When Fiat presented the new generation of its 500 in 2020, the manufacturer had been clear: this city car would enter the electric age, and it would have to be electric. there was absolutely no question of a hybrid version. Promise, swear. But the reality of the market decided otherwise. Faced with the collapse in sales of the electric 500 100 %Fiat had to rethink its plans. In 2024, the former CEO of Stellantis finally announced the arrival of a 500 hybrid based on the new STLA City platform..
Here we are in September 2025, and the first technical details of the Fiat 500 hybrid are now available. At first glance, one might be delighted: it's made in Italy, with an Italian engine, which sounds like a return to our roots, and at last some work for Italian workers. But on closer inspection, the specification sheet comes as a surprise... and not in a good way.
Receding data sheet
The comparison with the previous-generation 500 hybrid (produced in Tychy, Poland) hurts:
| Old Fiat 500 hybrid (2020) | New Fiat 500 hybrid (2025) | |
|---|---|---|
| Engine | 1.0L Firefly | 1.0L Firefly |
| Power | 70 hp | 65 ea. |
| Couple | 92 Nm | 92 Nm |
| 0 to 100 km/h | 13.8 sec | 16.2 sec |
| Maximum speed | 167 km/h | 155 km/h |
| CO₂ | 119-128 g/km | 120 g/km |
| Tank | 35 L | 37 L |
| Tare weight | 980 kg | 1066 kg |
| Mixed consumption | 5.3 to 5.7L/100 km | 5.3 L/100 km |
| Standard | Euro 6d | Euro 6e bis |
As a result, the new 500 hybrid loses 5 horsepower compared with the old model, while retaining the same torque. You might think the difference is insignificant, but in fact it takes more than two seconds longer to reach 100 km/h and loses more than 10 km/h in top speed.
And the most astonishing thing remains elsewhere: its CO₂ emissions. While the previous generation had between 119 and 128 g/km, the new one reaches 120 g/km. The same applies to fuel consumption, which hasn't improved.
Technical choices that raise questions
Why such a setback? Probably because of the new Fiat 500 platform, heavier than the old oneemissions standards. Fiat may well have had to restrict its engine in order to comply with these standards. The problem is that the result is a city car that's heavier, less efficient and, paradoxically, more fuel-hungry.
A paradox even more glaring when we recall the 500 TwinAir, offered a decade ago. Its 85hp turbo twin offered 145Nm of torque, and just 92g/km of CO₂. The 0 to 100 was announced in 11 sec. At the time, Fiat didn't hesitate to call its 500 "the world champion of ecology".
A new 500 hybrid with everything to prove
Fiat is banking on this new hybrid version to revive the career of its combustion-powered 500, but the gamble seems risky. On paper, launching a city car in 2025 that is less efficient than the previous generation seems hard to defend. Of course, there are positive points, such as a safer, more technologically advanced car than the old one. Finally, when customers arrive at the dealership to try out the 500 hybrid, they may well be tempted to leave... with the electric version.
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There's no denying that Fiat is one hell of a strategist! 😅
More like Stellantis. It's clear that this version of the 500 was made in a hurry to compensate for the fall of the electric version. And to drive the point home, it will be more expensive than the Grande Panda.
Zafira500, not Stellantis, the merger is only 4 years old, industrial and R&D decisions need about 5 years, so this is the result of 100 % of ex. FCA!
PS: and it's all Italian decisions like the technique!
Scandaloso ancora 1000 3 cilindri 70 cv nn va avanti in salita e ferma
The strategist behind the electric-only version of the new 500 is... guess what his name is?
@Potté
You mention it as a matter of course, and depending on the timing it can only be Marchionne or Manley, who has remained in his CEA post until 2021.
By 2024, the 2007 Fiat 500 was totally outdated and could no longer be extended indefinitely.
When the 500 e was launched, journalists asked Fiat's CEO if it could be produced in a combustion version, and Olivier François replied that it was possible and under study. In my opinion, the merger with PSA was a factor, and in my opinion, Tavares didn't follow up and then changed his mind in the face of collapsing sales. So, in a hurry, he adapted the 1.0 Firefly, which is too small for the new 500, which is heavier than the old one.
