[Ninja]

Forgot to ask - is there anyway to get Miles/KW displayed when driving? Can only see figures in trip modes when stopped.

 

[AndyBowden]

I always use Range except when slow manoeuvring then Normal. I do this because Range gives one pedal driving, but is jerky at slow speed, I've never bothered to see whether there's an economy difference.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

anyone know where the humidity sensor is located on 2nd gen cars?

Since nobody has replied yet about this, I believe the humidity sensor needs to be on the windshield, in order to detect humidity there before it can cause fog. On the 1st-gen it's just to the right of the rearview mirror (click to enlarge):

If the hard-to-find acoustic windshield was replaced with a plain one then the sensor is right inside the rearview mount cover:

you cannot select heat to screen and face, screen and feet yes, face and feet yes...strange.

That doesn't seem strange to me at all. In fact I don't recall ever seeing that option on any car. For example here's the mode knob of my friend's late-model SUV-of-the-year Hyundai Kona, with no "screen & face" option:

Currently experimenting with "range" v "normal" modes to see what gives best economy

Most driving modes just shift regen between the left pedal & the right one, &/or reduce the sensitivity of the right pedal &/or limit top speed &/or HVAC power. Of course those are all things you can do yourself so with gentle driving & moderate heat, different modes will make absolutely no difference at all. By a HUGE margin, the biggest economy factors are average speed, 1-way hills, & cold weather. Compared to that, everything else is pretty trivial, so you may as well just set the driving mode(s) to whatever you're most comfortable with.

is there anyway to get Miles/KW displayed when driving? Can only see figures in trip modes when stopped.

That WOULD be nice! Instantaneous mi/kWh, like instantaneous MPG in a gas car. I usually drive with real-time motor kW on the speedo screen, but sometimes I zero out one of the trip gauges & watch that while driving, to see how I'm averaging on that particular trip.

 

[Ninja]

Thanks for info. Sensor I think is in the central mount with the rear view mirror. On my other car, a Peugeot, I had the windscreen replaced and the all the sensors had to be reset and calibrated. Autoglass didn't have the software as it was fairly new -about a year old so they paid for it to to be done at the dealer - took weeks to resolve and the question of whether the car was able to be used came up as some safety features disabled and whether insurance still valid. So on that basis I will raise with dealer at next visit.

I watch motor kW on central screen and surprised at the level of power regenerated Not considered putting up trip in main screen while driving, will see if its possible and if so what other displays it replaces.

Have played with normal and range driving modes, agreed not a lot in it but range as Andy said is very jerky at low speeds. Interesting that when you switch between the two the estimated milage remaining in range automatically adds about 5-6%. As you say temp is the biggest factor, finding mine drops from about 160/165 (Oct 2021 when warmish) to about 135/140 now ( 2-4 degrees) . Not as bad as recent car magazine article which put it at 120.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Every EV's GUESS-o-meter is very well-named. Also known as "GOM" or "range gauge", it's basically meaningless. I can very easily make one show 20% lower or 20% higher than the real range, just by driving a bit differently for 10 miles.

The 5-6% added by the mode change is likely based on whatever data the software programmer had for an average petrol car driver. In the 1st-gen 500e, even if you have HVAC in vent mode with no heat or A/C or even fan, the GOM adds range when you switch from vent to "off" .

I didn't mean to imply that temperature is the biggest factor. In fact, speed is an even bigger factor in cold dense air since air drag always makes such a huge difference. It's likely safe to say that on flat roads, speed always matters most, & cold is a fairly close second compared to everything else. Lifting your right foot a few millimeters makes way more difference than any driving mode settings' 5-6%. On the exact same drive to & from my favorite grocery store I use 200% as much power when I'm in a hurry, compared to when I'm not.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I think is in the central mount with the rear view mirror... the question of whether the car was able to be used came up as some safety features disabled and whether insurance still valid. So on that basis I will raise with dealer at next visit.

The dealer is almost certainly not going to disconnect anything for you, so you'd have to do it yourself. However from a personal, logical safety standpoiont it's just as safe as selecting any other HVAC setting besides "auto". That deactivates auto-defrost, but in the 1st-gen it still allows the sensor to run the power-robbing A/C compressor, deactivate the sometimes-power-saving recirculate, & also cause many different errors including ABS, airbags, cruise control, ESC, HSA & PRND (which prevents driving!)

