The Fiat Grande Panda EV is the first in the new fleet of EVs that gets charging cables built into the front fascia. This could bring a lot of relief to charging woes faced by people who use Level 2 public charger. In such a scenario charging their EV would demand the person to access the trunk, remove the cable and then plug it into the car or charger. This means you always have a charging cable occupying the trunk space and this is where FIat engineers seem to have come up with a unique solution.
Taking inspiration from electrical appliances like vacuum cleaners, integrating the cable into the charging port makes it retractable in order to stow it away when not in use. This essentially means that the Fiat Grande Panda EV gets two separate charging ports. One of them is a conventional one located on the rear left side of the vehicle and you can open a flap and slot in a CCS cable. The other one features an extending cable with a Type 2 plug which can be pulled out from behind the door in the faux grille.
Convenience of the EV cord
This makes it much easier to charge the Fiat Grand Panda EV into a Level 2 charger. Even the cable does not get dirty as it does not touch the ground. You can extend the cord in the Grand Panda as much you require and this mechanism is to follow suit in all Fiat EV models. The Fiat Grand Panda in its electric avatar is set to debut in early 2025. The cable will in all likelihood be a spiral and this allows it to be extended or retract back to its original position. What is left to see is if other EV manufacturers seek inspiration from Fiat’s new design, for instance other brands under the Stellantis umbrella could follow suit.