The new Fiat Grand Panda will not only be one of the cheapest electric cars when it hits the market in Europe next year, it will also be the first car to feature an integrated charging cable.
Currently, EV owners are forced to coil their cumbersome and heavy cables before trying to stuff them back into a storage space, usually under the floor of a trunk or boot. A real pain when your storage space is already full of bags and gear.
To make matters worse, the cables have probably dragged along the ground and picked up all sorts of dirt, which eventually ends up on a clean white shirt and all over the rest of your car.
Fiat’s innovative solution, which the company itself describes somewhat exaggeratedly as a “reimagining” of charging, consists of the integration of a spiral cable that is rolled up into the vehicle’s bodywork when not in use.
A recent Instagram video from Coach (above) shows the sprung cable protruding from a neatly concealed storage compartment in the front grille.
Fiat says the integrated AC charging cable is only rated for speeds up to 7.4kW, due to the cooling requirements needed for much higher charging speeds. Instead, a separate DC charging port is placed on the side of the car for higher charging speeds of up to 100kW.
Either way, the Fiat Grande Panda gets a small 44kWh battery to keep costs down. This means owners can add 120 miles to the new Panda’s battery packs in just over four hours using the lower-power onboard charging cable.
A smart solution
While range anxiety remains one of the biggest barriers to electric car ownership, the cumbersome cables and hassle of charging are also enough reasons for many buyers not to opt for this option.
Fiat’s answer is clever, because it eliminates the need to carry around cumbersome cables in often too small storage spaces. There is also no risk of accidentally leaving one behind and cables are no longer dragged through the dust.
While some may find the 7.4kW charging limit ridiculous, it shouldn’t impact everyday use. Fiat’s solution is intended for lower-power wall chargers, often for domestic use, which usually require EV owners to bring their own charging cables.
Faster charging stations, such as those on the public network, are equipped with much more extensive wiring to handle the amount of energy flowing through them. In this case, Fiat also offers a 100kW charging port on the side of the Grand Panda for precisely this reason.
The last time we saw a solution like this was on the tiny Renault Twizy, which had a similar coiled cable that was housed in a small box at the front. However, that vehicle could only charge at speeds of up to 3kW, thanks to its small battery pack.
Not only will the Fiat be affordable, with an MSRP of around £22,000 (or around $28,000 / AU$43,000) when it goes on sale, it also appears to have a number of useful features that should make the transition to EVs less painful. Who said Pandas were dumb?