A few years ago, Fiat had a problem with one of its big image-makers. The electric Fiat 500e city car simply wasn’t selling well enough for the scale of its production line to make sense. Rather than allocate some space in the Mirafiori plant to another model, Fiat set about the arduous task of turning an electric car into a hybrid. The development window was small, but Fiat seems to be pulling it off, with pre-production examples of the 500 Hybrid already being built.
If that wasn’t interesting enough, among the staged low-resolution photos of a pre-production 500 Hybrid released by Fiat sits a partially camouflaged dashboard shot proudly displaying a shifter with a six-speed H-pattern on a cue ball knob. Yep, it’s a hybrid with a manual transmission, a sensible city car with gears you can row yourself.
Needless to say, hybrid cars with manual transmissions are rare. Outside of a handful of Hondas (including the original Insight and the CR-Z), there aren’t many around. However, this makes me wonder what Fiat means by “hybrid.” See, Honda’s stick-shift hybrids used the old Integrated Motor Assist system, which was a parallel hybrid system. This means that the engine couldn’t purely act as a generator while the motor alone drove the wheels, but rather, the motor provides regenerative braking and drives the car with the gasoline engine, reducing load on the engine and allowing for a smaller combustion engine than would be needed in a non-hybrid setup.
In contrast, the series-parallel hybrids we’re used to today can all drive the wheels on electric power alone, and some don’t even require a transmission at all, but the logistics of a series-parallel system with a manual transmission are complicated to say the least. Electric motors don’t require multi-speed transmissions, but shutting off and starting up a combustion engine with a clutch engaged while a vehicle’s in motion can be, well, dangerous without at least a freewheel mechanism on the flywheel. At the same time, manually shifting a gearbox with an electric motor engaged sounds like it could be a tricky proposition for rev-matching, and potentially an invitation to break stuff with enough output.
However, there’s a good chance Fiat’s using the hybrid moniker a bit generously. See, Stellantis already has a suitable powertrain, a one-liter three-cylinder engine with a 48-volt mild hybrid system, all mated to a manual gearbox. It was used in the old 500 and is used in the Fiat Panda, and it kicks out a modest 70 horsepower. Is that the powertrain in this new 500 Hybrid? Fiat won’t say one way or another yet, but it’s plausible that an already homologated powertrain could’ve shortened lead times, albeit while leading to its own challenges.
Regardless of what’s under the hood, just think about what goes into taking an electric car and turning it into a combustion-powered one. It requires carving out gallons of space for a fuel tank and exhaust system, ensuring a combustion powertrain fits under the hood without causing any issues in crash tests, changing spring and damping rates to deal with the change in weight, snaking a filler neck up into the quarter-panel, running fuel lines up and down the car, punching out enough of the frontal area for adequate cooling, packaging larger heat exchangers, the list just goes on. In this case, it also requires finding room in the dashboard for a shifter mechanism, designing a new pedal box with a clutch pedal that won’t cause issues in crash testing, running additional hydraulics through the firewall, and getting everything to play nice with the body electrical system.
It’s a bear of a task, and the fact that Fiat seems to be pulling it off is fascinating. Of course, there’s still some tweaking to be done and processes to nail down before production kicks off in the fourth quarter of this year, but pre-production models already rolling down the line at Mirafiori is a good start.
Top graphic credit: Fiat
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
Hyundai does make a Tucson with a parallel hybrid system that is available in other markets with a manual transmission and a diesel. I drove one a couple of years ago and it was nice as far as cute-utes go. Got about 40mpg equivalent.
Had a couple of the first-generation Honda Insights with the stick shift and hybrid. Loved them in a slow-car-fast kind of way, and LOVED the fuel economy, which few cars even today can touch.
I’m sure these won’t be that awesome, but color me curious…
(https://itisgood.org/auto-biography/#02Insight)
It would be fun if they ended up putting the engine in the rear, like the original 500.
