Fiat 500 HYBRID – first look at Fiat’s salvation from poor 500 EV sales

The new Fiat 500 Hybrid will go into production in November as Fiat aims to recover from poor 500 sales after going EV-only.

The modern Fiat 500 – along with the BMW-era MINI – have both been hugely successful reboots of an iconic model, and both have now gone down the road of delivering electric models because they have no choice, despite a lack of demand for expensive EVs.

MINI took the pragmatic route of deliering electric MINIs but keeping ICE-based models, whereas Fiat decided to go all-in on EVs becuase the existing 500 Platform couldn’t meet new cybersecurity legislation and they didn’t think it worthwhile developing a new ICE-based 500. Which really hasn’t worked out.

So now Fiat is re-engineering the electric 500 to accommodate an  ICE-based Hybrid powerplant, and early prototypes are now being produced in Fiat’s historic Mirafiori plant in Turin (pictured above).

As the new 500 Hybrid is basically a 500e with a hybrid powertrain, the only visual changes are going to be the grille (suitably camouflaged in the photo) and a tailpipe, with the interior tweaked a bit and complete with a six-speed manual ‘box.

Olivier Francois, FIAT CEO, said:

5oo hybrid offers affordable electrification and iconic style, proof that social relevance is at the core of the Brand mission. With the 500 Hybrid, we are strengthening production at Mirafiori to ensure the plant’s productivity and meet the demand.

Fita hasn’t yet revealed what the Hybrid setup is, but it seems likely it will be much the same as the 1.0-litre setup previously used.

Expect further details to emerge before the new Fiat 500 Hybrid goes into production in November.