Most people who drive an EV on a short commute (most people) will NEVER go back to gasoline. It never freezes here and I only drive 10-20 miles a day max. It just makes sense to recharge it on my solar. I love the freedom. Gasoline can’t offer that.
Congratulations on your "new" Fiat 500e, a couple of pro tips: 1. pressing the end of the right stalk toggles through cluster display modes, one has the motor energy consumption/regen. It has to be on the Ready screen for the menus to work. 2. the HVAC off button is actually a toggle on/off and pressing it again will restore your previous HVAC setting 3. Up or down arrows will appear next to your range estimate, this indicates "if you keep driving like you are now your range will be adjusted (either up or down)", which gives you a little feedback and helps explain the guessometer jumping around a bit Welcome to the club! Enjoy!
@@paperback10 it would probably reduce it by about 25%. Running the HVAC and generally the battery chemistry not liking cold temperatures would account for most of it. Bear in mind the extra energy used going up hill with a passenger would largely be recouped with regenerative braking going back down the other side. Small cars like this are mainly used for commuting and city work so 70 - 75 range would still be adequate for many.
Going downhill restores the range lost when going up hill. Winter reduces the range of every vehicle on the road. 95% of my driving is town or less than 30 miles. But I can’t afford an EV so it’s academic.
This car is so “weird” because it’s just a regular petrol fiat that they converted to an ev. The actual fiat 500 ev is way more advanced and has a start button and not this weirdness. 500 is always a good car the petrol ones and the electric ones, though the new ev version is waaaaaayyyyy better than this one
As a Bulgarian I must hit "thumb up" for this video. I had a Fiat Cinqecento for more than 15 years. Although Cinqecento means 500 in Italian it's completely different car, made in Poland. Once I met an English guy and told him about my Fiat and the care it needs to keep it running, he told me that Fiat stans for "Fix it Again Tomorrow". I lost my breath laughing.
Every car brand has some funny acronyms. Jeep = "Just empty every pocket", Ford = "Fix Or Repair Daily". (I'm not singling out those brands, I used to drive a Jeep)
It actually means "Fix it Again Tony" , because all Italians are named Tony - just as all FIATs break down. In spite of the jokes FIAT has an amazing history . Formed in 1899 ,they had a manufacturing facility in Poughkeepsie , New York by 1910
BMW - Bring Mich Werkstatt (German: bring me to the garage) or Bei Mercedes Weggeworfen (German: dropped in the parts bin at Mercedes). Yes, there are a lot of acronyms,
Its nice to see your prove a point that EVs are actually fairly easy to repair, its just a wildly different set of parts, repairs, and diagnosis skills involved.
It also, to me, shows the importance of right to repair. The fact that ONE third party repair shop in the entire world is capable of repairing the BPCM is absurd. Automakers need to release the schematics for these computer modules if they're going to be a main point of failure for EVs.
Easy to repair? You had to drop the battery pack? it was not like there was a compartment door in the floor to get to module. 5K repair is equivalent to replacing a motor in a regular car. F Fix I It A Again T Tomorrow
This was a BMS module swap. Piece of cake. What would really help the community is a battery debug / cell swap deep dive. Seriously these cars should last 400-500K miles if it wasn't for a single cell failure. Fixing the packs is cake and would keep them on the road and out of the wrecking yard. Example: You can get a Gen2 Prius Hybrid with a dead pack for sub $2K. You can swap out the bad cells and fix the pack usually for sub $400. The knowledge has to be propagated is all.
Wizard you should see this: In 2015, Chrysler recalled some 2013-2015 Fiat 500e vehicles due to a potential issue with the Battery Pack Control Module (BPCM) and Electric Vehicle Control Unit (EVCU). The recall was issued because incompatible software between the two components could cause the electric propulsion system to shut down if the vehicle entered limp home mode. The recall was issued for vehicles manufactured between March 27, 2012 and November 1, 2014. Not every vehicle of the same year, make, and model was affected by the recall.
I had a similar experience just this past year with our 2012 iMiEV . The OBC (on board charger) burned out and the dealership wanted over $4500 to replace with OEM part . (these OBCs are known to be weak in the component level dept.) I found a guy on an on-line forum in Germany who had successfully rebuilt 40-50 of these units using better grade components . With his costs and shipping our old unit to him I spent about $1500 and now have our little EV back as good as it was before being a 'brick' for about a year ! Thanks for the video post Car Wizard !
Weren't those overt $30k new? After only 3-4 years it was just worth $6k? Damn those things depreciate like crazy. Looks like you got the much better end of the bargain.
@@CouchMan88 Yes! It was on the lot for 10k and I played the shrewd buyer - got it down to 8k and then brought them a junker Toyota for trade dropping it down to 6k. Bonus, they cost even more to make than they sold for as new, too. I’ve read that they cost near 50k each to make due to the limited volume they sold (that first version was only available new in Ca and Or). The retail value used was through the floor because no one could service the thing (not that it ever needed it).
@@jimk8520 My buddy had a 500 Abarth. Sounded great and pretty fun to drive, like a go kart on steroids. I had a Fiesta ST at the time but the Fiat made my Ford seem big.
@@CouchMan88 Agreed, they were tiny. The view made it feel like driving an old Volkswagen beetle and a little like a go-cart. Fun fact - the 500e is actually quicker than the Abarth by just a tiny bit and has a top speed of… 88mph! I can’t help but think it’s a nod to the back to the future film.
I used town own a Fiat 500e. The driver's side window regulator failed in mine too, and I replaced it myself. I suspect it is a common failure in all Fiat 500 models. The TomTom is indeed factory, and it even has a screen that shows you some EV related stuff about the car. But I found it blocked my vision and I ended up leaving mine off most of the time.
I bought a new dodge truck in 2001. It was a window roll down circus. One window mechanism was fixed then same thing with another window all during the first 6 months of ownership. Even windows they fixed broke again. The service manager stated they have an upgraded part but the home office wanted the earlier versions used. After 8 months and 3000 miles the engine spun a crankshaft bearing. It was a lemon car
I always prefer fixing an already owned car vs swapping for a similar which presumably works. In the new one you never know what was fixed, what is on the last leg to get broken soon while in the fixed one you already know that.
The cool part is you first shot at all of Hoovies leftovers. He gets shop credit and you get cool cars you might not have ever considered. It's a win win for everyone. My buddy does computer repair and business network installs. He takes in trades and every so often he scraps out the ones not worth reselling. I help him remove all the reusable parts and I end up with decent parts and full nice pc's and maybe some money for my time, Everyone is happy 👍😎
Those computer repair and data center decommissioning businesses rule. Found a dude that does that, and has sold me 5-10 year old fully spec'd(every storage slot filled with an sas drive, every memory slot filled with a board) poweredge and proliants for like $150-250.
This car was only made for the US so Fiat could try to meet there vehicle emissions targets I believe which saved them paying for credits. It was a conversion from a gas car so a compromise build unlike the all new Fiat 500e which is a ground up EV available here in Europe and has a bigger battery at around 42Kwh.
Good to see Softelectronic in Bulgaria are now tackling EV repairs. For my BMW 530i here in the UK with a gearbox selector issue they fixed it and returned the ECU in a few days. I could not find any company in the UK who would fix it. BMW wanted to replace the entire valve unit for an incredible price.
Thanks for this video. I know someone who bought a new fiat 500e and only a year in had a very similar problem. Up until the error codes, the range and performance were normal. Fiat here in the US couldn’t even fix it because they had no trained technicians and had trouble sourcing parts. Because they couldn’t fix it, she got a very large payout on a new car (instead of cash) which wound up being a good deal in the end. It’s just sad that the entire thing is “mechanically totaled” because of a few dollars of IC chips because there is no support no technicians no actual effort to service the battery.
It's the way dealerships operate. Someone else is paying usually so no incentive to keep well trained, experienced mechanics on staff. They'll replace an engine instead of fixing it if the warranty allows
I have the upmost respect for Auto Mechanics as I do the Military, Police, Fire, and Medical Personnel. To the Mechanics that have fixed the problem I was unable to do, Thank You for your services! You too are blessed!!
