500e with petrol engine
The Fiat 500 Hybrid returns, now as a petrol version of the 500e. Production is being prepared in Italy, and Fiat is now showing us the first images of the real thing.
Last year, the Fiat 500 Hybrid, which was fundamentally seventeen years old, was discontinued, and since then the electric and much newer Fiat 500e has been on its own. But not for long, because Fiat has managed to spoon a petrol engine into the 500e, and with that, the return of the Fiat 500 Hybrid is imminent. Today we get to see the car in its entirety for the first time. We already caught an extensive glimpse of it in May.
You don’t have to look twice to see that it is simply a petrol version of the 500e. The Fiat 500 Hybrid looks strikingly like its electric brother, with the biggest difference being that there is a small opening in the nose. Undoubtedly, it is there because the petrol engine simply needs more cooling. What kind of engine is in there? Well, the well-known 1.0 mild-hybrid (12V) FireFly engine that was already in the previous 500 Hybrid. Now too, it is probably 70 hp strong and it is linked to a manual six-speed gearbox.
In the interior of the Fiat 500 Hybrid, it is also all 500e that strikes the clock. There is a 10.25-inch infotainment screen and a 7-inch digital instrument panel. Wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay are also included. The biggest difference with the 500e is the presence of the gear lever, at the bottom of the dashboard.
Like the Fiat 500e, the new Fiat 500 Hybrid will be launched as a three-door, as a 3+1 and as a Cabrio. Production will start in November of this year at the Mirafiori factory, and 5,000 units must be built by the end of this year. Ultimately, around 100,000 units must be produced on an annual basis. A lot of work to be done for the factory, where production had occasionally come to a standstill due to disappointing demand for the electric 500.