These Flat Soo’s look kinda strange, but probably drive well.
I’d buy a manual Toyota or Honda hybrid minicar. But a Fiat? No way, Giuseppe.
I drove a last gen one of these when I was in Spain last summer, and while they may not be fast the manual makes it enjoyable.
Yeah I eented one when I vistied Rome and Turin back in 2016, it was the perfect car for rumbling through Rome city streets, and gridlocked downtown Turin. Wasn’t great on the freeways between the two cites, about on par with driving the Sonic I owned at the time; but smaller.
I hope any US homologation process includes a full regimen of vaccines, because that Fiat is foaming at the mouth.
Sounds like 10 lbs of stuff in a 10lb bag. Juuust enough space to make it horrrrible to work on, but great when it’s working.
> great when it’s working
Which seems like a stretch goal.
My guess is that regardless of the stated corporate direction from on high, Fiat engineers designed the car for the possibility of installing an ICE at some point. Otherwise it would be an insanely complex and expensive undertaking to convert both the existing EV car and the assembly line to Hybrid/ICE.
How much of the current 500’s architecture is a carryover from the previous generation? If it is more of an iteration rather than a whole new platform, that could explain the quick turnaround time.
I bet some of the Fiat engineers groaned when they first heard what they had to do.
Given Stellantis’ resources, or lack, I’d all but guarantee that this is the same old mild-hybrid unit they already have.
I had 500 hybrid for a rental when I was in England a few years ago. Even with the manual, I really wasn’t a fan of it. It was painfully slow and not even in a fun way, the whole driving experience was just kind of meh.
I am interested.
I’ll wait for details.
Thankfully, there’s a mechanic named Tony just down the street from my job…
Died 2016
Born 2026
Welcome back CR-Z
This is a bit of wishful thinking, but I hope they take this hybrid tech and make an exciting, simple Abarth with it! Maybe a high-revving nat-asp, low displacement 4pot, since the motor can fill in torque?
Can we get the Panda version of this, please?
This feels a little like Fiat has been reading car enthusiast comments and is replying “Prove it.”
If they’d been doing that, they’d have skipped straight to “Abarth. What, son?”
Interesting little car could be fun. The etouq system on a small engine could be a good little hybrid setup
I just want to point out that it looks like the top shot blurred the pissed Fiat’s mouth while it told me to go f*ck myself.
It’s worth noting that the Fiat 500e shares some of its platform with their “multi-energy” platform that underpins a variety of small cars available as BEV, PHEV, and Mild-Hybrid
This is interesting. I’d love to test drive it if it comes to the States. Fourth quarter of this year did you say?
Also, what’s the deal with the graphic thing over the front of the white car in the top image? All those little circles/disks/whatever? Is that a temporary cover for some reason during assembly? The graphic reminds me of those old stores (maybe they were Woolworth stores) where above the storefront there’s sometimes a bas-relief facade element, usually in a celadon green sort of color, and (to the best of my recollection) often featuring gears in the design? I googled briefly, but couldn’t find an image to share.
Anyway, that’s what the circle-spattered rectangular thing on the nose of that white Fiat reminds me of.
I do find the car interesting though, and yes, the idea of what would be involved in converting an electric car into a gas hybrid seem daunting. Does this mean there’s no plain-gas powered 500 anymore in Europe?
Thanks Thomas! 😀
It looks like the car’s mouth was taped over to keep it from talking
Flash your brights if you’re being tortured
The camouflage is likely because that’s the external part of the body they had to change to add vents for a radiator. There is indeed no petrol 500 in Europe any more – electric 500, hybrid 600, hybrid Panda, and diesel(!) Tipo.
Thanks G_N! 🙂
I know a little about the Grande Panda, and I’m definitely a fan of any cheap, stylish, and practical EV that knows it’s not necessary to have a sub-six-second 0-60 time. 😉 I also really quite like its cousin, the Citroen C3 too. I dig Fiat, even though I’m probably a little guilty of the whole ‘fix it again Tony’ attitude, having seen and ridden in so many rusting sh1tbox Fiats back east when I was a kid in the 70s.
