Photo: Fiat
Don’t you just hate it when automakers label plug-in hybrid or mild-hybrid vehicles as hybrids? Chrysler does it with the Pacifica, and as expected from FCA, the Fiat brand follows suit with the 500 and Panda.
Both urban dwellers enter 2020 with mild-hybrid tech, a three-cylinder engine that replaces the 1.2-liter FireFly. The newest member of the FCA Global Small Engine family displaces one liter, and as opposed to the 48-volt systems utilized by Audi and Ford, the Fiat runs 12 volts just like the battery.
The belt-driver starter generator is juiced up by an 11-Ah battery of the lithium-ion variety, and if you were wondering, the performance isn’t exactly impressive. Only 70 PS and 92 Nm of torque can be produced on full song, translating to 69 horsepower and 68 pound-feet in stateside currency.
Fiat has engineered the 500 Hybrid and Panda Hybrid to switch off the 1.0 FireFly at speeds below 30 km/h (19 mph) if the transmission is shifted into neutral. When coasting, it’s the lithium-ion battery of the 12-volt electrical system that juices up the auxiliaries, thus improving the car’s efficiency.
The technical department has also come up with a six-speed manual transmission, dubbed “novel” in the press release and codenamed C514. Fiat makes a case for “the use of a specific high-efficiency lubricant and a never-seen-before 6th ratio that improves fuel economy in out-of-town driving.”
To you and me, probably the most interesting part of this powertrain is that Fiat has lowered the engine by 45 millimeters as opposed to the 1.2-liter FireFly before it. That should help with handling, although the 500 and Panda are far from the driver’s cars some people believe them to be. The Abarth, however, is a wholly different story. And an exciting story to boot!
So what’s next after the 12-volt mild hybrid? As you’ve read on autoevolution a couple of times already, the 500e will return this year with more range than its predecessor. In light of what Sergio Marchionne said back in the day about the all-electric model designed specifically for ZEV states in the United States, here’s hope Fiat won’t lose money on every 500e sold.
The belt-driver starter generator is juiced up by an 11-Ah battery of the lithium-ion variety, and if you were wondering, the performance isn’t exactly impressive. Only 70 PS and 92 Nm of torque can be produced on full song, translating to 69 horsepower and 68 pound-feet in stateside currency.
Fiat has engineered the 500 Hybrid and Panda Hybrid to switch off the 1.0 FireFly at speeds below 30 km/h (19 mph) if the transmission is shifted into neutral. When coasting, it’s the lithium-ion battery of the 12-volt electrical system that juices up the auxiliaries, thus improving the car’s efficiency.
The technical department has also come up with a six-speed manual transmission, dubbed “novel” in the press release and codenamed C514. Fiat makes a case for “the use of a specific high-efficiency lubricant and a never-seen-before 6th ratio that improves fuel economy in out-of-town driving.”
To you and me, probably the most interesting part of this powertrain is that Fiat has lowered the engine by 45 millimeters as opposed to the 1.2-liter FireFly before it. That should help with handling, although the 500 and Panda are far from the driver’s cars some people believe them to be. The Abarth, however, is a wholly different story. And an exciting story to boot!
So what’s next after the 12-volt mild hybrid? As you’ve read on autoevolution a couple of times already, the 500e will return this year with more range than its predecessor. In light of what Sergio Marchionne said back in the day about the all-electric model designed specifically for ZEV states in the United States, here’s hope Fiat won’t lose money on every 500e sold.
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