales performance, one can’t help but ask if the Fiat brand’s survival in the US market is an act of corporate masochism.
As if meager sales weren’t enough, the tiny Italian EV, which currently starts at a rather hopeful $32,500 for the 2024 model, is now facing another safety setback. Stellantis’s Auburn Hills-based operation is recalling 2,195 units of the 2024 and 2025 500e models over a glaring issue: the headlights.
Apparently, the horizontal aiming adjustment is dangerously non-compliant with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108. The fix is a marvel of simplicity and late-stage realization. Dealers must install a pair of adjustment caps, free of charge. This is a component so basic, so utterly fundamental, that its omission speaks volumes about the level of focus dedicated to the US-market 500e.
Stellantis Europe began investigating this issue on May 20th of this year. Five months later, safety experts finally conceded that vehicles produced between November 2023 and May 2025 were affected. The root cause, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was that the simple stop-cap was never released for US production. Marelli is named as the supplier of the missing cap, a detail that perfectly illustrates the Fiat saga: a crucial component that makes all the difference in the eyes of a merciless US regulator, overlooked in a moment of baffling transatlantic negligence.
While the 500e offers a modest estimated 261 kilometers of combined range from its 117-HP electric motor, and promises to recharge 64 km in five minutes at a DC fast charger, none of that matters if the headlights are pointing at the moon. Customer notification letters are due around December 10, 2025.