Huge kudos for doing this. So many people are bitching about EV repair - because they don't know what they're doing and they're scared of new things but won't admit it - turns out it's just the same process of diagnose, repair and confirm - same as working on a 50 year old gas car. The processes are different, but that's progress
Had a 2012 FIAT 500 Lounge. Just sold it after 12 Canadian winters. NO RUST! Mine was white too. The only problems that recurred was the wiring harness in the rear hatch which would break a wire from time to time (controls license plate lights, rear wiper, defroster. Easy fixes. But we finally needed a four door. The reputation that FIAT has does not apply to these cars. No oil leaks or oil burning. A very good city car - took it Toronto-Florida so it wasn't too shabby on the Interstate either.
Love that you're not prejusticed but go a rational approach on such EV's. The unanswered question in EV's - what happens when they get old. You contributed an answer for this example. Great job, Wizard. Have fun in the cute easteregg
2:37 I am not letting that go unnoticed. Nice video by the way! Although I am not a huge fan of EV's I am glad there is hope for them not being discarded like iphones or appliances.
These are really interesting little cars! I leased a 2024 500e a few weeks ago and can’t say enough good things about it! It’s cool to see the workings of the first gen model 🙂. EV’s aren’t scary, they’re just different, and nothing new-ish is an instant hit. It’s like going on a first date, once you get to know EV’s, they become second nature!
The TomTom was a factory piece. We leased one new in 2014 and it came with the TomTom. The car had a powered sunroof and the lease deal (in CA) was crazy cheap due to state incentives. We leased *another one* (my wife loved it) three years later, and neither the TomTom nor the sunroof were even options at that point, and the lease deal was substantially less great. The instant scoot is a hoot, but you will be buying front tires often. Note that the wheel offset is different on the fronts and rears (and there is a pin in the hub to keep you from trying) so you just keep buying fronts because the backs barely do anything.
Dodge life and Fiat life - even before they came together, they were (poorly) made for each other! A similar thing with a broken window regulator happened to my niece a few years ago, when she bought a used, low kms Dodge Nitro - passenger window went down on its own, same day, on her way home. In the rain. It would not go back up, and the motor/regulator had to be replaced.
They are fairly rare as it was an option. Most still sell for a few hundred. Thats just for the holder. There are 3D Printable replacements for the holder. Lets you use the hole for other stuff. Like a phone.
@@carlrogers3505 I think there's an even rarer OEM phone holder. I remember the frenzy of the owners of finding one back in the days when the 500, the 3rd gen Panda and the Punto Evo were still brand new here in Europe.
We’re in the UK and my other half has a petrol 500 convertible and we have the TomTom. It is a rarely seen option - only the higher spec cars had the plug in the dash for the powered mount. As said ours part of the Blue&Me system so on ours shows the Nav, but also fuel consumption details and track details from the Bluetooth audio. Also compatible with the Alfa MiTo which is based on the 500 chasis and a few other Fiat/Alfa cars from the time period. Is rarely plugged in though - she just uses her iPhone in a mount because there’s no updates for the Maps as it’s an old system - should sell it or just leave it plugged in anyway.
@@davepage1151 I have the hole. Just no TomTom. The holder on its own sells for $300 ish dollars on ebay. Seems like the TomTom itself is just thrown in. My issue is that "Beats" is Apple. Blue&me is Microsoft. My phone is Android. There is no Android app in Apples app store for playing music. There is no apps for Android either. So BT is just communication only unless I get an iphone. Thank goodness for aux ports and headphone jacks. Music sounds better this way anyway.
@@carlrogers3505 you can pair any Bluetooth audio streaming device to the car - I’ve had iPhone, Android and even Windows Phone paired to the car for calls and streaming music, but for music it is usually plugged into the USB in the car anyway and all those the worked fine that way also. Only issue we’ve ever had was with an iPhone lightning cable connecting that way and that was because it was charge only, not data (cheap cable). Off the TomTom is plugged in, we can see what’s playing on the screen if it’s via Bluetooth or cable. You don’t need a special app, you just need to pair your phone to the car via Bluetooth by looking for the Blue&Me Bluetooth connection on your phone and select it, and then it should stream to that from the music app/connection on the phone or just use a cable (make sure it’s data compatible) and you can then also skip tracks etc from the steering wheel buttons. If you’re having issues, do a search here on RUclips as no doubt there’s plenty of videos showing how to pair your phone to Fiat500 Bluetooth.
Worked at VW long time ago and that window falling down happened to a LOT of Golf/Jetta's (around 2000). The fix was an updated clip very much like the one you broke on this thing.
Same could be said about the BMW i3 it was never designed to be more than an urban commute vehicle but people thought otherwise and never really bought them.
@@MrZFriend or the Nissan Leaf, but yes getting the right car for the right job is key. I would not use it for my 300+ mile trip to visit my family, but I could use it for running around town, getting groceries, etc!
TomTom Cradle - We’re in the UK and my other half has a petrol 500 convertible and we have the cradle and TomTom. It is a rarely seen option here - only the higher spec cars had the plug in the dash for the powered mount that powers it (the TomTom communicates with the car via Bluetooth I believe, not through the mount). It’s part of the Blue&Me system so on ours shows the Nav, but also fuel consumption details from the car and track details from the audio unit. Also compatible with the Alfa MiTo which is based on the 500 chasis and a few other Fiat/Alfa cars from the time period. Ours is rarely plugged in though - she just uses her iPhone in a mount because there’s no updates for the Maps as it’s an old system and don’t believe there is an updated one for the mount - we should sell it or just leave it plugged in anyway.
Thanks for taking the chance to fix this little car, I always liked the Fiat 500 regular and e version, LOL I said this before but I used to work at an Auto Auction and we had tons of these as they came off lease, they were fun to drive and yes you can get a little burn out of them, I did it a quite a lot, I don't work there anymore🤣I like small cars I had a few over the years, one of my favorites was when I was stationed in England I had a blue 1985 Mini. EV' and hybrids will be more common in the coming years despite the RUclips Auto channels saying otherwise. Im retired from working as a mechanic but I still work part time delivering auto parts and auto supplies, (It seems I just can get away from the mechanical trades😆) and when I'm out driving I see lots of EV's Tesla, Ionics, Chevy Bolts, lol even one the managers at a nearby store leased a EV and he is a hot rod guy, I live in southern California so we do have a lot of EV's here.
Great job by everyone! You now have a fully working EV that can go almost anywhere at a tenth of the price of a new 500e! The TomTom does look stock. The hole in the dash should be a bezel with a spring loaded flap on top. This ended during the 2018 model year when Fiat replaced the radio with a touchscreen model with integrated GPS. I've done the humidity sensor swap on my 2015 500 Abarth. The error code was very clear about the problem and it was a very easy swap. I haven't lost a window regulator yet. I did lose a door handle, though. That's also a tradition with these cars.
Thanks Wizard. You have demonstrated that EV's are repairable. As the independent specialist industry grows repairing the battery packs, electronics and motors people will realise that a used EV is just as practical as a used gas car where there are specialists rebuilding engines, gearboxes, diffs, carbs, distributors, injection systems, .... EV: just another car.
All the comments on the original Hoovie video were convinced that the cells were all completely depleted and that EVs are all completely throw-away junk after 10 years. And it turns out it's just a single control module that could be replaced/repaired.
Wizard this is the beginning of the change 😂 ….. electric Move…. It’s amazing that functional cars are going to scrapyard when is possible to repair it,… Cheers from Portugal!🇵🇹
Mr Wizard - so what has changed in service for EVs is largely diagnostics and ability to replace or repair critical electronic modules. Some big, heavy tools are still needed, lifts are still needed, many typical hand tools remain the same. Some mechanics are amazing because of their ability to logically troubleshoot down to individual problems and successful EV technicians will need the same skill. I think it's a matter of how much an old dawg wants to keep up with the pups, or make the pups follow him. I think one of the specialized skills that will make a difference is the ability to do component-level electronics repairs like Softelectronics (or laptop computer, cellphone repair folks) do. Successful repairs will require access to manufacturer-signed firmware, too. A specialist shop in North America would be a keen thing, helping out independent shops who handle the hardware/chassis/battery work.
Yes! The outside temperature sensor is in the driver side mirror of the Dodge Ram ProMaster, and they go out regularly because people hit the mirrors on gate sensors trying to to enter gated communities. I cannot replace just the sensor you have to replace the entire mirror which cost $700 or more!
Despite EVs existing for a long time, only now have they exploded in popularity. As such there will also be a lot trained technicians specialized for EVs. The trade schools around my area have already courses for such cars available.
My wife got a 2017 in 2020 and it's been really reliable. We paid $7k in 2020 and it's currently worth about that. We've really loved it as a happy little commuter car.
