The Fiat 500 brings back its gasoline engines after the failure of the electric version.
The Italian brand is bringing back gasoline engines for the legendary 500, five years after announcing that the model would be solely electric.
In 2020, Fiat announced that its iconic 500 would be an electric-only model. At the time, and in a context marked by the onset of the pandemic and the success of Tesla models, it seemed that electric cars would become the major assets of the future in Europe, and many manufacturers, such as Volkswagen and Fiat, announced their ambitious electrification plans.
However, five years later, Fiat has had to backtrack and reintroduce gasoline engines in the new 500, which is now a conventional hybrid vehicle. While Fiat did maintain a mild-hybrid or mild-hybrid version of the previous-generation 500 (from 2008) until 2023, the Italian brand's initial plans had envisioned the new Fiat 500s being electric-only.
The reasons for this decision are explained by the low demand and poor commercial performance of the new electric 500. Between 2020 and 2025, Fiat has only sold around 200,000 units of the electric 500, figures well below the brand's targets and preventing the amortization of the investments made in this model. As an example, the previous-generation 500 sold more than 2 million units in Europe between 2017 and 2020, sales figures unthinkable for the new electric model.
The key to the comeback that explains the sales slump and the poor sales figures of the new electric 500 is its price. The Fiat 500 electric has a retail price of 26,500 euros for the entry-level version with 95 hp and only 190 kilometers of range and 31,000 euros for the version with 118 hp and a range of 330 kilometers. The previous Fiat 500 with gasoline engines and mild hybrid mechanics offered similar power and higher ranges at a much lower price, which was around 16,500 and 19,500 euros. Finally, the Fiat 500 electric has fallen victim to Chinese competition, capable of offering cars like the BYD Dolphin Surf, a vehicle slightly larger than the electric 500, more powerful, with greater autonomy, and a price that does not exceed 19,900 euros.
The new 500 hybrid will begin production at Fiat's legendary Mirafiori plant in Turin next November, and Fiat's new CEO, Olivier François, has announced that around 5,000 units will be manufactured before the end of the year, in a series that will be called Fiat founded the brand and as a further gesture towards the Italian administration and local unions, very angry at the decision to manufacture the electric version of the 500 at the Tychy plant in Poland.
The Fiat 500 hybrid will use a 1.0 FireFly three-cylinder gasoline engine associated with a 48 V electric motor and a six-speed manual gearbox. This combination should allow for low fuel consumption, moderate emissions figures, and controlled production costs, which will allow the future 500 hybrid to have an affordable final price, although Fiat has not yet confirmed its sales price. What Fiat has announced is its production target for 2026, with more than 100,000 units manufactured at the Mirafiori plant next year, which should guarantee jobs and the continuity of Fiat in the Piedmont capital.