I gotta say that the Japanese shouldn’t get all the credit for good engineering IMO. I’ve got a truly ancient DeLonghi espresso machine that I bought used via Craigslist for $40 decades ago, and I’ve been using daily ever since, and it never breaks or fails or disappoints ever. If it doesn’t work, it always turns out to be that I’m to blame for having let the water reservoir run dry. I’ve also got a small, remote-controlled Ozeri fan by the bedroom window that I use about 355 nights a year. It’s got this great low-speed ‘quiet’ mode where you can barely hear it, yet it’s still moving a decent amount of air (helps me sleep) and it’s still quiet and sitll on the original batteries in the tiny remote.
Italy should get more credit for their ability to build greatness when they want to. After all, it’s where we got both Sophia Loren and Debora Capriolgio! Plus all those million-dollar Italian supercars that I find somewhat less interesting. 😉
Back to the 500:
Does anyone have any insight/opinion whether we’re likely to see this manual transmission hybrid 500 in America? We buy so few manuals compared to Europe that I’d be surprised if Fiat decided it was worth it to federalize this model, leaving us with the somewhat pricey 500e EV as their only offering. 🙁
PS: I like your username. 🙂
The film over the front is “camo” to disguise key design elements before public launch. Their inclusion here is supposed to add to air of mysetery by these “leaked” pre-production shots. It’s very common to see full vehicles wrapped in similar stuff rolling around in Metro Detroit, or just key portions of a new disign covered. The OEMs sure like to try to control the narrative about their cars and messaging about product changes, which is also why most of the dash is swaddled by mysterious cloth in the interior photos.
Ah, thanks Max. I assumed this was probably the case, but I though it odd that they’d show the whole exterior except the grill, like it’s some sort of Italian state secret.
I hope we get it in the states (but won’t hold my breath) since there are so few manual cars available here anymore.
I’ll bet it’s a hoot to drive. My 500e is a go-kart, and something that weighs even less is probably even more fun.
I would like to drive one in a city, but I have 0 plans to buy a new one.
Oh, I’m certainly not buying it, but when the lease is $33 a month, leasing it makes a ton of sense.
From your keyboard to Glob’s ears Bearddevil. I’d absolutely think about leasing a 500 hybrid with a manual gearbox if it were as fun to drive as I hope it is (and the lease were attractive enough). And who knows, if it also turns out to have a modicum of reliability, I might choose buy it out at the end of the lease.
I definitely want mine in some great non-metallic color that only Fiat would have the design sense to offer. 😉
I drove a Focus Ecoboost hybrid in Germany that was manual and a hybrid. Actually, according to this link the hybrid was only manual transmission:
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/ford/focus-st/10-ecoboost-hybrid-mhev-155-st-line-x-edition-5dr/first-drive
Anyway, it was a “mild hybrid” like this, and it was decent.
I don’t think we got that here… Ford hybrids usually tend to come with automatics, though maybe there was a rare/early Fusion or Focus or something that could have theoretically been ordered with a manual?
I drove the original/first Honda Insight hybrid with a manual, and while it wasn’t awful (and could sometimes hit 70 MPG apparently) it really gave off an ‘enclosed golf cart’ vibe given the tiny cabin and rather stiff ride (it didn’t help that your butt cheeks were only a few inches off the asphalt). I also drove the later Honda CRX hybrid with a manual, and it was much better. Not quite a sports car, it was more of a somewhat sporty hatchback, but it looked great and felt quality inside. I don’t know how the very small battery pack in these age, and what their depreciation curve is like, but one of those CRXes used might be nice if I could find a clean, manual-equipped one.