Hi all at Omega. I work on gardening machinery and battery powered machinery is turning up more for requests to be repaired. I do wonder about buy something to work on electrical stuff so I learn like you did with this Fiat. I admit it won't cost as much as you invested in learning about this EV. I always include a discount when working on something new. By the 10th time, it's normal rate.
I love that you were able to get this car running. Wish you could have driven it by Hoovies and waved at Tyler! He bad mouthed electric cars in his videos.
If I could find a car fully sorted out like that for what you have into it I would definitely pick one up. I would still keep my gas vehicles but driving 10 mi into work and 10 miles home everyday that would be a perfect commuter car
What are the odds? 100%. It’s a FIAT. My first (and only) FIAT was a 1978 FIAT 128 Rallye with an outrageous 1290cc mill putting out almost 56hp!!! Clutch cable (yes, cable) snapped while I was cruising Woodward Ave. in Detroit. $12.95 and a couple of bus rides later, conducted repair on the side of the road using the tool kit FIAT included in the trunk.
My only complaint with the 128 was with the stitching in the seat panels came apart and the paint on the wheels fell off. Drove it two years and sold it for what I paid for it new. With a Bayless foam air cleaner and an Ansa exhaust it was the greatest sounding slowest car on the road... . Also had a set of Hella off road driving lights that would almost stall the engine when I turned them on. Fun times.
in all fairness, the FIAT was first - and due to its small displacement did not require a catalytic converter and could legally run on leaded fuel while it lasted.
I've had 2 Fiats in the 80s. A 124 and a Lancia Beta. Both were fun reliable cars. I took both on trips to Canada with no issues. You have no idea how satisfying a car can be to shift until you drive an old school Fiat 4speed. (same for old school Triumphs/British Leyland). Plus the Fiats had an unmistakable guttural rumble at idle that was equally satisfying. Both were bought used and had no problems with either, (fuel pump failure on the Fiat and blown fuse on the Lancia. I never experienced the Fix It Again Tony old wives tale.
I have a 2015 Volkswagen Egolf. VW replaced the battery under warranty which increased the range from about 65 miles to 100 miles. It’s a great car for local missions. You don’t need big range to have a great EV. Super long range batteries are mostly a waste of resources imho.
Biggest advantage of a GPS navigation over a phone is that it is not reliant on a cell signal, it actually gets information from orbiting satellites. Sure, you could download a map, but if you're out in BFE, it's not going to help.
The battery control modules seem to be a common big failure point for EV's. I remember looking into the problems with them on my Volt. 16' to early 18' models years had the most failures so I avoided that age range. Haven't had any issues like that with the one I purchased.
That broken window is just a part of Chrysler/Fiat build quality. I have a friend who has an Abarth and loves it, but it still has issues related to build quality. He has replaced one of the window regulators and a door handle. It's just something you have to expect to deal with if you have a Fiat.
Welcome to my world! A co worker friend of mine leased one of those in 2015. Fiat at the time didn’t have any in stock, so I leased a Smart EV. After 3 years with zero maintenance, other than a flat tire, I turned it back in. The buyout was $18,800. My buddy put 56,000 miles on his Fiat in 3 years. He now drives a Tesla. I own a car wizard favorite, 2017 Audi A3 eTron PHEV. I budget $100 a month for annual maintenance.
At 2:30 Exactly. That's FIAT life. Save 5 cents on a plastic gear, two or four in each car, only to force you to pay 100 € to repair it at your expense. Beautiful style (not always), excellent engines (IMHO), built to be very easy to repair (contrary to French engines), but no reliability and low-quality plastics everywhere. It has been so since the 1983 FIAT UNO, speaking about my personal experience.
Thanks for continuing this series. For 5K$, you got an updated city commuter & with the savings on ⛽ & maintenance, it will pay for itself in just a couple of years. Long live the 🥜 ! (Or the toasters as another YT calls them).
So glad everything worked out. Thanks for filming it and explaining what you did and mentioning the company who rebuilt your module. I loved seeing that pushbutton transmission. It reminded me of Chrysler Corporation vehicles with automatic transmissions from the mid-fifties through the mid-sixties. I think the '58 Edsel had a pushbutton transmission with the buttons in the center of the steering wheel where the horn button would have gone.
According to a report from Reuters, Stellantis has said it will be extending a production suspension at its Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, which produces the Fiat 500e. Originally the plant was supposed to resume production on October 11, but due to “weak orders” Stellantis is extending the suspension until November 1.
Good for you Wizard...looking forward to seeing what kinda of range fluctuations you see in real world driving, hope you report on that. I am guessing you will see similar to what all of us Fiat 500e owners see daily.
In FiatLife, if parts fail, it's cheap to replace. I own a Fiat and I've only had to replace lights, cylinders and regular maintenance. Its on 186k km now.
Yep, the only thing that should be in the battery packs, are batteries. The modules should be accessible outside of the pack and they should be made with military spec components. There's no excuse for having the module fail with such low mileage/age. I have electronics that are 30 yrs old and are still working fine.
Stellantis is their own worst enemy. Poor dealer training and service. And yes that part should be accessible without dropping the battery pack. It is a shame as it is a great around town car. Quick and fun to drive.
You know what would make sense on most US domestic vehicles? Access to the fuel pump, because pumps do go bad frequently... The thing with this control module is it really shouldn't go wrong.
I've been reading about the 500e...unless I'm reading wrong, it apparently only comes with a J1772 connector, and does not support DC fast charging at all. Since it has a J1772 connector, it would have to have the two CCS pins underneath. Every 500e I've seen only has the base J1772, which limits charging to approximately 8kW. I suppose it's possible CCS is an option, but I haven't yet seen one with it. This means it would be a great around town car, but you wouldn't be able to use it for road trips. J1772 is easily converted to the Tesla connector with an adapter, so you could use any AC charger in the country (but not Superchargers - Tesla uses the same connector for AC and DC charging, you can use an adapter to charge a Tesla with CCS, and Tesla is adding J1772/CCS support to their Superchargers, but you have to have the CCS port to use that). I have heard that some people have retrofitted CCS into these, but I don't know how well that works. It's supposedly really limited in charging speed compared to cars like my Model 3 that support DC fast charging out of the box (mine goes up to 170kW).
@@The8BitGuy Apparently people are looking into retrofitting CCS into these. Supposedly, Fiat says it can handle 480V/70A maximum. Which is around 33kW. Obviously nowhere near what even the base Model 3 can supercharge at (170kW), but it's something. There are a lot of people in the Fiat community looking into this. Not sure how well it would work, it would take some modifications.
This car is built to be a gas car or an EV. This explains why it is laid out with a key to start it and the "gear selector" looks like an actual shifter would be there.
Having a daily that can get you everywhere you need to go in a week while cutting out the need to hit a gas station and the characters you'd find there is such a benefit
The problem is this only works in big city's like California and New York and places like that have ev chargers already available plus not to mention the cost of using electricity to charge ur car at home will cost a fortune.
W. came out about break-even. Which I've done with a few ICE cars over the years. This car was def worth it. The interior and other systems were in great shape! The difference is that with older ICE cars, is that there is motivation by owners. EVs are sold to younger people, and let's face it, people with no interest in the technical details/inner workings of their vehicle. Without the wonderful Wizard, this car would have no market and would have been landfill trash.
I think that there should be standardized BCMs and battery modules so that customers don't get into the situation where they need to replace a whole unit or scrap the car. Usually it is something simple to fix in electrical systems, but often too difficult to get at or designed with a custom component. WWTD, what would Toyota do?
Look at the BZ4X for the answer. p.s. I completely agree with the first point. There are far too many low production EVs. I have seen a couple of Fisker Oceans locally. Good luck with getting one of those repaired.
Yeah having the ' bcm' tucked away behind the Batteries is a stupid Design , needs to be relocated.....under the Dash or footwell ???? for easy access !
@@charlesallanstewart-kl2op the BPCM HAS to be close to the batteries it monitors and charges. with as few connectors and as short wiring as possible. But today's engineers aren't designing them for easy service and repairability,they're planning on the BP lasting the "life of the vehicle". Look at Tesla,they are now casting the entire battery pack in hard foam,to make it a "structural part" of the chassis. NOT meant to be repairable at all. They want to sell whole cars,not car parts.
Admittedly, this car is just cute! My neighbor's daughter has a 2021 Fiat 500 Cabriolet (Convertible), white with a Dark Red Top and Interior. It is not an EV, but it sure is cute!
