Fiat announced this week that between 2025 and 2030, their product lineup will gradually become electric only. This will be a radical change for Fiat. They have decided to launch the new 500 — electric and electric alone.
Why is this news is important? Because Fiat, for all of its long and illustrious history as an automaker, has been primarily a purveyor of mass market cars — the vehicles that ordinary people use for ordinary purposes, meaning EVs aren’t just for the wealthy any more. They are for everyday transportation for everyday people who do everyday things..
General Motors too had announced similar plan and said it will go all electric in 2035. Fiat intends on getting there 5 years sooner than that. This, folks, is big news.
The company doesn’t much care about the US passenger car market. But in Europe, where cities are incredibly congested and people normally travel shorter distances each day for them they have introduced a new version of the 500e built on a dedicated EV chassis which will likely also be used for the upcoming Centoventi Concept EV. That concept, for all intents and purposes, is a preview of the next generation Fiat Panda.
For now, Fiat’s focus is on city cars, but in the future it will also develop EVs on the STLA platform used by Stellantis for the Peugeot e-208 and Vauxhall Corsa-e. Sales of the 500e have been red hot in the home market recently.
The company is not just focused on building electric cars. It has plans to address the need for EV chargers in communities with lots of apartments and condominiums and is looking to increase the number of fast-charging points available to customers.
Reference- Fiat website & PR, Autocar, Clean Technica, Inside EVs