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How do you solve problems such as electrification? In some cases, the solution may be to consider returning to internal combustion engines. car news europefrom an Italian newspaper Il Corriere della SeraAccording to a report, Stellantis has asked suppliers for quotes to increase production of the Fiat 500e by 100,000 units a year at its Mirafiori factory in Italy, which produces light electric vehicles. The twist in the plot is that factory personnel told his ANE that additional production would be an ICE-powered He500, not a battery-electric version.
Fiat has three challenges with the 500. First, the 500e fell short of its parent company’s production goal of 90,000 units per year. Sales figures for the past two years are in the range of 77,000 units. Second, the ICE-powered 500, a 17-year-old light car built in Tychy, Poland, and still slightly smaller than the 500e, will only be available in Europe until June. The 500 would violate the same cybersecurity regulations that ban Porsche Cayman, Boxster and Macan from the European market. The third is national pride. Italy and the workers at the Mirafiori factory want to keep production numbers high for the country’s only mass-market automaker, but no one is sure the 500e can do that.
Therefore, the cost of alternatives should be investigated. One idea, and I stress this is just an idea, is to redesign his electric-only 500e platform to accept a mild-hybrid gasoline engine. The Mirafiori factory will continue to build the 500e and plans to add another 100,000 or so gas-powered 500s. In Europe, the Gasser 500 still has a strong track record. According to JATO Dynamics, a transportation industry company, Fiat sold 108,943 ICE-equipped 500s, including Abarth models.
If Stellantis sees fit to spend the money, a rumored engine candidate is the 1.0-liter FireFly 3 used in its sister Panda minicar, which produces 69 horsepower. It’s probably a cylinder.
The cost-benefit calculations have hit at least a few hurdles, one of which is that if Stellantis goes ahead with its plans, the resulting car won’t be on the market until late 2025 at the earliest, and possibly two years later. This means that it will not be invested in. Fiat is also not backing away from its stated goal of becoming an EV-only manufacturer in Europe by 2030, meaning the new petrol-powered 500 will only pay for itself in four years at most. On the plus side, the 500e platform is clearly an evolution of that used in the now-defunct Alfa Romeo Mito, and was designed before the merger that created Stellantis. Sister It states that the 500e is built on the same line that made the ICE-equipped Mito.
Stellantis did not deny the report, but did not comment on it. Meanwhile, the automaker is said to be extending production of 500 of its current gasoline engines in Poland until the end of June to fill the dealer pipeline. The Gasser 500 will then head to Stellantis’ facility in Algeria, where it will be built for sale in the Middle East and Africa, but Stellantis has other choices to make about what to do in Europe.
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