Cool, cute little car. The TomTom dash GPS is manufactured by TomTom, a Dutch based company. Many years ago I had one of their GPS units. With smart phones and google maps etc. these things have kind of gone the way of the dodo.
@@pascalbruyere7108Common sense in serviceabilty seems elusive in the automotive industry. A disruptive start-up could design an entirely modular EV that is ridiculously easy to service. DIN rail mounted controllers or something similar, all co-located in one service panel. Have a built-in system for dropping the battery using linear actuators or worm gears... I'll bet they'd do well and have a lot of long term customers. With EVs, there's a huge opportunity to do something like that.
@@pascalbruyere7108 'Stupid pieces of electronics' go bad in ICE cars too - my BMW E60 has been off the road for a year because of an ECU/EWS fault. A neighbour had an eight month wait to get a hybrid Lexus fixed... because of electronics related to the ICE side. The truth is, you adapt or you die. A lot of people are talking hydrogen and synthetic fuels: I see hydrogen as a complete non-starter whilst synthetics? Not so sure, I need to look into it further. Thing is - and I know this will be contentious - is that I think the era of hypermobility we now enjoy WILL come to an end.
So the battery is fine.. How about all the moaners in the previous videos comments who were jumping up and down with glee saying it was toast? No doubt they'll be running back home to Scotty kilmers channel 😅
Is it worth it if repair cost more than car? He said he Daniel $4000 in labor just to pull out the module. Along with module repair cost $1200. Cost over $5000 total for repair. Most people wouldnt drop $5k to fix it when its not worth much.
I remember when cars had a bumper, today the most expensive part is where the bumper used to be, full of sensors for airbags, cars today are money pits for the corporation and insurance company, and they say it's for your own safety, ( NO it's for draining your bank account )
Cars were simple. Now everything needs to have computer screens, backup cameras, sensors, electric brakes, computer modules for literally every single function on the car, and more emission devices than belt/gear driven engine parts! You can thank the ever-growing regulatory bureaus for that. For example, a pickup truck would be great if it was just for work related stuff. Hauling equipment around, towing a small trailer for lawn equipment, or building materials to a job site. You really only need 2 doors and defrost. But instead pickup trucks are pseudo luxury vehicles that cost $100,000. It's pure clown world.
@@kalashnikov1343 I am glad I am not the only one who realize that, but only a few see this big scam from Govt. & corporations, what is next in my point of view is in the future it will be too expensive for the regular people to own a car and cars is our freedom.
A lot of that is definitely for safety tho. Stuff that avoids crashes and makes it so that in case of a crash, bodily consequences are reduced. Yes, a lot of that is convenience too which is debatable if merit applies, but not counting the safety stuff is disingenuous.
That was really cool to see all went good. However if you don’t own a garage and you have to pay for battery repair the bill will go from $1200 for the module repair and add another $1500-$2000 for labour, definitely not a deal for any private owner.
My Next door Neighbor decided to replace his fence, it was about 15 years old and has looking a little haggard. He's retired so helped him post the runners and attaching the pickets. Due to them being pensioners, they had to wait a few weeks before they could afford the paint. However the paint arrived and we painted the fence and left it to dry. And it looked great! 4 days later a car lost control and plowed straight through the fence with enough force to shear the posts off at concrete level.... Moral is. Fate is random.
This battery indeed looks huge compared to the size of the car! Very cute car. Love it. But yes, plastiky and anything can break anytime, irrelevant of EV or not.
Thank You for not caving into EV fear mongering. I went electric last November not will not be going back. No oil changes, EGR problems, valve cover gaskets, carbon buildup on the valves, timing belts, only scheduled service is every 10,000 miles. They still need suspension work, shocks tires and other assorted mechanical repairs that can be still be done by independent shops when properly trained and supplied.
@@TVCHLORDyes he never intended to fix it. Just bought it for the clicks thinking the EV haters would lap it up. I’m guessing that probably back fired a bit. As both a classic car guy and an EV owner, Hoovie’s playing to the gallery antics didn’t sit well with me and I’m less likely to click on his videos. I’m glad Wizard proved a point and fixed it. I’m also pretty sure that these sort of electronic repairs will become available more locally and cheaper pretty soon. They probably already are with a little more research applied?
![Lil Uzi Vert - We Good [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DrSfBULAsek/mqdefault.jpg)
"Very happy little car now." The Wizard is truly the Bob Ross of mechanics.
Bob Ross doesn't burn $.
Derek from VGG will be my Bob Ross of cartube.
The Wizard is now the EV King !
The Wizard has to package and sell this knowhow in an On Line Class,
for only.............$
Happy little white gumdrop on wheels
Mechanics deserve so much praise because they’re like Doctors except on Vehicles than Humans.
So refreshing to see an honest video about an EV that's not an anti-EV hit piece. Thank you Wizard 👍🏻
Most people who drive an EV on a short commute (most people) will NEVER go back to gasoline. It never freezes here and I only drive 10-20 miles a day max. It just makes sense to recharge it on my solar. I love the freedom. Gasoline can’t offer that.
@majist0 And being able to heat or chill the car before entering in it using the app 😉😉
I don't hate EVs.
I hate MANDATORY EVs.
@@lordshellI didn't ask you.
@@super-gerald You mean you didn't like the answer and you got triggered. There I fixed it for you Gerry
Congratulations on your "new" Fiat 500e, a couple of pro tips:
1. pressing the end of the right stalk toggles through cluster display modes, one has the motor energy consumption/regen. It has to be on the Ready screen for the menus to work.
2. the HVAC off button is actually a toggle on/off and pressing it again will restore your previous HVAC setting
3. Up or down arrows will appear next to your range estimate, this indicates "if you keep driving like you are now your range will be adjusted (either up or down)", which gives you a little feedback and helps explain the guessometer jumping around a bit
Welcome to the club! Enjoy!
What does driving uphill in freezing weather, with two people aboard, do to the range? Thanks
@@paperback10 it would probably reduce it by about 25%. Running the HVAC and generally the battery chemistry not liking cold temperatures would account for most of it. Bear in mind the extra energy used going up hill with a passenger would largely be recouped with regenerative braking going back down the other side. Small cars like this are mainly used for commuting and city work so 70 - 75 range would still be adequate for many.
Going downhill restores the range lost when going up hill. Winter reduces the range of every vehicle on the road.
95% of my driving is town or less than 30 miles. But I can’t afford an EV so it’s academic.
@@Dave5843-d9m😂
This car is so “weird” because it’s just a regular petrol fiat that they converted to an ev. The actual fiat 500 ev is way more advanced and has a start button and not this weirdness. 500 is always a good car the petrol ones and the electric ones, though the new ev version is waaaaaayyyyy better than this one
As a Bulgarian I must hit "thumb up" for this video. I had a Fiat Cinqecento for more than 15 years. Although Cinqecento means 500 in Italian it's completely different car, made in Poland. Once I met an English guy and told him about my Fiat and the care it needs to keep it running, he told me that Fiat stans for "Fix it Again Tomorrow". I lost my breath laughing.
Every car brand has some funny acronyms. Jeep = "Just empty every pocket", Ford = "Fix Or Repair Daily". (I'm not singling out those brands, I used to drive a Jeep)
It actually means "Fix it Again Tony" , because all Italians are named Tony - just as all FIATs break down.
In spite of the jokes FIAT has an amazing history . Formed in 1899 ,they had a manufacturing facility in Poughkeepsie , New York by 1910
@@Dwigt_Rortugal You got some for Volvo, I would be interested to hear what? :)
BMW - Bring Mich Werkstatt (German: bring me to the garage) or Bei Mercedes Weggeworfen (German: dropped in the parts bin at Mercedes). Yes, there are a lot of acronyms,
@@Bratfalken Volvo: Very Often Leaking Various Oils, "Vaxning och lagning varje onsdag" - Wax and repair every wednesday
Its nice to see your prove a point that EVs are actually fairly easy to repair, its just a wildly different set of parts, repairs, and diagnosis skills involved.
It also, to me, shows the importance of right to repair. The fact that ONE third party repair shop in the entire world is capable of repairing the BPCM is absurd. Automakers need to release the schematics for these computer modules if they're going to be a main point of failure for EVs.
Easy to repair? You had to drop the battery pack? it was not like there was a compartment door in the floor to get to module.
5K repair is equivalent to replacing a motor in a regular car.
