A Hybrid Fiat 500?

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

Auto Express reports that Fiat is mating their ultra-efficient TwinAir, two-cylinder 900cc engine with a hybrid powertrain. Destination: A Fiat 500 that could get 100+mpg and an emission rate of 70g/km. The plan is to put a small 5kW (8bhp) electric motor into the gearbox casing. The TwinAir engine is so small, there will be space under the hood for the battery.

The article also posits that the cell could power some of the car’s ancillary components when the stop-start system shuts off the engine. In Europe, because Fiat build their 500’s in the same factory as the Ford Ka (they share the same platform), there’s a possibility that Fiat could offer the powertrain to Ford, also. However, one thing leaves me cold. All this technology is great and the 100+mpg figure is brilliant, but incorporating a hybrid powertrain in a car of this class could send the vehicle out of the price bracket where it should be competing. Could Fiat better spend their research budget better by improving the fuel economy of their bigger cars? One could argue that they could spend the money to improve their reliability, but I couldn’t possibly comment…

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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  • Advance_92 Advance_92 on Jul 15, 2010

    The 500 is one of the 'it' cars in Europe. It's the perfect platform to demonstrate new technology and push it out from there, particularly if these examples are using smaller motors all around more suited to a small car.

    • Splateagle Splateagle on Jul 15, 2010

      +1 The 500 already sells *way* below the price of perceived competitors like the MINI, so there's room for a little upward momentum there for a premium hybrid model. After all (as noted elsewhere on this site) hybrid buyers aren’t bargain-hunters.

  • Splateagle Splateagle on Jul 15, 2010

    "One could argue that they could spend the money to improve their reliability, but I couldn’t possibly comment…" Really Cammy, most of the reviewers on here at least have the excuse that they last saw FIATs for sale in their native markets 30+ years ago but you really should know better. Shall we look at some statistics instead of rehashing old cliches? OK so FIAT aren't top of the table for reliability but they're out performing marques like BMW, Audi and Volvo, and you don't see motoring journalists struggling to write those names without taking a pop at reliability.

    • See 3 previous
    • Splateagle Splateagle on Jul 23, 2010

      @ Littlecarrot, while it is great fun to select data in order to confirm your existing viewpoint, it's hardly accurate or objective. Addressing the (highly selective and imbalanced) criteria you chose, FIAT's engine component failure rate is 30th in a field of 36 and I agree, could stand improvement but it's also 15.73% which is 5% over the average for that field. Hardly that different. The fact stands that on a balanced reliability comparison with other manufacturers FIAT are in the middle ground, not the bottom. 7 of RI's top 100 "most reliable cars" are FIATs (8 if you include the Ford Ka which is built for Ford by FIAT in a FIAT plant), meanwhile the list of the 10 least reliable models contains no FIATs, but three Mercedes two Audis and a BMW - which brings me back to my point: if reliability isn't a reflex criticism of those marques in reviews (and it isn't) why should it be for FIATs?

  • European European on Jul 15, 2010

    "Could Fiat better spend their research budget better by improving the fuel economy of their bigger cars? " WHAT bigger cars?? ;-)

  • MJC MJC on Mar 08, 2011

    I don't doubt that a hybrid version would increase the price, though I really wouldn't like to say whether or not that would push it into a different price bracket altogether. I can only say that I hope it wouldn't. But as others have said, those looking for hybrids probably won't be looking for the lowest price tag possible. Providing Fiat doesn't make all of its city cars into hybrids and push them into a completely different price bracket, I can't see a problem. The hybrid would be bought by one target market, the other models by another target market. That said, I'm no businesswoman, so feel free to shoot me down. :)

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