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500 EV business booms, Spider America delayed

Roadster Salon’s commitment to developing the EV side of our business has continued unabated during the pandemic. A pleasant surprise has been our growing relationship with Fiat-Chrysler leasing in California. As some may know, the all-electric version of the Fiat 500e was only sold through select Fiat dealers in California and Oregon from 2012-2019. The majority were delivered through their exclusive leasing program. Roadster Salon has an account to purchase these certified examples directly through Fiat leasing and ships them to their office in Chicago where they are serviced and prepared for customers nationwide. All are accident-free and have extremely low miles.

The 500e originally sold for almost $35K before tax credits. It offers outstanding performance, it has excellent range for its class and bullet-proof reliability. Current prices for 2017-2018 lease returns are rising but still offer great value at less than 50% of their retail price when new. Roadster Salon typically maintains the largest 500e inventory of any independent Fiat dealer. Aside from stocked inventory, we can also order specific colors directly from our leasing representative. A new 500e has started shipping in Europe recently. Plans for US distribution are currently unclear.

The Spider America project development continues with a substantial number of orders in-house. Pandemic-related delays, changes in battery specifications, and improved engineering has moved our delivery timeline to mid-2022. Watch this space for updates on our entry-level and high-performance spider EV conversions.