F Fix
I It
A Again
T Tomorrow
Except there is only one repair shop in the world for that electronic
@@texZR2 10 bolts and a transmission hoist. sounds pretty easy to me
Manufacturers will have to standardize battery access to allow easier removal/installation to repair/replace battery packs. @@texZR2
This was a BMS module swap. Piece of cake. What would really help the community is a battery debug / cell swap deep dive. Seriously these cars should last 400-500K miles if it wasn't for a single cell failure. Fixing the packs is cake and would keep them on the road and out of the wrecking yard. Example: You can get a Gen2 Prius Hybrid with a dead pack for sub $2K. You can swap out the bad cells and fix the pack usually for sub $400. The knowledge has to be propagated is all.
Wizard you should see this: In 2015, Chrysler recalled some 2013-2015 Fiat 500e vehicles due to a potential issue with the Battery Pack Control Module (BPCM) and Electric Vehicle Control Unit (EVCU). The recall was issued because incompatible software between the two components could cause the electric propulsion system to shut down if the vehicle entered limp home mode.
The recall was issued for vehicles manufactured between March 27, 2012 and November 1, 2014. Not every vehicle of the same year, make, and model was affected by the recall.
I had a similar experience just this past year with our 2012 iMiEV . The OBC (on board charger) burned out and the dealership wanted over $4500 to replace with OEM part . (these OBCs are known to be weak in the component level dept.) I found a guy on an on-line forum in Germany who had successfully rebuilt 40-50 of these units using better grade components .
With his costs and shipping our old unit to him I spent about $1500 and now have our little EV back as good as it was before being a 'brick' for about a year ! Thanks for the video post Car Wizard !
So presumably you were running another car in that year?
Hoovie is the best worst thing to ever happen to you 😂
They’re the dream team!
I've always liked Tyler for his car channels, but he has also helped an amazing number of car people get started online too.
I had one of those 500e’s and I LOVED it! Bought it as a lease return for 6k, drove it for 4 years, and sold it (at trade in) for 4k.
That's the only way to buy an EV, unless you have deep pockets or can write it off as a business expense.
Weren't those overt $30k new? After only 3-4 years it was just worth $6k? Damn those things depreciate like crazy. Looks like you got the much better end of the bargain.
@@CouchMan88 Yes! It was on the lot for 10k and I played the shrewd buyer - got it down to 8k and then brought them a junker Toyota for trade dropping it down to 6k. Bonus, they cost even more to make than they sold for as new, too. I’ve read that they cost near 50k each to make due to the limited volume they sold (that first version was only available new in Ca and Or). The retail value used was through the floor because no one could service the thing (not that it ever needed it).
@@jimk8520 My buddy had a 500 Abarth. Sounded great and pretty fun to drive, like a go kart on steroids. I had a Fiesta ST at the time but the Fiat made my Ford seem big.
@@CouchMan88 Agreed, they were tiny. The view made it feel like driving an old Volkswagen beetle and a little like a go-cart. Fun fact - the 500e is actually quicker than the Abarth by just a tiny bit and has a top speed of… 88mph! I can’t help but think it’s a nod to the back to the future film.
I used town own a Fiat 500e. The driver's side window regulator failed in mine too, and I replaced it myself. I suspect it is a common failure in all Fiat 500 models. The TomTom is indeed factory, and it even has a screen that shows you some EV related stuff about the car. But I found it blocked my vision and I ended up leaving mine off most of the time.
TomTom wants money to update the maps. I think it was $150, or something stupid like that.
I bought a new dodge truck in 2001. It was a window roll down circus. One window mechanism was fixed then same thing with another window all during the first 6 months of ownership. Even windows they fixed broke again. The service manager stated they have an upgraded part but the home office wanted the earlier versions used. After 8 months and 3000 miles the engine spun a crankshaft bearing. It was a lemon car
I always prefer fixing an already owned car vs swapping for a similar which presumably works. In the new one you never know what was fixed, what is on the last leg to get broken soon while in the fixed one you already know that.
The cool part is you first shot at all of Hoovies leftovers. He gets shop credit and you get cool cars you might not have ever considered. It's a win win for everyone.
My buddy does computer repair and business network installs. He takes in trades and every so often he scraps out the ones not worth reselling. I help him remove all the reusable parts and I end up with decent parts and full nice pc's and maybe some money for my time, Everyone is happy 👍😎
Those computer repair and data center decommissioning businesses rule. Found a dude that does that, and has sold me 5-10 year old fully spec'd(every storage slot filled with an sas drive, every memory slot filled with a board) poweredge and proliants for like $150-250.
It's especially a win for Hoovie 'cause based on a few of his recent videos he needs all the shop credit he can get. 😄😄
This car was only made for the US so Fiat could try to meet there vehicle emissions targets I believe which saved them paying for credits. It was a conversion from a gas car so a compromise build unlike the all new Fiat 500e which is a ground up EV available here in Europe and has a bigger battery at around 42Kwh.
Good to see Softelectronic in Bulgaria are now tackling EV repairs. For my BMW 530i here in the UK with a gearbox selector issue they fixed it and returned the ECU in a few days. I could not find any company in the UK who would fix it. BMW wanted to replace the entire valve unit for an incredible price.
Thanks for this video. I know someone who bought a new fiat 500e and only a year in had a very similar problem. Up until the error codes, the range and performance were normal. Fiat here in the US couldn’t even fix it because they had no trained technicians and had trouble sourcing parts. Because they couldn’t fix it, she got a very large payout on a new car (instead of cash) which wound up being a good deal in the end.
It’s just sad that the entire thing is “mechanically totaled” because of a few dollars of IC chips because there is no support no technicians no actual effort to service the battery.
It's the way dealerships operate. Someone else is paying usually so no incentive to keep well trained, experienced mechanics on staff. They'll replace an engine instead of fixing it if the warranty allows
I have the upmost respect for Auto Mechanics as I do the Military, Police, Fire, and Medical Personnel. To the Mechanics that have fixed the problem I was unable to do, Thank You for your services! You too are blessed!!
Huge kudos for doing this. So many people are bitching about EV repair - because they don't know what they're doing and they're scared of new things but won't admit it - turns out it's just the same process of diagnose, repair and confirm - same as working on a 50 year old gas car. The processes are different, but that's progress
Why Kudos, he was doing it for himself and profit.
How much would this have cost a non-mechanic top repair?
Anything can be repaired, it's the cost.
Great work! This is exactly what a town car should be, the FIAT has kept its character whereas the mini is too big and bulky.
Had a 2012 FIAT 500 Lounge. Just sold it after 12 Canadian winters. NO RUST! Mine was white too. The only problems that recurred was the wiring harness in the rear hatch which would break a wire from time to time (controls license plate lights, rear wiper, defroster. Easy fixes. But we finally needed a four door. The reputation that FIAT has does not apply to these cars. No oil leaks or oil burning. A very good city car - took it Toronto-Florida so it wasn't too shabby on the Interstate either.
Love that you're not prejusticed but go a rational approach on such EV's. The unanswered question in EV's - what happens when they get old. You contributed an answer for this example. Great job, Wizard. Have fun in the cute easteregg
2:37 I am not letting that go unnoticed. Nice video by the way! Although I am not a huge fan of EV's I am glad there is hope for them not being discarded like iphones or appliances.
These are really interesting little cars! I leased a 2024 500e a few weeks ago and can’t say enough good things about it! It’s cool to see the workings of the first gen model 🙂. EV’s aren’t scary, they’re just different, and nothing new-ish is an instant hit. It’s like going on a first date, once you get to know EV’s, they become second nature!
The TomTom was a factory piece. We leased one new in 2014 and it came with the TomTom. The car had a powered sunroof and the lease deal (in CA) was crazy cheap due to state incentives. We leased *another one* (my wife loved it) three years later, and neither the TomTom nor the sunroof were even options at that point, and the lease deal was substantially less great. The instant scoot is a hoot, but you will be buying front tires often. Note that the wheel offset is different on the fronts and rears (and there is a pin in the hub to keep you from trying) so you just keep buying fronts because the backs barely do anything.
Dodge life and Fiat life - even before they came together, they were (poorly) made for each other!
A similar thing with a broken window regulator happened to my niece a few years ago, when she bought a used, low kms Dodge Nitro - passenger window went down on its own, same day, on her way home. In the rain. It would not go back up, and the motor/regulator had to be replaced.
FIAT - Fix It Again Tony! Glad you got it functional again! It will make a good runaround car. As Always, May God Bless you and yours! 😇
I have had my 2014 for about 6 years now and I love it! I paid very little for it and it has been a fantastic investment.
