Pandas may be notoriously difficult to breed, but Fiat has successfully delivered a second Panda model to its family: the Grande Panda.
Making use of parent company Stellantis’s Smart Car platform, also used for the new Vauxhall Frontera and Citroen’s e-C3 and e-C3 Aircross models, Fiat is undercutting those cars with a starting price of £20,975.
Fiat has gone to town on the styling, not only mimicking the boxy look of the 1980s original, but also embossing the words Fiat and Panda around the car as much as possible, including the doors and seats.
The Panda also steals a march on rivals by offering an integrated, retractable 4.5 meter-long charging cable that lives in the nose of the car – ideal if you have to regularly use a charging point that needs you to supply your own cable.
Although this Panda is called Grande, it’s still supermini-sized at under four meters in length. Like the original, the upright front end features distinctive front lights – this time arranged with LEDs in an X shape like panda eyes (Fiat says they’re actually designed to mimic a 1980s video game), while the side features squared-off wheel arches with what looks like bold body mouldings that actually spell out the word panda.
The Fiat logo is also embossed on the back and features in the panels on the rear doors, too – there’s no doubting what this car is.
Inside a whole host of recycled materials are used for plastics and textiles, while the sense of fun is carried over from the outside. There’s even a novel bamboo-based material on some models to create the dashboard wrapping – you don’t need to be David Attenborough to figure out that reference.
There are plenty of bright colours and even more Fiat and Panda graphics inside. To bring the Panda up-to-date there’s a 10.25-inch infotainment screen and a 10-inch digital driver display.
There’s initially just one choice of battery with the Panda, a 44kWh unit that offers a maximum claimed range of 199 miles – the same as Citroen’s slightly more expensive e-C3. It’s not a quick EV, with a 0-62mph time of 11 seconds and a top speed of 82mph.
There’s a slight catch with the integrated, retractable charging cable. It won’t charge as quickly as models with a DC connection, which can charge at public fast chargers at speeds up to 100kW. That means the Fiat Panda charges from 20 to 80 per cent in 27 minutes.
Although there’s only one battery, you’ll be able to choose from two trim levels: the entry-level RED version (RED is a long-standing Fiat partnership with charities to support the fight against health injustice) and the posher La Prima model. At £20.975, the RED version gets distinctive design elements including white steel wheels – another nod to the original 80s Panda – while the La Prima adds alloys and some of the nicer interior trim including the bamboo dashboard wrapping.
Fiat is clearly on a roll with Panda breeding, because the Grande Panda is just the first of a whole new Panda family launching over the next few years. The new range could include an even larger SUV and possibly even camper or pick-up versions, too.
