Fiat e-Doblo Review 2024

Heavily revised and with new safety equipment and a much-improved cabin, the already excellent Fiat e-Doblo is a superb electric van. But does it suit your requirements? Read our comprehensive Fiat e-Doblo review to find out.

The latest version of the Fiat Doblo shares its bodywork with the Peugeot e-Partner, Citroen e-Berlingo and Vauxhall Combo Electric, as well as joint venture partner Toyota’s Proace.

And now, it has seen an impressive boost in electric range that makes it even more of a convincing proposition for those considering the switch away from diesel power.

In electric form it now delivers a 205-mile range up from 171 miles (WLTP mixed cycle). Some of that increase is down to a new regenerative braking system, which can be activated at three different regeneration levels using steering wheel-mounted buttons, while the 52kWh battery pack offers a greater capacity than the old model did.

The latest Fiat e-Doblo is also offered with CCS rapid charging at a maximum speed of 100kW - twice that of its predecessor, allowing a 0-80% charge in around 30 minutes on a 100kW charger. The onboard charger, meanwhile, is a 7kW unit compatible with most home sockets, while a three-phase compatible 11kW charger is offered an option.

There are two body lengths, a crew cab option in the larger of the two and two trim levels, known as Standard and Primo, the latter of which is also offered as a crew cab with flat-folding seats and a pop-up bulkhead to increase load space when they’re not in use.

In terms of the styling, there’s a new-look front end featuring Fiat’s revised retro-look new badge and new healamps, as well as some more subtle tweaks at the rear.

All versions now come with a smartphone station with inductive charging and DAB radio, Bluetooth and two USB connections.

Safety equipment includes driver attention alert, advanced emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, cruise control and rear parking sensors, while the Primo model gets Stellantis Group’s Dynamic Surround View, which projects images from two cameras to a rear-view mirror.

Power comes from a 136PS electric motor with 270Nm of torque, and offers a lively driving experience. The Fiat e-Doblo’s payload of 780kg and towable weight of 750kg are seen as benchmarks in the segment, but they’re still not as good as diesel models.

The standard warranty runs for three years or 100,000 miles, while the battery comes with an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty. An extended warranty is available under Fiat’s 555 Peace of Mind deal. This brings you five years of warranty, five years of servicing and five years of roadside assistance. It is an optional extra, though.

Buyers can choose from two body lengths on the Fiat e-Doblo – the standard L1 and the Maxi L2. The shorter is 4.4 metres long and the larger is 4.75 metres long, with a crew van formation with a folding rear bench seat offered in the longer of the two.

The shorter body comes with a single sliding side-loading door and barn-style double doors at the back. In Maxi format, you get a second sliding door and in non-Crew Van format it will swallow two Euro pallets, while the maximum loading width is 1630mm. Space between the wheel arches is 1229mm. The payload is 803kg for the L1 model and 751kg for the Maxi, which weighs more to start with and comes with twin side loading doors as standard. The crew cab is rated at 721kg payload and each has a 750kg towing weight.

There are two trim levels – Standard or Primo. Both get a 10-inch touchscreen, inductive smartphone charging, a full-size bulkhead and rear parking sensors.

Plump for the Primo and you get body-coloured bumpers and mirrors and plusher trim, as well as Dynamic Surround View which gives a decent rear-view of the road behind, but its actually quite deceptive when performing low-speed manoeuvres where you’re better off relying on mirrors, instinct and the reverse-parking camera.

The Primo trim is also offered with the option of a split twin front passenger seat, the middle half of which folds flat to allow longer narrow items to be carried through a loading hatch and can also be used as a desk or a work table.

The seating position is extremely comfortable and the interior trim and layout are very much car-like in their appearance and driving position.

The electric motor and battery on the Fiat e-Doblo feature an enhanced version of the proven technology used on other models in the Stellantis Group including a number of passenger cars, and offer a refined, relaxed and surprisingly lively driving experience, with instant torque from the electric motor.

There are three different driving modes: Eco, Normal and Power. The headline 205-mile range only applies in 81PS Eco mode. Expect closer to 130 miles in Normal mode, where the power output is 109PS and you’ll only get the full 136PS in Power mode, which drinks battery power but is useful for merging with fast traffic via slip roads. Bear in mind that the default drive mode is Normal, so if you want to maximise your electric range then you need to manually select Eco each time you switch it on and off.  There are now also four different levels of regenerative braking, which can be selected by switches on the steering wheel, the latter of which will slow the van to a walking pace and offers a useful range benefit when driving around town.

Driver assistance features include lane departure warning, blind spot assist, hill start assist, active safety-assisted braking and hill descent control. Primo models also get a reversing camera.

The Fiat e-Doblo is a rewarding and lively van to drive with good all-round visibility and, as with all electric vehicles the initial power delivery is quite sharp, so around town the Eco mode is totally up to the job – you’ll only need more powerful modes for bursts of dual carriageway or accelerating out of tight junctions.

The ride is supple and soaks up poor surfaces well and the steering is light and easy to judge.

The only real downside is the limited range in higher power modes, which makes it more suited to short-distance and local operators. As electric vans go, it’s one of the best on the market right now.