Yuuup the TomTom is a factory option, part of the Blue&Me system
They are fairly rare as it was an option. Most still sell for a few hundred. Thats just for the holder. There are 3D Printable replacements for the holder. Lets you use the hole for other stuff. Like a phone.
@@carlrogers3505 I think there's an even rarer OEM phone holder.
I remember the frenzy of the owners of finding one back in the days when the 500, the 3rd gen Panda and the Punto Evo were still brand new here in Europe.
We’re in the UK and my other half has a petrol 500 convertible and we have the TomTom. It is a rarely seen option - only the higher spec cars had the plug in the dash for the powered mount. As said ours part of the Blue&Me system so on ours shows the Nav, but also fuel consumption details and track details from the Bluetooth audio. Also compatible with the Alfa MiTo which is based on the 500 chasis and a few other Fiat/Alfa cars from the time period.
Is rarely plugged in though - she just uses her iPhone in a mount because there’s no updates for the Maps as it’s an old system - should sell it or just leave it plugged in anyway.
@@davepage1151 I have the hole. Just no TomTom. The holder on its own sells for $300 ish dollars on ebay. Seems like the TomTom itself is just thrown in.
My issue is that "Beats" is Apple. Blue&me is Microsoft. My phone is Android. There is no Android app in Apples app store for playing music. There is no apps for Android either. So BT is just communication only unless I get an iphone. Thank goodness for aux ports and headphone jacks. Music sounds better this way anyway.
@@carlrogers3505 you can pair any Bluetooth audio streaming device to the car - I’ve had iPhone, Android and even Windows Phone paired to the car for calls and streaming music, but for music it is usually plugged into the USB in the car anyway and all those the worked fine that way also. Only issue we’ve ever had was with an iPhone lightning cable connecting that way and that was because it was charge only, not data (cheap cable). Off the TomTom is plugged in, we can see what’s playing on the screen if it’s via Bluetooth or cable.
You don’t need a special app, you just need to pair your phone to the car via Bluetooth by looking for the Blue&Me Bluetooth connection on your phone and select it, and then it should stream to that from the music app/connection on the phone or just use a cable (make sure it’s data compatible) and you can then also skip tracks etc from the steering wheel buttons.
If you’re having issues, do a search here on RUclips as no doubt there’s plenty of videos showing how to pair your phone to Fiat500 Bluetooth.
Worked at VW long time ago and that window falling down happened to a LOT of Golf/Jetta's (around 2000). The fix was an updated clip very much like the one you broke on this thing.
Glad to see you got this up and running! Would make a great "Going to get groceries or I have a short commute" car for someone who needs a cheap EV.
In reality for the regular person it's a money pit, new cars as well.
Same could be said about the BMW i3 it was never designed to be more than an urban commute vehicle but people thought otherwise and never really bought them.
@@MrZFriend or the Nissan Leaf, but yes getting the right car for the right job is key. I would not use it for my 300+ mile trip to visit my family, but I could use it for running around town, getting groceries, etc!
Yup if everyone had a city car and then a normal car for everything else we’d all be a in a much better place.
@@MrZFriend and yet the tech in that car is cutting edge and museum worthy.
TomTom Cradle - We’re in the UK and my other half has a petrol 500 convertible and we have the cradle and TomTom. It is a rarely seen option here - only the higher spec cars had the plug in the dash for the powered mount that powers it (the TomTom communicates with the car via Bluetooth I believe, not through the mount). It’s part of the Blue&Me system so on ours shows the Nav, but also fuel consumption details from the car and track details from the audio unit. Also compatible with the Alfa MiTo which is based on the 500 chasis and a few other Fiat/Alfa cars from the time period.
Ours is rarely plugged in though - she just uses her iPhone in a mount because there’s no updates for the Maps as it’s an old system and don’t believe there is an updated one for the mount - we should sell it or just leave it plugged in anyway.
Thanks for taking the chance to fix this little car, I always liked the Fiat 500 regular and e version, LOL I said this before but I used to work at an Auto Auction and we had tons of these as they came off lease, they were fun to drive and yes you can get a little burn out of them, I did it a quite a lot, I don't work there anymore🤣I like small cars I had a few over the years, one of my favorites was when I was stationed in England I had a blue 1985 Mini.
EV' and hybrids will be more common in the coming years despite the RUclips Auto channels saying otherwise.
Im retired from working as a mechanic but I still work part time delivering auto parts and auto supplies, (It seems I just can get away from the mechanical trades😆) and when I'm out driving I see lots of EV's Tesla, Ionics, Chevy Bolts, lol even one the managers at a nearby store leased a EV and he is a hot rod guy, I live in southern California so we do have a lot of EV's here.
nice to see you branching out to EVs. No point fighting/denying the future. Really enjoy all your content.
Great job by everyone! You now have a fully working EV that can go almost anywhere at a tenth of the price of a new 500e!
The TomTom does look stock. The hole in the dash should be a bezel with a spring loaded flap on top. This ended during the 2018 model year when Fiat replaced the radio with a touchscreen model with integrated GPS.
I've done the humidity sensor swap on my 2015 500 Abarth. The error code was very clear about the problem and it was a very easy swap.
I haven't lost a window regulator yet. I did lose a door handle, though. That's also a tradition with these cars.
Blue and me or the TomTom on a stick was an option in Fiats and Lancia Ypsilons of the day. Depending on trim level it was included.
Thanks Wizard. You have demonstrated that EV's are repairable.
As the independent specialist industry grows repairing the battery packs, electronics and motors people will realise that a used EV is just as practical as a used gas car where there are specialists rebuilding engines, gearboxes, diffs, carbs, distributors, injection systems, ....
EV: just another car.
All the comments on the original Hoovie video were convinced that the cells were all completely depleted and that EVs are all completely throw-away junk after 10 years. And it turns out it's just a single control module that could be replaced/repaired.
We've oened a 2012 Fiat 500c Abarth, 20,000 miles on it since new, never misses a beat. Fun with the turbo.
All I can tell you, Mr. Wizard is congratulations your gamble paid off. Most people wouldn’t have taken a chance, but you did and it paid off.
Wizard this is the beginning of the change 😂 ….. electric Move…. It’s amazing that functional cars are going to scrapyard when is possible to repair it,… Cheers from Portugal!🇵🇹
Mr Wizard - so what has changed in service for EVs is largely diagnostics and ability to replace or repair critical electronic modules. Some big, heavy tools are still needed, lifts are still needed, many typical hand tools remain the same. Some mechanics are amazing because of their ability to logically troubleshoot down to individual problems and successful EV technicians will need the same skill. I think it's a matter of how much an old dawg wants to keep up with the pups, or make the pups follow him.
I think one of the specialized skills that will make a difference is the ability to do component-level electronics repairs like Softelectronics (or laptop computer, cellphone repair folks) do. Successful repairs will require access to manufacturer-signed firmware, too. A specialist shop in North America would be a keen thing, helping out independent shops who handle the hardware/chassis/battery work.
Yes! The outside temperature sensor is in the driver side mirror of the Dodge Ram ProMaster, and they go out regularly because people hit the mirrors on gate sensors trying to to enter gated communities. I cannot replace just the sensor you have to replace the entire mirror which cost $700 or more!
Despite EVs existing for a long time, only now have they exploded in popularity. As such there will also be a lot trained technicians specialized for EVs. The trade schools around my area have already courses for such cars available.
My wife got a 2017 in 2020 and it's been really reliable. We paid $7k in 2020 and it's currently worth about that. We've really loved it as a happy little commuter car.
Hi all at Omega.
I work on gardening machinery and battery powered machinery is turning up more for requests to be repaired.
I do wonder about buy something to work on electrical stuff so I learn like you did with this Fiat.
I admit it won't cost as much as you invested in learning about this EV.
I always include a discount when working on something new.
By the 10th time, it's normal rate.
I love that you were able to get this car running. Wish you could have driven it by Hoovies and waved at Tyler! He bad mouthed electric cars in his videos.
If I could find a car fully sorted out like that for what you have into it I would definitely pick one up. I would still keep my gas vehicles but driving 10 mi into work and 10 miles home everyday that would be a perfect commuter car
So happy it worked for you, Wizard! I live close by one of the two shops of Softelectronic, so it was a bit of a goosebump moment!