 

[Kamilla Wingfield Grøn]

Generally I am delighted with my 3 month old 500e Prima but it does have a few quirks. I am guessing most of these are new car bugs as the car is still very new in production and hopefully Fiat will be fixing them with an upgrade at some point.

I'd be interested to know if other owners are experiencing anything similar or have noticed idiosyncrasies with their cars. Here are a few of mine:

• Very often the car does not start the first time you put your foot on the brake and press the start button. A second press is required to bring up "Vehicle is ready to drive"
• The front brakes squeak as they are applied electrically.
• The Front Collision Warning function randomly deactivates. (A potentially serious safety issue).
• My UK car will swap from miles to kilometre measurements for no apparent reason. Now there's a bug!
• Often it refuses to recognise a command to start Android Auto. Apple Car Play seems to work ok.
• Short of actually running somebody over, I have been unable to demonstrate the Pedestrian Acoustic Warning System.

Don't know how big the community of 500e owners is yet but it would be good to know if others are sharing my experiences.

I have the same problems (No.1, 2 & 3).
The squeaking is really annoying me, it sounds like I'm driving a playmobile 😁
When I drive in foggy weather all the alarms go off & lights are flashing - so hoping for fewer foggy days And my Fiat app has it's own life - not connected to the car's life

 

[AndyBowden]

I have the same problems (No.1, 2 & 3).
The squeaking is really annoying me, it sounds like I'm driving a playmobile 😁
When I drive in foggy weather all the alarms go off & lights are flashing - so hoping for fewer foggy days And my Fiat app has it's own life - not connected to the car's life

I believe that 1 (not starting on the first press) is just a question of pressing it for a bit longer. One short press is meant to switch the car on without getting it ready to drive off and a second press starts it. Or just press it for longer and it will be ready to drive when you release the button again.
2 - squeaky brakes . Never had the problem, perhaps because I normally drive in range.
3 I wish I didn't have FCW. It only gives false alarms, ie when driving towards a parked car or when there's an oncoming car in a narrow road. I would never consider activating auto braking as I fear the car would stop itself abruptly and be rear-ended. I use my eyes and judgement to avoid collisions, not software. And the 2 second rule, of course.

 

[Ninja]

There is clearly a common thread appearing with more people reporting the same bugs on the 2nd gen 500e. Mine has been back to the dealer for software updates and these work for a while but they reappear. Finding weather, in particular bright sunshine, is when changes reappear - miles to km, horn beeping when lock car (was turned off), headlamp sensitivity setting -notice this as it affects display brightness.
And when you look through car settings you find others have changed. Whilst not dangerous they are becoming increasing annoying for ex. charge rate - not something you notice when you plug in to charge, only when you find its not charged anywhere near what it should have done. Suspect some partial reset is occurring but trying to demonstrate these things to a dealer is difficult.

Like others I enjoy using the car but not sure if I can live with these constant bugs.

Finding dealers (UK) are not sufficiently trained and not sure if they are raising these issues with Fiat. Would be interested know if anyone has contacted Fiat customer services in the UK. Not even sure how to contact them as the only number Fiat give for all contact is the International freephone 00800 34280000.

Kamilla, regarding the brakes - squeaking/creaking, finding mine are gradually improving as I do more miles (1300 currently) and it happens regardless of driving mode.

 

[AndyBowden]

I really haven't found many problems with my La Prima in 11 months and 6,000miles and none that I attach importance to.
Settings have gone back to default values, eg km rather than miles, perhaps 4 times in the period. So far, I've not deduced circumstances which trigger this effect.
The FCW and other functions dependent upon the camera, stop working when driving towards a low bright sun, but recover after a few minutes. Conditions which would trouble any non-military system of this type.
I've not needed to drive in fog yet. That might well be a factor for others.
I've only been back to the dealer (Pewsham Garage near Chippenham) once for software update in August, they seemed knowledgeable and competent, but they've not had any big issues to deal with in my case. They will be doing the first service in April.

The email address [email protected] has responded promptly to one question I had months ago.

