I Bought HOOVIES Dying EV Fiat 500e! WHY?!?

Best way to become a good EV mechanic, Buy an EV where damn near everything is already broke.

A wise man doesn't guess/ask a woman's age, a happy man doesn't care. Happy Birthday Mrs. Wizard.

The wizard busting out Bishop Bullwinkles "Hell to the Na Na Na" was epic.

That Bishop Bullwinkle impression was dead on! I busted out laughing.

Mrs. Wizard, I feel your pain. A Fiat 500e from Hoovie? Say it isn't so.

Happy 29th Birthday Mrs. Car Wizard! My Mom told me that women don't age past 29. And my Mom is always right!! LOL

Wizard is slowly turning into a Hoovie.

Most hybrid battery repair / upgrade shops in Europe is ran by Latvians and Mongolians and I always find it so fascinating how they quickly adapted and became familiar with repairing stuff that most of the locals would nope out of it immediately.

if it truly has a 42kWh pack, it's not OE. 2014's are of the first gen 500e's. It's only the newer 2023/2024 model year ones, that are just now showing up in the states, that had the optional 42kWh pack. all the first gens were 24kWh and 88 miles range rated. they never had a range rating above 100, and definitely not near 200.

This is the most interesting car you'vepurchased since the Citroën. Looking forward to watching you repair and improve this EV. Hau'oli la hanau, Mrs. Wizard. Much aloha to you on your birthday!

This battery could work another 8 to 16 years as a shop UPS and battery power backup (a lot of people are doing this with Nissan LEAF - under Japanese law they have to plug straight into the house fuse box - hence the ease of doing it) but just taking this car apart for parts would be worth it as well - $700 is just a steal the parts are worth a lot more

This would be a great vehicle for my wife. She works three miles away, maybe goes to an appointment a bit farther than that after work. Plus, we have solar and overproduce so could charge at home for free! I would have bought it with no hesitation.

Interesting how many comments are bad mouthing this car. Most people that have owned these love them. I have a 2013 with 16" tires and upgraded suspension - it absolutely rocks, handles like a go kart. It is my commuter car. Never had any problems. The battery has degraded about 15% but I'm OK with that. I'll keep it so long as I can do a 50 mile round trip since it is as close to free to own as it gets.

I have a 2014 500e with 85,000 miles and I mentioned this on Hoovies channel but in terms of reliability, performance, character it's such an awesome car. I bought mine 2 years ago for $8,000 with 47,000 miles and it hasn't given me any trouble yet. Super cheap to run both from an insurance standpoint and cost per mile it's one of the cheapest and most fun vehicles you might ever own. I think you definitely got a steal of a deal if you ask me because typically with the Bosch components and Samsung cells these batteries go for a long time. I'm still getting 80 plus range on mine so basically like new range. One correction which I'm sure you're aware of now is there was no 42kWh model only 24kWh for the older 500e so you probably have very little degradation and are fine with the pack. Overall, I'm sure you will be pleased with it. Most owners love theirs. I'm excited for new videos on it so keep them coming!

You are correct, but 24kWh battery was the only size available from its introduction until it was pulled from the US market. It's rated at 84 miles though it's usual to get 100 miles around town. The 42kWh is for the second edition. That's a total redesign that looks similar but it's bigger/better. Some owners have found the battery can be "recovered". It's hard to tell how often that works but 2 people reported it worked for them. It's also wise to disconnect the humidity sensor on the 500e. Even working it can keep the AC turned on.

She's 21 and nobody should say any other age! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mrs. Wizard!

My '17 500e has been amazing. Bought it right before covid for a little over $5k and it had 4k miles. It is now approaching 60k and it has never had a single issue. Only thing I've ever had to do was buy a 12v battery. 30 mile round trips 5 days a week costs me roughly $7 a week to drive.

The best way to learn something new is to get hands on with it. With EV technology I loved going to any trainings I could get during my career to better learn and understand what makes them work. People are afraid to work on them. I never was because I respected what that kind of electrical power can do to harm you. Just like air bags when they came out in the late 80’s. I saw it as a system that we would have moving forward and jumped in with both feet to learn how they work and how to properly diagnose and repair them without making them go boom 😂

Congratulations on expanding into the EV space. Logic is the backbone of troubleshooting no matter what is wrong. I look forward to learning new things.

Wizard the 2013-2019 Fiat 500e never had a 42kWh battery, they were all only 23.8 kWh (but only get to use about 21kWh with BMS). I've owned 3 of them in the past, they're excellent EVs (All bosch internals), but you typically will get around 70 miles maximum in daily driving. I would highly recommend you do a battery re-learn so the computer can re-calculate/balance out, there are tutorials on how to do this on the forums. Also never trust the guess-o-meter for range, it's not reliable. Best way to calculate range = watch your energy to mile efficiency and do a full 100% to 0% test (no hard accelerating, keep it under 50mph). Good luck! :)