What are the odds? 100%. It’s a FIAT. My first (and only) FIAT was a 1978 FIAT 128 Rallye with an outrageous 1290cc mill putting out almost 56hp!!! Clutch cable (yes, cable) snapped while I was cruising Woodward Ave. in Detroit. $12.95 and a couple of bus rides later, conducted repair on the side of the road using the tool kit FIAT included in the trunk.
My first was also a 128 Rally, and my second was a 131 Super Brava! I loved them both.
That car has same drivetrain as Yugo
My only complaint with the 128 was with the stitching in the seat panels came apart and the paint on the wheels fell off. Drove it two years and sold it for what I paid for it new. With a Bayless foam air cleaner and an Ansa exhaust it was the greatest sounding slowest car on the road... . Also had a set of Hella off road driving lights that would almost stall the engine when I turned them on. Fun times.
in all fairness, the FIAT was first - and due to its small displacement did not require a catalytic converter and could legally run on leaded fuel while it lasted.
The BPCM that failed is Bosch which is German. Just saying.
I've had 2 Fiats in the 80s. A 124 and a Lancia Beta. Both were fun reliable cars. I took both on trips to Canada with no issues. You have no idea how satisfying a car can be to shift until you drive an old school Fiat 4speed. (same for old school Triumphs/British Leyland). Plus the Fiats had an unmistakable guttural rumble at idle that was equally satisfying. Both were bought used and had no problems with either, (fuel pump failure on the Fiat and blown fuse on the Lancia. I never experienced the Fix It Again Tony old wives tale.
Now take it to Tyler's detailer guy for an Easter Egg wrap with Omega Shop graphics!! Some advertizing while running around town...
I have a 2015 Volkswagen Egolf. VW replaced the battery under warranty which increased the range from about 65 miles to 100 miles. It’s a great car for local missions. You don’t need big range to have a great EV. Super long range batteries are mostly a waste of resources imho.
Biggest advantage of a GPS navigation over a phone is that it is not reliant on a cell signal, it actually gets information from orbiting satellites.
Sure, you could download a map, but if you're out in BFE, it's not going to help.
Phones use GPS too, not just cell tower triangulation. If you download an offline map to a phone it’s literally no different than a dedicated GPS.
Great work Wizard. As Italian car fans know, it is usually a Bosch product that causes their cars to break.
The battery control modules seem to be a common big failure point for EV's. I remember looking into the problems with them on my Volt. 16' to early 18' models years had the most failures so I avoided that age range. Haven't had any issues like that with the one I purchased.
That broken window is just a part of Chrysler/Fiat build quality. I have a friend who has an Abarth and loves it, but it still has issues related to build quality. He has replaced one of the window regulators and a door handle. It's just something you have to expect to deal with if you have a Fiat.
Welcome to my world! A co worker friend of mine leased one of those in 2015. Fiat at the time didn’t have any in stock, so I leased a Smart EV. After 3 years with zero maintenance, other than a flat tire, I turned it back in. The buyout was $18,800. My buddy put 56,000 miles on his Fiat in 3 years. He now drives a Tesla. I own a car wizard favorite, 2017 Audi A3 eTron PHEV.
I budget $100 a month for annual maintenance.
At 2:30 Exactly. That's FIAT life. Save 5 cents on a plastic gear, two or four in each car, only to force you to pay 100 € to repair it at your expense. Beautiful style (not always), excellent engines (IMHO), built to be very easy to repair (contrary to French engines), but no reliability and low-quality plastics everywhere. It has been so since the 1983 FIAT UNO, speaking about my personal experience.
Thanks for continuing this series. For 5K$, you got an updated city commuter & with the savings on ⛽ & maintenance, it will pay for itself in just a couple of years. Long live the 🥜 ! (Or the toasters as another YT calls them).
The Toasters are still useful. A near quote from Battlestar Galactica.
Brilliant, really good to see its not a total loss.
That’s insane.
How is there not a single company in the country willing or able to do the service?
There will be now
Great video. May I suggest to the editor to add the numbers of the cost visually on the video around 5:34
Shoutout to Bulgaria. They seemed to do good work.
So glad everything worked out. Thanks for filming it and explaining what you did and mentioning the company who rebuilt your module.
I loved seeing that pushbutton transmission. It reminded me of Chrysler Corporation vehicles with automatic transmissions from the mid-fifties through the mid-sixties. I think the '58 Edsel had a pushbutton transmission with the buttons in the center of the steering wheel where the horn button would have gone.
Don't hurt your back with those kicks, Wizard!
According to a report from Reuters, Stellantis has said it will be extending a production suspension at its Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, which produces the Fiat 500e. Originally the plant was supposed to resume production on October 11, but due to “weak orders” Stellantis is extending the suspension until November 1.
Congrats - glad it worked out for you! 🙂
Good for you Wizard...looking forward to seeing what kinda of range fluctuations you see in real world driving, hope you report on that. I am guessing you will see similar to what all of us Fiat 500e owners see daily.
In FiatLife, if parts fail, it's cheap to replace. I own a Fiat and I've only had to replace lights, cylinders and regular maintenance. Its on 186k km now.
What kind of cylinders?
@@jamesredman1263 something from the engine. I'm not sure. After it was done, I've gained 100km per tank. It was burning more fuel before it was done.
Here's a thought, allow access to the battery control module w/o having to pull the whole battery pack.
Nah, that would make too much sense. As an engineer I have to wonder what the thought process is on these design decisions.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal
That was an early version. It's normal to not be fully functional.
Yep, the only thing that should be in the battery packs, are batteries. The modules should be accessible outside of the pack and they should be made with military spec components. There's no excuse for having the module fail with such low mileage/age. I have electronics that are 30 yrs old and are still working fine.
Stellantis is their own worst enemy. Poor dealer training and service. And yes that part should be accessible without dropping the battery pack. It is a shame as it is a great around town car. Quick and fun to drive.
You know what would make sense on most US domestic vehicles? Access to the fuel pump, because pumps do go bad frequently...
The thing with this control module is it really shouldn't go wrong.
When I was in my early 20's, I drove a 2 door 1964 Plymouth Valiant with a slant 6 and push button automatic transmission. Super cool little car.
I've been reading about the 500e...unless I'm reading wrong, it apparently only comes with a J1772 connector, and does not support DC fast charging at all. Since it has a J1772 connector, it would have to have the two CCS pins underneath. Every 500e I've seen only has the base J1772, which limits charging to approximately 8kW. I suppose it's possible CCS is an option, but I haven't yet seen one with it. This means it would be a great around town car, but you wouldn't be able to use it for road trips. J1772 is easily converted to the Tesla connector with an adapter, so you could use any AC charger in the country (but not Superchargers - Tesla uses the same connector for AC and DC charging, you can use an adapter to charge a Tesla with CCS, and Tesla is adding J1772/CCS support to their Superchargers, but you have to have the CCS port to use that). I have heard that some people have retrofitted CCS into these, but I don't know how well that works. It's supposedly really limited in charging speed compared to cars like my Model 3 that support DC fast charging out of the box (mine goes up to 170kW).
There was little point in supporting fast charging before there were any fast chargers. The Tesla Roadster doesn't support fast charging either.
No fast charging on this model. Road tripping with it was more or less out of the question.
@@The8BitGuy Apparently people are looking into retrofitting CCS into these. Supposedly, Fiat says it can handle 480V/70A maximum. Which is around 33kW. Obviously nowhere near what even the base Model 3 can supercharge at (170kW), but it's something. There are a lot of people in the Fiat community looking into this. Not sure how well it would work, it would take some modifications.
This car is built to be a gas car or an EV. This explains why it is laid out with a key to start it and the "gear selector" looks like an actual shifter would be there.
Having a daily that can get you everywhere you need to go in a week while cutting out the need to hit a gas station and the characters you'd find there is such a benefit
If he installed solar panels on his roof, he'd essentially be driving for free.
No one wants to pay 70 grand for a car to only use in the city lol.
@@josueelombre931 Where do you get the $70k figure?
@@Flies2FLL have you noticed the market prices for new EVs?
The problem is this only works in big city's like California and New York and places like that have ev chargers already available plus not to mention the cost of using electricity to charge ur car at home will cost a fortune.
You dodged a bullet here - good for you sir........ nice to see people win sometimes.
2:38 did the car wizard just say yeet
yea he does it somestimes.
W. came out about break-even. Which I've done with a few ICE cars over the years. This car was def worth it. The interior and other systems were in great shape! The difference is that with older ICE cars, is that there is motivation by owners. EVs are sold to younger people, and let's face it, people with no interest in the technical details/inner workings of their vehicle. Without the wonderful Wizard, this car would have no market and would have been landfill trash.
