Back in January Fiat and Chrysler struck a deal that saw Fiat get a 35 percent stake in Chrysler for which they’d get to use some of Fiat’s engine designs. Now, according to Quattroroute Magazine, it looks like Fiat is designing a hybrid system specifically for small cars which Chrysler will get to make use of.
The new hybrid vehicles would see Fiat’s new 900cc 2-cylinder turbocharged engine working with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery. Interestingly this hybrid system will also be able to be plugged in.
While plug-in hybrids aren’t breaking any new ground, Fiat is looking to put the system into their little 500 series as well as the soon to be released Topolino. This would be a landmark for hybrid vehicles in that a 500 would be the smallest hybrid out there.
This type of vehicle might see some decent sales in the US which would be great for a struggling Chrysler assuming that they really do get some Fiat models with this hybrid system.
June 30th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Like the Mini, the 500 is iconic. It is believed that a good percentage of the 50 plus Italian population has been conceived in the back seat of a 500. There are songs and of course many jokes in Italy about the subject.
Bringing back the 500 is a great idea reminiscent of the times when people used to talk to each other instead of……texting.
October 10th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
My dad was stationed in Italy in the mid 60′s when he was in the USAF.He bought
a Fiat 500 for him to go to work & run around in.I learned to drive in this car
when I was 14 yrs old.I was terrified,The tires on the large trucks were taller than the car.It was a stick shift w/ a rag-top.A grown person could stand next to it & look down into the car thru the top.What a great childhood memory.
October 17th, 2010 at 8:19 am
Speaking about the Fiat hybrids, the technology double clutch with electric motor between has been stolen by a patent that Fiat Company has never wanted to purchase, but only shamelessly to copy. I invite to visit my blog where her “vitality” of the Fiat planners it appears in all of evidence:
http://dualsymbioticelectromechanicalengine.blogspot.com/
Whoever appreciates an honest industrial ethics in defence of intellectual ownership should spread out the history reported in my blog. If the industries can afford unpunished to copy the ideas and defending it need very expensive legal action, to which target need the patents? How our young people can find intellectual courage if the economic potentates crush the rights of the single ones?
Ulisse Di Bartolomei