 

[Ninja]

Thanks for the reply Andy. Will try the email address you gave. ( I'm in Cornwall - only dealer for area is Vospers)
Unfortunately I am seeing these problems a lot more than you. I'm convinced the bright sunshine yesterday caused the partial reset of many functions, mine never return to normal I have to go through ALL settings and reconfigure. Also seeing some older problems return, eg. when select Drive the message "operation not permitted" is flagged up. Have to shut down and start up again twice.
The latest bug I have concerns the lights in AUTO mode. If I start the car up when dark ( car is parked in garage so most of time) the lights come on - all good, but unfortunately they then never go off even in bright sunlight. If I then restart the car they work fine OR if started first time in the light they work ok.
Planning to give the dealer a call today but not hopeful - discovered I know more about car functions, settings, etc than they do!
Would be interested to know what version of software others have, mine is :
FCA-MY21.R17P.2-PROD
My understanding is that its the R17P.2 that defines the Software version.

 

[AndyBowden]

I have FCA-MY21.R17.16-PROD. Difficult to deduce which is the newer - R17.16 or R17P.2

 

[Ninja]

Just had dealer and Fiat confirm that R17P.2 is the latest software and that are awaiting another update.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I believe that 1 (not starting on the first press) is just a question of pressing it for a bit longer. One short press is meant to switch the car on without getting it ready to drive off and a second press starts it...
2 - squeaky brakes . Never had the problem, perhaps because I normally drive in range.

#1 Quirk: For starting, the handbook does say "Hold it fully depressed for a couple of seconds.", just like starting a phone. That seems to be the most likely solution, although it's great if Andy's 2 short presses also does it.

Of course it must also be in P or N with the brake depressed, but it also says "without touching the accelerator", so that's an easy way to accidentally make it fail. It doesn't mention the door though: My neighbor called me in a panic when her eGolf wouldn't start because she didn't realize the door had to be closed.

#2 Quirk: It's nice to know the squeaky brakes seem to eventually break in. "Range" mode (& "Sherpa") can bring the car to a stop without using the squeaky friction brakes at all. I don't mean that as a solution, just explaining how mode can make a difference.

 

[AndyBowden]

A new minor problem this morning. I got 'Sound System Unavailable' and an orange loudspeaker symbol with an exclamation mark displayed. Also speed limits were completely wrong.
Nothing obviously wrong otherwise and radio was working fine.
Drove 20 uneventful miles though the warning symbol stayed on. Parked the car. Started for the return journey everything back to normal

 

[Ninja]

That's a new one on me. I did contact Fiat customer service and they got back to me - suggested when a bug(s) appears to stop the car and call breakdown to take the car to a dealer. Ridiculous, especially as most reset on shut down/start up. They were unable to offer any timescale for the next software update and whether it will fix any of the bugs being seen.

 

[AndyBowden]

The advice, I think, they ought to have given you is to stop the car and call breakdown if a red warning comes on and drive it to the dealer if it's amber. However, the only sensible advice is stop the car when you are able to and shut down and restart and then decide what action is appropriate.

 

[Ninja]

Totally agree. Had a call from Fiat in Italy this morning - my concerns have been escalated and I have provided details of the all the problems, bugs, quirks, etc. They are also contacting my dealer. Hopefully this will encourage some response.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

• Dealers as yet do not have sufficient knowledge to fix...
• normally I can get things to work by powering up/down several times...
• You can download 500 page guide from Uconnect but only to phone or watch!...
• They were unable to offer any timescale for the next software update and whether it will fix any of the bugs being seen.

As you note, dealers have insufficient knowledge. They may not even know that simply disconnecting the 12V starter battery for 30 seconds in sleep mode will permanently fix many glitches. That's easy to do yourself though, if you get tired of powering down/up while waiting til who-knows-when for new software that might not even help .

Meanwhile, powering off/on more than once is usually unnecessary IF you leave it off until it goes into "sleep" mode. In the 1st-gen they recommend 3 minutes, but you can see it happens in about 2:15 when the screen goes from very dark grey to fully black.

I had no trouble downloading the 320-page guide to my laptop from here:
Owners Handbook for 2021 500e - where to find it!?
Just click "handbook.pdf" then "save as", & make sure it's saving somewhere easy for you to find, like the desktop.

 

[Micah La Prima Cabrio]

I always use Range except when slow manoeuvring then Normal. I do this because Range gives one pedal driving, but is jerky at slow speed, I've never bothered to see whether there's an economy difference.

I have absolutely no jerking at slow speed, very sweet control. However, I did have jerkiy down an exceptionall steep decline at very slow speed - I seem to remember it was off-road.