It looks really good, on the exterior anyway
So happy this worked out!
I think that there should be standardized BCMs and battery modules so that customers don't get into the situation where they need to replace a whole unit or scrap the car. Usually it is something simple to fix in electrical systems, but often too difficult to get at or designed with a custom component. WWTD, what would Toyota do?
It's not a BMS or even a BCM. It's a "BPCM." They needed a new acronym for it. 😂
Look at the BZ4X for the answer. p.s. I completely agree with the first point. There are far too many low production EVs. I have seen a couple of Fisker Oceans locally. Good luck with getting one of those repaired.
that "standardization" is NEVER going to happen. automakers don't want it,they want captive customers. They want to sell new cars.
Yeah having the ' bcm'
tucked away behind the
Batteries is a stupid
Design , needs to be
relocated.....under the
Dash or footwell ????
for easy access !
@@charlesallanstewart-kl2op the BPCM HAS to be close to the batteries it monitors and charges. with as few connectors and as short wiring as possible. But today's engineers aren't designing them for easy service and repairability,they're planning on the BP lasting the "life of the vehicle". Look at Tesla,they are now casting the entire battery pack in hard foam,to make it a "structural part" of the chassis. NOT meant to be repairable at all. They want to sell whole cars,not car parts.
I wonder how many of the "Hurr durr Fix it again Tony " people have seen the picture of the module, and which company made it.
7:18 why does it sound exactly like the PSP startup chime
It literally is.
Admittedly, this car is just cute! My neighbor's daughter has a 2021 Fiat 500 Cabriolet (Convertible), white with a Dark Red Top and Interior. It is not an EV, but it sure is cute!
7:18 Sounds like the PSP boot up
Thank you for pointing it out it was bugging me where I recognised that noise from
@@robertjones3223 🤣🤣🤣
I thought the exact same thing before seeing this comment. I’m actually in the middle of fixing a psp and thought the system was booting up again
Glad I'm not the only one. It does sound very very similar. 😂
Cool, cute little car. The TomTom dash GPS is manufactured by TomTom, a Dutch based company. Many years ago I had one of their GPS units. With smart phones and google maps etc. these things have kind of gone the way of the dodo.
I'm from an electronics background. As Wizard has proved, they're not so difficult to fix - you just need a different skillset.
Yes but it’s too much work and cost for a stupid piece of electronics going bad. Maybe this part should have been exterior to the battery pack…
@@pascalbruyere7108Common sense in serviceabilty seems elusive in the automotive industry. A disruptive start-up could design an entirely modular EV that is ridiculously easy to service. DIN rail mounted controllers or something similar, all co-located in one service panel. Have a built-in system for dropping the battery using linear actuators or worm gears... I'll bet they'd do well and have a lot of long term customers. With EVs, there's a huge opportunity to do something like that.
@@Dwigt_RortugalI agree with locating the controllers together inside the car to make it easy to access. Just leave the batteries in the case.
@@pascalbruyere7108 'Stupid pieces of electronics' go bad in ICE cars too - my BMW E60 has been off the road for a year because of an ECU/EWS fault. A neighbour had an eight month wait to get a hybrid Lexus fixed... because of electronics related to the ICE side. The truth is, you adapt or you die. A lot of people are talking hydrogen and synthetic fuels: I see hydrogen as a complete non-starter whilst synthetics? Not so sure, I need to look into it further. Thing is - and I know this will be contentious - is that I think the era of hypermobility we now enjoy WILL come to an end.
Parts still have to be available. he was LUCKY that the BPCM could be shipped to Bulgaria and repaired.
I love to know you are an open-minded mechanic, Dave. Thank you for showing your happy conclusion of an EV story and your likes of it.
Can wait for the video on that pink caddy in background
I was just about to write a comment saying the same thing.
I have a 1959 Cadillac 2dr Coupe De Ville and I'd like to see that too!,,,,,,,,,,,
I had the rewind a bit and check that again to confirm. Hopefully the owner allows it to be filmed for an episode.
It’s so funny that I got Hooves original video, your follow up and now this all in the same day in my recommendations, I love a full trilogy!
So the battery is fine.. How about all the moaners in the previous videos comments who were jumping up and down with glee saying it was toast? No doubt they'll be running back home to Scotty kilmers channel 😅
He’s just but hurt that you don’t really “rev up your engine” on an EV.
@@hugegamer5988 " Charge up your Battery " ! 🤔
Too busy choking on burning oil fumes?
Is it worth it if repair cost more than car? He said he Daniel $4000 in labor just to pull out the module. Along with module repair cost $1200. Cost over $5000 total for repair. Most people wouldnt drop $5k to fix it when its not worth much.
@@anekinoo7 I think he said it was including the cost of the car as well to buy it.
I should have watched this video first. that's amazing to see! I thought battery just... stopped holding a charge as batteries do. amazing
I remember when cars had a bumper, today the most expensive part is where the bumper used to be, full of sensors for airbags, cars today are money pits for the corporation and insurance company, and they say it's for your own safety, ( NO it's for draining your bank account )
Cars were simple. Now everything needs to have computer screens, backup cameras, sensors, electric brakes, computer modules for literally every single function on the car, and more emission devices than belt/gear driven engine parts! You can thank the ever-growing regulatory bureaus for that.
For example, a pickup truck would be great if it was just for work related stuff. Hauling equipment around, towing a small trailer for lawn equipment, or building materials to a job site. You really only need 2 doors and defrost. But instead pickup trucks are pseudo luxury vehicles that cost $100,000. It's pure clown world.
@@kalashnikov1343 I am glad I am not the only one who realize that, but only a few see this big scam from Govt. & corporations, what is next in my point of view is in the future it will be too expensive for the regular people to own a car and cars is our freedom.
A lot of that is definitely for safety tho. Stuff that avoids crashes and makes it so that in case of a crash, bodily consequences are reduced. Yes, a lot of that is convenience too which is debatable if merit applies, but not counting the safety stuff is disingenuous.
That was really cool to see all went good.
However if you don’t own a garage and you have to pay for battery repair the bill will go from $1200 for the module repair and add another $1500-$2000 for labour, definitely not a deal for any private owner.
My Next door Neighbor decided to replace his fence, it was about 15 years old and has looking a little haggard. He's retired so helped him post the runners and attaching the pickets.
Due to them being pensioners, they had to wait a few weeks before they could afford the paint. However the paint arrived and we painted the fence and left it to dry. And it looked great!
4 days later a car lost control and plowed straight through the fence with enough force to shear the posts off at concrete level.... Moral is. Fate is random.
In which direction did the car went ? Maybe the new posts prevented it from crashing the house
Moral:
No good deed goes unpunished! 😂
Have one for the last 7 years. Absolutely love it.
Of course Bulgaria has the best mechanics
*electronics techs.
But probably great mechanics, too.
We're pretty well known for IT and electronics specialists, including high end audio
I loved my 500e! It was a hoot to drive around town. Never had a problem with it.
This battery indeed looks huge compared to the size of the car!
Very cute car. Love it. But yes, plastiky and anything can break anytime, irrelevant of EV or not.
8:34 there was a time when Fiat's solution for the navigation system was that there was a special hole in the dash where you mount a tomtom.
Thank You for not caving into EV fear mongering. I went electric last November not will not be going back. No oil changes, EGR problems, valve cover gaskets, carbon buildup on the valves, timing belts, only scheduled service is every 10,000 miles. They still need suspension work, shocks tires and other assorted mechanical repairs that can be still be done by independent shops when properly trained and supplied.
Hoovie is all in on EV hate on both of his channels
Same here, once you live with an ev (especially a Tesla) there’s no going back.
@@TVCHLORDyes he never intended to fix it. Just bought it for the clicks thinking the EV haters would lap it up. I’m guessing that probably back fired a bit. As both a classic car guy and an EV owner, Hoovie’s playing to the gallery antics didn’t sit well with me and I’m less likely to click on his videos. I’m glad Wizard proved a point and fixed it. I’m also pretty sure that these sort of electronic repairs will become available more locally and cheaper pretty soon. They probably already are with a little more research applied?
Wait until a total battery pack degradation issue or drive unit failure, vs a ICE engine to replace
@@Drtbiker88both of those things become cheaper over time. And likely won’t fail again shortly after like a used / junkyard engine.