Check out Fiat's new weirdly doored 500 3+1

Meet the four-door Fiat 500. But we’d forgive you if you needed a double take to spot it. This is the 500 3+1, and it represents good news for anyone missing the Hyundai Veloster in Europe.

Yup, it’s an asymmetrical car, with an additional, rear-hinged door on its passenger side and just the one, regular door for the driver. It’s enabled Fiat to offer better access to the 500’s hindquarters without changing the car’s size or shape, though 30kg has been added to its weight.

Nevertheless, Fiat tells us that the 500’s agility and range are unaffected. It’s electric only in its latest generation, don’t forget, offering up to 118bhp and 199 miles of range.

“The third small door opens in the opposite direction and, given the lack of a centre panel in the door itself, means rear passengers can jump in more comfortably and load and unload large items more easily,” says Fiat. “With the 3+1, the 500 aims to remain alongside customers who have changed their habits and requirements, but not their taste.”

It’s far less of a stylistic jump than any of Fiat’s other 500 spin-offs, and also much more subtle than the Mini’s conversion from three to five doors. Mind, it means it’ll still be too cramped for normal adults in the back, too.

The 500 3+1 is for left-hand-drive markets only for the moment, but there’s enough ambiguity to Fiat’s bumf to suggest we’ll get it in the UK in the future. For now, the regular 500 – with its conventional doors – starts at £22,995, or £19,995 with the current government plug-in grant sliced off. Which means it undercuts the similarly cute Honda e by a healthy margin. Tempted?