[AndyBowden]

Some times people's wishes come true.

 

[AndyBowden]

Has Fiat thought about where to sell the 500e. Most of all the Fiat studio’s have gone belly up
across the country.

A big problem in UK is finding a Fiat dealer competent to work on the new 500e. In the US starting with the small number of remaining Fiat franchises, the situation is potentially worse.

 

[AndyBowden]

Fortunately it's nearly never a problem. All 2,600 Stellantis dealerships (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, etc) always had all the 1st-gen software updates available. The last one was way back in 2018.

Since then, nearly nobody ever needs a dealership at all. Any independent service center can do the standard fluid checks & standard inspections: Suspension, steering, CV joints, brakes, & hoses.

With the 2nd generation 500e, certainly the early ones, it's quite common to have to go back to a dealer for software updates.

 

[AndyBowden]

..., but still readily available at the 2,600 existing US dealerships.

Once they have been trained and equipped to work on the 500e. Only a fraction of the UK Fiat dealers are allowed by Fiat to work on the 500e currently. The 3 nearest Fiat dealers to me aren't yet.

 

[AndyBowden]

It's not the complexity of software updates which delay UK dealerships' qualification to work on the 500e. They can't work on the 500e at all, even for routine services, unless qualified. The complexity of updating the software on a 500e is no different from my AR Giulia. All UK AR dealers can do all work on the Giulia.
As @MaryWhitehouse says, it's all down to paranoia in Europe about H&S. ie the fact that there's quite a lot of high voltage energy in the car.

 

[AndyBowden]

Yes, there is high voltage in the car, but there are built-in safeties*, and those parts nearly never need to even be looked at, let alone touched, especially for regular service. Much like a petrol car's even higher voltage ignition system, & toxic/explosive/flammable fluids, the high voltage of an EV can be ignored during software updates, which again are nearly all that's ever needed from a dealership.

All true, but FIAT UK seem to be taking the view that to do any work on the 500e, a technician has to be trained on the HV aspects.
My presumption is this is legislation driven and dealers of all EV makes in this country have the same attitude.