We're all, I hope, looking forward to the various incoming bans on petrol and diesel engines, right? We know we need to do it; we know we need to stop pumping carbon into the atmosphere and clean up the air we breathe, especially in city centres. But there's one thing we're overlooking, and it's potentially tragic - ice cream vans.
Ice-cream vans already being banned
Most ice-cream vans, as the name suggests, are based on vans, vans with big, polluting, nasty diesel engines and there are increasing numbers of city centre and urban bans for such vehicles around the world. Rightly so, but then it does mean that the vans bringing us ice cream - a vital national resource - are swept up in those bans. Think this is hyperbole? Not so - combustion-engined ice-cream vans are already being restricted in the London boroughs of Camden, Greenwich and Westminster City, and where the UK goes, Ireland tends to follow (except for Brexit, of course).
Well, thankfully, Fiat has a solution, and it's the cutest solution to this ice-cream van crisis that you could imagine. It's a concept car based on the electric 500e Convertible called the Gelateria Edition.
Just in time for a predicted August and September heatwave, the Gelateria Edition gets easily around emissions-based vehicle bans and fines, such as London's ULEZ, and gets pretty easily around congested city streets, too (cos it's small, see?).
Fiat has done some proper research on this too, finding that 92 per cent have bought ice cream from an ice-cream van, which is presumably why 83 per cent agree that 'ice cream vans are a quintessential part of [our] culture'. Also, nearly half (48 per cent) said they would be upset if ice-cream vans disappeared.
Seats removed
To turn the 500e into the Gelateria Edition, Fiat has removed the front passenger seat and the rear seats, which means that the driver - sorry, the gelataio or geletaia - can move easily around inside the car to serve their customers.
Frozen gelato trays (proper posh ice cream, no Vienetta here...) are mounted above a bespoke cabinet containing dual battery-powered freezers storing up to 30 litres of gelato - enough to serve approximately 300 people per day - as well as additional accessories such as cones, tubs and spoons.
The outside of the Gelateria Edition, following Fiat's recent statement that it would be banning boring grey paint from its vehicle palette, is painted in a sunny combination of light blue and cream colours - with wheels to match. A unique Gelateria badge, finished in a warm bronze, is also on the boot and front wheelarches.
Sun canopy
This being the 500e Convertible, the fabric roof can be rolled back, and then the Gelateria Edition has a bespoke sun canopy that can be raised so that the gelataio or geletaia can whip up your whippy without getting horribly sun-burned.
Needless to say, this being an ice-cream van (well, not a van - ice-cream cabriolet?), the 500e Gelateria Edition comes with a chime to let your kids (and, let's face it, you...) know it's coming. The chime is inspired by the operatic sounds of Italy, which Fiat claims "passionately, yet softly notifying customers of its presence at the push of a special button on the car's dashboard."
Inside the Gelateria Edition, there's a special cream-coloured (appropriate) dashboard finish, with another bronze Gelateria badge and a special driver's seat upholstery. There's also storage space for deck chairs, and the more I read about this car, the more I wish Fiat would actually put it into production.
There's even a special ice cream flavour developed for the Gelateria Edition! Bicerin - a traditional hot drink native to the Italian city of Turin and the birthplace of Fiat - is the inspiration for Fiat's new gelato flavour, consisting of coffee, chocolate and oat milk ingredients.
The Gelateria Edition has been made especially for the UK (boo! Bring it here!) and Damien Dally, Managing Director of Fiat UK, commented: "Understandably, the British public cherishes the ice cream van during summertime, yet the old-fashioned combustion-engine examples of the past are fast becoming outdated - and for good reason. While the Fiat 500e Gelateria Edition remains a one-off UK concept, based on the 500e Convertible, it is a zero-emission solution that demonstrates the car's versatility in city environments. It's small, compact and electric, styled with the brand's Italian heritage in mind. Plus, the open-top roof brings a touch of dolce vita wherever you go."