Seriously, believe what a director says on the day of a launch? If it really was under study, that means it was planned from the start. In that case, a Firefly version could easily have been released, even 4 years later, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In short, it's easy to accuse CT of everything now. It won't change the fact that the delay of ex-FCA models is due to a complete lack of investment during the 2010-2020 period in particular.
In my opinion, Fiat's engineers failed to develop the 1.0 l Firefly, which should have benefited from a 12-valve cylinder head, a small turbo for torque, at least 90 hp and an automatic gearbox,
Perhaps due to a lack of time or resources, this little 500 with a smile on its face would have deserved more attention from Stellantis.
I think that if Stellantis had had more time, the result would have been much better.
Brand synergy is far from being a reality in 2025... It starts upstream of the design stage.
In the next few years, it should be fine... Right now, it's just a makeshift temporary solution.
In the automotive industry, every penny saved is important. But new cylinder heads, turbochargers, etc. are expensive. Simply too expensive. The absence of an automatic gearbox is more curious, since it exists...but it's generally bigger than a BVM. So maybe there's not enough room without making major platform modifications. So it just wasn't meant to be. It just sucks!
In fairness no one is buying a 500 for how fast it gets to 100km/h or top speed (which is not relevant as the top speed cannot legally be done), its all about style, and the 500 still has it by the bucket load.
The Fiat 500e, which I've already rented several times, marks a quantum leap from the old Fiat 500 hybrid. In terms of finish and comfort, we've gone from a rather basic city car to one with a touch of luxury about it.
But the new 500 is heavier and less powerful, so there can be no miracle: its performance is in decline. We wonder why Fiat couldn't increase power while limiting CO2 emissions?
There are indeed external factors that naturally degrade enjoyment.
Nomes pollution, safety, etc.
Perhaps the engine has reached the end of its development for not having been increased in power?
They would have been better off restyling the old car with the styling of the new one, while improving on what could be improved, instead of adapting the EV version to thermal. There would have been continuity in the range and it would no doubt have cost less in development and final cost to the buyer.
Those who are disappointed with this new internal combustion version won't go electric, as it's far too expensive for what it is, and its poor results are proof of that.
Stellantis' Italian brands are a real pain.
"Stellantis' Italian brands are a real pain."
we need to take stock of Fiat in 2021 and the projects underway at the time of the merger ... We're verging on the desert!
Of course, after 4 years, they can't work miracles.
There are dozens of Fiat 500e at 12,000 euros with very low mileage in dealerships, and in electric form it's the best city car ever produced by Fiat and the best EV in 2025 according to Stellantis. They should have developed the 600 on the same platform to amortize costs and sell it more cheaply.
The day fossil fuel prices skyrocket for x reasons, we'll be happy to find good used EVs at low prices.
Nevertheless, the 500e is expensive for a limited range compared to the latest, much more powerful Stellantis.
Its design dates back to the 2010s!
Der Absatz ist einfach nur weggebrochen, weil die staatliche Förderung wegfiel und das Auto mit 37.000 EUR viel zu teuer war.
Während der Förderung wurde es von Leasys zig tausendfach für um die 130 EUR/Monat im Leasing angeboten (ohne weitere Überführungskosten).
Der 500e selbst war super und hätte bei einem passenden Preis auch weiterhin Abnehmer gefunden.
Traurig was Fiat hier anbietet. Habe gehofft da kommt was gescheites auf den Markt.
Wir fahren seit nun 13 Jahren ein TwinAir 500 / 85 PS. Ein gigantisch gutes Auto in dieser Kombination.
Tut weh, wenn man liest was sich da für ein lame Kiste auf den Markt drängen will!
Patience, I'm not worried, it's already a good decision and good news because so many of us have been waiting for it in this body style and in a superb convertible! Fiat Italia is going to take it in hand more seriously and quickly with a peachy engine, and then it's going to be a hit!
Hi everyone!
Fiât Italy doesn't exist, does it? Stellantis is the manufacturer and Fiât is the trademark. The current state of the rest of FCA is the consequence of decisions taken ten years ago when the bright lights of the time said that Fiât's future lay in a 500 range and nothing else.
May what happens next prove your predictions right!!!!
It's frightening to see the extent to which decision-makers with diplomas are able to come up with such rubbish!
@Hans, it's easy to comment on the past.
But predicting exactly what will be sold 5 or even 12 years down the road is another matter altogether!
