Currently the Fiat 500e is produced in Mexico and sold in some states of the USA, but the next generation Fiat 500e will be produced at FCA’s Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy.
Moreover, the Fiat 500e will get a new platform entirely designed for small electric cars. This was announced yesterday by FCA during a meeting with trade union signatories.
While the electric Fiat 500 will be the first car to get the dedicated small Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) platform, other models will follow.
FCA CEO Mike Manley – who replaced the dinosaur Sergio Marchionne – said:
“Mirafiori will represent the first installation of a full BEV platform applied on the new Fiat 500, capable of scaling to other applications worldwide. Additional investments across our Jeep, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat brands will realize the benefits of existing plant capacity as well as scale and sourcing efficiencies from a common vehicle architecture, and Plug-in Hybrid Electric propulsion (PHEV) system, while preserving traits unique to the brands”.
Furthermore, Pietro Gorlier, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Europe, Middle East, Africa region, announced the plan to launch 13 all-new or restyled models during the 2019-2021 period, and the focus on hybrid and electric technologies.
Anyway, FCA thinks that the Fiat 500e will be the perfect city car, especially for car-sharing services. Volkswagen thinks the same about the Volkswagen e-up.
It’s clear that electric cars are perfect for city driving, where they often use regenerative braking. The extremely low running costs and the fact that some European cities are already banning ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars, make electric cars very tempting for car-sharing services and automakers are now aware of this new business opportunity.
I don’t know how well will the new generation Fiat 500e be welcomed in Europe, but since it’s a small car designed for the city environment I think that it depends more on the price than the range it’ll have. Considering that Skoda is aiming to sell the e-Citigo for 19.000 euros I hope that Fiat doesn’t overprice it too much. Fiat will probably charge 4.000-5.000 euros extra for the cute factor…
However, the most direct alternative to the Fiat 500e would be the Renault Twingo ZE – if Renault stops postponing it -, which seems to be a Fiat 500e with two extra doors for extra practicality and still cute.
Renault Twingo ZE
What do you expect from the new generation Fiat 500e regarding range, price and availability?
