DPA
The 3rd generation of the mini car Fiat 500 was presented in Milan – including the electric drive
The Italians are daring. The FCA group took a local risk at the world premiere of the third generation of the Fiat 500. Because the Geneva Motor Show was canceled, the Italians unveiled the new incarnation of their lovingly named “Cinquecento” small car yesterday in their home country – in Milan of all places, even though in northern Italy especially many coronavirus infections were recorded.
The FCA people were not deterred by this. According to reports, the number of journalists at the world premiere was rather small. And they were each one meter apart, because local health regulations dictate this for the current moment.
The visitors got to see – of course – the 500 typical googly eyes on the front, which are typical of the latest Fiat 500 generation. Inside, however, a lavishly dimensioned touchscreen moves in. Fiat also promises that with the new Fiat 500, distance radar and active lane keeping assist will be introduced in the tiny class for the first time.
The Italians are daring a small revolution in terms of drive: The Fiat 500 will in future only be available with a battery drive. With 117 hp, the electric 500 should accelerate to 100 km / h in nine seconds. The fully charged 42 kWh battery is said to be good for a range of 320 kilometers, the lithium-ion cells can be quickly charged with up to 85 kW. At correspondingly fast charging stations, it should only take 35 minutes for the batteries to be 80 percent charged.
Fiat 500 Electric becomes the very first battery electric car for FCA
All of these are quite respectable, but not exactly outstanding values for an electric vehicle. Fiat, on the other hand, is very self-confident in the price: the “Launch Edition” of the 500 is expected to cost a whopping 38,000 euros before any government funding. For comparison: the previous basic version of the 500 with combustion engine costs around 16,000 euros. “The 500 is not a mass market product, nor is it the cheapest car in its segment, and it will remain so,” said Fiat brand boss Olivier Francois according to “Automotive News Europe” at the presentation.
The detailed press text for the presentation of the new 500 reads as if Fiat were suddenly turning the car onto a particularly green course. Right from the start, it is questionable whether the Elektro-Cinquecento will have a long life at all.
Because with his tiny child, the FCA Group is now breaking new ground for him. The E-500 is the first purely battery-powered model from the FCA Group – in other words, the first “real” FCA electric car.
Because the Italian-American car company is one of the real laggards in the field of electromobility in the industry. For years, the group was plagued by money problems. Former FCA boss Sergio Marchionne therefore invested as little as possible in new models and only the bare minimum in new drive concepts.
Because California made car manufacturers legally responsible for selling electric cars, Fiat also had a suitable vehicle on offer for a while: the Fiat 500e, a purely battery-powered electric car that was only produced in small numbers. Despite a rather meager range of around 200 kilometers, the car cost just under $ 33,000 – and Marchionne didn’t like it: “I hope they don’t buy it,” he said at a conference in 2014. “Because every time I sell one, it costs me $ 14,000.”
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