Dec. 10, 2025, 1:23 p.m. ET
- Stellantis is bringing the Topolino, a tiny EV, to the U.S.
- The Topolino has a top speed of 28 mph and a single electric motor that generates eight horsepower.
- If sold at the same price it is in Europe, the Topolino would cost about $11,500 in the U.S.
Stellantis is bringing an itsy-bitsy electric vehicle named the Topolino to the United States market.
The Topolino — which is Italian for “Little Mouse” — is technically not even a car. It will likely be classified as a low-speed vehicle in the U.S. At less than 100 inches long, touting eight horsepower, 47 miles of range and a teeny 5.5 kWh battery, the Topolino seems best fit for short urban trips, closed campuses or cruising around in a sleepy beach town.
“They’re runabouts for hotels and resorts,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of Auto Intelligence at S&P Global Mobility. “It’s a really tiny market.”
The Topolino is often on display at auto shows both internationally and in the U.S., but the vehicle has never been sold in the U.S. Olivier Francois, the CEO of Fiat, announced this week that the Topolino would be coming stateside after continually turning heads at auto shows in the country.
“The Fiat Topolino, our small, joyful, colorful car that is now everywhere in Europe, has made several appearances in the U.S. over the past year, including last month at the LA Auto Show, where it’s creating tremendous excitement among consumers,” Francois said in a news release. “So much so that I’m happy to share that we’ll be bringing the Fiat Topolino to the U.S., with more details to come next year.”
Brinley said she didn’t expect Fiat to make a big sales splash with Topolinos — and since they are low-speed vehicles, not proper cars, they won’t factor into her analysis of the brand’s vehicle sales. But they are cute, she said, and despite a limited practicality, Fiat may still be able to find some buyers.
“Is there opprotunity for Fiat to sell a few because they are adorable and cute, and there will be some places that can find a use for them? Yes,” Brinley said. “But it’s still going to be a footnote in the market.”
Stellantis — the parent company of Fiat as well as Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — has not announced when the vehicle will become available, nor how much it will cost. Stellantis sells the Topolino in Europe (depending on the country) at about 9,820 euros, or $11,500.
The news of the Topolino’s U.S. introduction comes just days after President Donald Trump pontificated about the future of tiny “kei” cars in the country after a visit to Asia.
“If you go to Japan, where I just left, if you go to South Korea, Malaysia and other countries, they have a very small car, sort of like the Beetle used to be with Volkswagen,” Trump said at a news conference last week while announcing plans to roll back emissions requirements for automakers. “They’re very small; they’re really cute.”
Trump said he “authorized” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to approve the production of tiny cars in the U.S., though automakers are not prohibited from building tiny cars in the U.S., and no laws need to be tweaked to approve the vehicles.
Diane Morgan, spokesperson for Fiat, told the Detroit Free Press that the rollout of the Topolino in the U.S. has been planned for some time and is unrelated to Trump’s hope to bring tiny cars to the U.S.
Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.
