100-Plus Racers Just Bought Fiat 500e Electric Cars

If you’re accustomed to the speed, handling, and the thrill of the chase you get with a good car on track, you might not figure an electrified econobox is a good pick for your daily driver. But 80 racers in the San Francisco Bay area would disagree with you. Strongly.

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The Fiat 500e isn’t exactly the most enticing of electric cars; it’s certainly no Tesla Model S P85D. Rated at 111 horsepower and packing about 80 miles of range, the 500e is really just a metallic commuter bubble with a car pool lane pass. But that’s why it’s so perfect for racers.

“If you see a 500e flash by you in the carpool line, it’s very likely that it’s a racing instructor who’s used to much higher closing speeds,” said Joe Nuxoll, a sometimes-contributor and photographer for High Gear Media, a race instructor, and a new Fiat 500e owner. The 500e is the “perfect commuter car,” says Nuxoll. “I still have my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee which I use as my tow vehicle…but I’ve been driving [the 500e] since last Thursday, and I love the thing.”

Nuxoll is also a three-time winner of the reFUEL electric vehicle races, and will be defending his title again this year. He’s just one of 80 (plus), however. How did that happen? How did so many racers decide to buy what most would think of as a pretty bland car?

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Kit Wetzler was the driving force. Realizing that the 500e’s standard lease price is pretty reasonable, Wetzler negotiated a group buy rate on the cars with Capital Fiat, Fremont Fiat, and Burlingame Fiat—three of the participating dealers. The resulting deal was just too good to pass up: a 36-month lease at a price that’s $2,100 off the MSRP. Add in the $7,500 federal credit (used as a down payment) and the $2,500 rebate from California, and the 80 racers have made off with a nearly free commuter car—one that even has access to the HOV lane. The bottom line? $1,000 down and $82.75 per month.

So Metzler took the deal to the forums of the PDC (Performance Drivers Club) and quickly got overwhelming support. Then the deal caught light wildfire. There was a run on the area dealers. Some panic ensued. Eventually everything was squared away. When the dust first cleared, there were a little over 80 new Fiat 500e owners, and several dealers with increased allotments of the punchy EVs. In fact, interest is still ticking along, and the whole thing—which started last Thursday—has seen more than 100 of the EVs leased.

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So what, besides commuting, will these racers, instructors, and track-heads be doing with their 500e electrics? Nuxoll jokes that it’d make pure sense to run a no-contact race series with so many hot shoes in so many fun-but-slow cars.

Mountain runs, group meets, and Cars & Coffee raids are more likely. “For sure, that is happening,” says Nuxoll. And there may yet be some track time—even if there’s no race series. Nuxoll said he’s looking forward to setting a hot lap at Laguna Seca in his new 500e.

Commute for (nearly) free and hit the Corkscrew all for $1,000 down and $82.75/mo? Sign us up, too!