No one asked, but the tradeoff for having lots of rust-free used cars to pick from in southern California is the fact that their prices are elevated (quite a lot sometimes) from what the same cars cost in the rest of the country. Just try to find a clean Volvo 240 here and you’ll be shocked at how much more they cost vs. the Pacific northwest or back east (though theirs will often be rusty as fu¢k). 😉
Full disclosure: I had to ask the duck how to type that cent symbol (rather than risk a copy/paste). It’s Alt 0162 in case you’re wondering. 😉
This was a 2021+ focus wagon long after that nameplate left our shores. There was never a manual hybrid option in the US. Just pointing out that a manual mild hybrid is actually very common in Europe.
I don’t know how “hybrid” the crz or insight manuals were. I suppose they were likely mild hybrid just like the focus, but less powerful
As best I can recall, neither the Insight or the CRZ were all that powerful. I think Honda uses its “IMA” (maybe stands for integrated motor assist?) system in both cars.
There it is. A true unicorn that enthusiasts have begged for…a small, affordable, hybrid, manual car with a soul. Now will any of us actually buy it? Of course not!
I am not crazy enough to buy an electric fiat. I thought about getting a 500e when they were dirt cheap but electricity and italian built don’t mix well.
Dunno – I’ve had my leased 500e for about 1300 miles now, and it’s been great so far. It’s terribly fun to drive, and it just works. It’s perfect for my commuting and daily driving tasks. I’m not going to buy out the lease when it’s up, though. 19K is too high of a residual for a 2 year old EV with limited range.
But if they bring the Hybrid to the US, and it’s actually good, and it’s around $25K, I’d give it a very serious consideration as my next city car after the lease on the 500e is up.
1,300 is not a long distance, thats less than me visiting my parents twice a year.
for most people, that isn’t a real car.
for most
peopleAmericans, that isn’t a real car.We are neither the only market or use case for a vehicle. For those who are, the 500e and the 500 Hybrid are certainly “real cars”.
I see plenty of Fiats in Chicago, where a small get-around makes sense.
I have a car so I can leave the city
If I’d had it longer, I’d have longer term data. That said, there’s not really a lot to go wrong with it. I could wish for manual door latches, but otherwise, it’s pretty simple.
Except for all the well-documented issues that could potentially go wrong depending on the model year, sure
*shrug* It’s leased, so it’s all warranty, anyway. But it’s got a lot fewer electronics than a lot of new cars, and I’m a fan of that.
I’m glad you like it, but I would be hard pressed to imagine a scenario where buying one would actually be a good idea.
1300 miles is not enough to convince me they don’t have problems.
The unbelievably cheap lease deals on the other hand…
People who had the original 500e loved the thing. They were all over L.A. for years, and I still see them around, presumably driven by people who bought out the lease. I don’t recall ever reading any horror stories about them. I would hope the new 500e is just as good, but I doubt there are enough of them out there to form a reliable sample size.
I must be one of the few people on Earth who thinks these things are hideous looking.
I am probably one of those few. I have never cared for how the Fiat 500 or how smart fortwo look they just look goofy to me like something out of a cartoon or a Dr Seuss book.
The people who spend their days online complaining about car avalability don’t actually buy new cars anyway
If the build one used, then yes.
It’s… too.. small…
I’ve watned a 500 since their relaunch in the US, which coincided with the birth of my first child. Couldn’t fit a babyseat back there, let alone two, and now that they are both teenagers, can’t cram them back there either.
The 500L would work, but it’s such a MEH car….
The droopy squinty eyed headlights and whatever is going on with the grill made me think the car was cursing up a storm.
It looks like an emoji with its eyes half closed
I low-key love the angry headlights. Cartoonish details work on a 500.
Stellantis saw how popular angry eyes were on Jeeps and decided to give the cute little fiat a split headlight Napoleon Complex
My girlfriend said that she thought it looked like it was up to something.
Shenanigans at the very least—possibly heinous
I’m gonna pistol whip the next guy who says shenanigans!
😉