You have to justify spending hundreds of millions on R&D to launch a new 500 combustion engine, which before 2020 was no easy task, especially as sales of combustion engines were almost at their peak at the time.
That's exactly right. However, when you see the level of investment in the "pre-merger" years, you get a strange impression. In fact, FCA's real finances were already in tatters, so it wasn't really possible to do more. We can see the consequences. Nevertheless, bringing out a 65 hp 500 in 2025, after a Lancia Ypsilon 25% that's more expensive than before...etc., doesn't sound very serious. It doesn't sound very serious. I know it's easy to criticize
Everything is about making more profit for high paid executives and shareholders in the next quarter than the last. And we wonder where inflation comes from??
It's a little heavier, but that's also due to the finish and safety standards, which are nothing like those of 2007. But it's in the driving that we'll see if it's a good city car. With its small battery, it can be very pleasant between 0 and 50 km/h. It's in this environment that it should win you over.
Stellantis in all its glory.
Doing worse than the previous model.
Affiliation and disconcerting, it's such a disaster.
21st century British Motor Corporation, or GM pre-2008.
Sorry, but we all know the comparison with the TwinAir is absolutely detached. I love that engine, but it never emmitted 92 g CO2/km. More like 130-140 g/km. It's just that the old European driving cycle allowed a lot more headway for manufacturers for cheating, whereas the new WLTP is a bit more accurate. It's a paradox for a car to consume more fuel, yet emmit less CO2. The two figures are directly correlated.
A Twin Air with a strong mild hybrid set up +36 volts would've been ideal given the Twin Air's past dilemma with low torque, higher real world consumption and hill climbing. It's painfully stupid how Stellantis couldn't figure out such solutions, but finds the time to reverse engineer an EV into a MEH mild hybrid in a platform that is not shared but should be shared with any of the other brands. Mad.
Also - Fiat is not the only one. When the Toyota Aygo relased in 2005 it had a 0-100 km/h time of 14.2s, but it got slower with every generation. Today's Aygo has a 0-100 of 15.6s.
The base 65hp Clio does 0-100 in 17.1 sec. I don't think we've had a Renault this slow since the '90s. It's not as bad in city traffic as it sounds. The first few gears are really short, making it suitable for quick acceleration from red lights, but you'll still feel like laughing stock when launching next to an EV.
But the new Aygo X has now 116 hp. !
If Toyota can do, why not Fiat?
That's true partially. Nevertheless an Aygo is somewhere a low cost urban car like a Panda . Not like a nice urban mini as the 500 is since his arrival. And now the new Aygo, more expensive ,is here with an 116ch hybrid !!!
We are talking about an funny and nice Italian car...not a cheap renault Twingo...
For the entry level why not...but there is no other version announced !!!
I had already predicted this when the first information about the 500 Hybrid's powertrain surfaced. Not powerful enough... I've been known to backbit on other discussion forums. Well, here we are. The facts are in.
I'm going to get my knuckles rapped, but if it's too complicated for FIAT to adapt the 1.3s for economic, logistical and/or standards reasons, why not put the 1.2 Puretech in there? If it didn't have a bad reputation, at least it would have power. And it's said to be reliable... Frankly, all this waiting around for that...
There's not much room for a turbo but there's a more powerful version of this engine being readied for the South American market (because this engine can take the 50% ethanal in their petrol). So there's hope if it fits under the bonnet.
It's to be feared that sales won't be there in the end!
Over € 20.000,- and 55 micro-hybrid hp for a mini-citadin...
Fiat must be offering a gold bar with it for sure. The prices are crazy.
This car should cost no more than € 15,000,-, it's a micro-citadin.
And not being able to fit a little turbo to at least get 80 hp and interesting torque around 1,500 rpm. Fiat's management team is definitely top-notch.
Profits begets inflation, an incestuous cycle.
non promette nulla di buono
Is nobody gonna point out how Stellantis has not bothered to base a new Citroën C1, Peugeot 108, Opel Adam or new Pandalina off the 500's platform? There's a lot Stellantis is squandering and they're getting away with it by convincing morons to blame EVs. The 500e is a unique A segment EV, sadly Fiat was too busy releasing limited editions with Channel and other Italian boutique brand tie-ins, and focusing all their energy on too many crossovers and a weak 12 volt MEH hybrid system that belongs in the 1980s.
A Twin Air engine with 48 volt mild hybrid would've been special.