Fiat has finally admitted what its new urban EV will be called. Forget the working title Quattrolino — the model will launch as the Multiplina. And the reference could not be more obvious: the Fiat 600 Multipla of the 1950s, an odd, useful and very Italian machine. Small body, big idea. And sometimes Fiat still pulls that off better than anyone trying to squeeze “premium” out of every piece of plastic.
The Multiplina will not follow the L6e light quadricycle route of the Topolino. It moves up to L7e, the heavy category. And the difference matters. The Topolino is locked at 45 km/h and built for two. The Multiplina will hit 90 km/h and carry four. That is no longer an electric pod for a seaside stroll and a quick coffee run. It is the missing rung between a microcar and a proper A-segment car.
Launch date — 2028. On price, the Multiplina should slot between the Topolino at 9,990 euros and Fiat’s upcoming urban EV around 15,000 euros. The realistic target sits near 13,000 euros, where its main rival is being called the Dacia Hipster.
At the Rome event Fiat showed the Multiplina as a concept and gave the Topolino a shake-up in the same breath. The lineup adds an open Dolcevita body, a Sport version and a New Vilebrequin Collector’s Edition. The Sport draws from the 1958 Nuova 500 Sport: four new colors, decorative stripes, black seats and trim wrapped in carbon-look vinyl. The carbon, of course, is figurative. On a machine capped at 45 km/h, the whole idea of “sport” rests not on the numbers but on the owner’s grin.
There is also a signature little touch — Monsterlino Bluetooth speakers by Monster, magnetically clipped to the car and thrown in with every Sport. Looks like a toy. But for the Topolino that detail probably matters more than the tenth of a second nobody ever measures. Fiat is not selling power. It is selling a scenario: the beach, the old town, a resort strip, a short hop with no serious talk about range or charging.
Next to it Fiat showed the TRIS Dolcevita Concept — a three-wheeled passenger EV in full resort mode. Whether it hits production is still open. But the intent is clear: one modular micro-mobility toolkit, sold to businesses, tourist zones, delivery fleets and private buyers alike. Not one car. A small ecosystem.
Fiat CEO Olivier François put it like this: “Fiat has been shaping micromobility long before the word even existed. Our mission has always been the same: to make mobility simpler, smarter and more accessible. Today, with Topolino, TRIS and our vision for the future — Multiplina — we are building on our legacy and creating a complete ecosystem for the cities of tomorrow: joyful, ingenious, sustainable, and unmistakably Fiat.”
For Europe the logic is obvious. Big cities are squeezing owners with parking, restrictions and prices, while regular EVs never really got cheap. As a market signal the Multiplina is fascinating. Fiat is not trying to build yet another crossover. It is digging around inside small cars again — the territory where the brand always had the hands, the head and a bit of madness.
The Multiplina may end up as the most honest Fiat in years: small, odd, urban — and refusing to pretend it is any bigger than it is.
