Photo: Fiat
Fiat has completed the process of making its entire line-up hybrid with the latest additions to the range, the 500X Hybrid and Tipo Hybrid. The process once started with the 500 Hybrid, and now Fiat has at least one low-emissions version of each model in its range, as the Italians have explained.
Both the 500X and Tipo Hybrid models come with the same engine, a FireFly unit that has a displacement of 1.5 liters. The inline-four-cylinder unit provides up to 130 metric horsepower, while torque is rated at 240 Nm. It comes with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
The turbocharged gasoline unit offered with the 500X Hybrid and Tipo Hybrid is mated to a 48-Volt BSG, which is short for a belt-starter-generator. In layperson's terms, it refers to a 15-kW electric motor that replaces the alternator (referred to as a generator), electric starter, and provides a small power and torque boost.
Fiat claims that its latest hybrids can travel with the internal combustion engine turned off. Unlike previous models from this manufacturer that employ the same e-motor, the gasoline unit can be completely disconnected while the vehicle is driving.
Since the gasoline motor can remain off for up to 47 percent of the total WLTP cycle, the CO2 emissions of the new FireFly unit are up to 11 percent lower in the same cycle as when compared to the predecessor, a 1.3-liter unit.
Unlike other hybrids of this type, Fiat notes that the 500X and the Tipo's unit is capable of parking with its gasoline engine off, as well as driving slowly with no pressure on the gas, which is described as "e-creeping" by the Italians.
While the choice of words may not be the best, it does mean that these cars would keep their engines off in a traffic jam and would not have to start them each time you needed to drive just a few feet forward and then stop again.
Fiat claims that the shifts between the electric motor and the gasoline unit are "practically imperceptibl," and that performance is "never sacrificed." As a result, the Italian automaker known for developing the world's first common rail diesel engine for passenger cars now claims that its latest hybrid system consumes less than a diesel in the WLTP urban cycle.
In the case of the Tipo, we have a WLTP fuel economy rating of 4.7 liters/100 kilometers on the Hybrid model, while the 1.6-liter diesel engine has a fuel economy of 5.0 liters/100 kilometers.
Meanwhile, the 500X's Hybrid version has an average fuel consumption of 5.1 liters/100 kilometers, which is 0.3 liters less for every 100 kilometers (62 miles) than its 1.6-liter diesel equivalent.
The Tipo provides a 0 to 62 mph (100 kph) sprint in nine seconds flat, while the hybrid variant of the 500X takes 9.4 seconds to do the same. The Italians underline the lack of any turbo lag due to the belt-driven starter generator.
The turbocharged gasoline unit offered with the 500X Hybrid and Tipo Hybrid is mated to a 48-Volt BSG, which is short for a belt-starter-generator. In layperson's terms, it refers to a 15-kW electric motor that replaces the alternator (referred to as a generator), electric starter, and provides a small power and torque boost.
Fiat claims that its latest hybrids can travel with the internal combustion engine turned off. Unlike previous models from this manufacturer that employ the same e-motor, the gasoline unit can be completely disconnected while the vehicle is driving.
Since the gasoline motor can remain off for up to 47 percent of the total WLTP cycle, the CO2 emissions of the new FireFly unit are up to 11 percent lower in the same cycle as when compared to the predecessor, a 1.3-liter unit.
Unlike other hybrids of this type, Fiat notes that the 500X and the Tipo's unit is capable of parking with its gasoline engine off, as well as driving slowly with no pressure on the gas, which is described as "e-creeping" by the Italians.
While the choice of words may not be the best, it does mean that these cars would keep their engines off in a traffic jam and would not have to start them each time you needed to drive just a few feet forward and then stop again.
Fiat claims that the shifts between the electric motor and the gasoline unit are "practically imperceptibl," and that performance is "never sacrificed." As a result, the Italian automaker known for developing the world's first common rail diesel engine for passenger cars now claims that its latest hybrid system consumes less than a diesel in the WLTP urban cycle.
In the case of the Tipo, we have a WLTP fuel economy rating of 4.7 liters/100 kilometers on the Hybrid model, while the 1.6-liter diesel engine has a fuel economy of 5.0 liters/100 kilometers.
Meanwhile, the 500X's Hybrid version has an average fuel consumption of 5.1 liters/100 kilometers, which is 0.3 liters less for every 100 kilometers (62 miles) than its 1.6-liter diesel equivalent.
The Tipo provides a 0 to 62 mph (100 kph) sprint in nine seconds flat, while the hybrid variant of the 500X takes 9.4 seconds to do the same. The Italians underline the lack of any turbo lag due to the belt-driven starter generator.
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