New Fiat 500 Hybrid is one of the slowest cars on sale

The electric-only Fiat 500 is being reinvented with a petrol engine. And now the maker has finally revealed detailed specifications for its Toyota Aygo X alternative, badged ‘Fiat 500 Hybrid’, which starts production in Italy this week.

The big news is the inclusion of a six-speed manual gearbox – a rarity in today’s auto-heavy new-car market. Just one powertrain will be offered: a turbocharged 64bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder with a tiny 12-volt lithium-ion battery, sending power to the front wheels only.

Fiat is pitching the 500 Hybrid as “the perfect choice for efficient, urban motoring”. Presumably it thinks the 0-62mph time of 16.2 seconds (17.3 seconds for the 500 Convertible) might limit its usefulness out of town. Top speed stands at 96mph.

Visually, the hybrid and electric 500s look almost identical. There is, however, a thin slot on the face of the hybrid, presumably to feed air into its minute engine, while inside the dashboard has been revised slightly to accommodate the manual shifter. 

Three specifications will be offered: Icon and La Prima, plus a Torino launch edition. Icon cars get 16-inch alloy wheels and LED lights, while inside there are bi-colour fabric seats and a body-coloured dashboard, plus a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic air-conditioning and rear parking sensors.

Stepping up to La Prima, buyers get larger 17-inch wheels, tinted windows, and a fixed glass roof on hatchback versions. Inside, there’s heated eco-leather seats in a choice of colours, a so-called ‘matt-pearl’ dashboard and bi-colour steering wheel. The infotainment system is upgraded with a rear camera and built-in sat-nav.

Torino is available for a limited time, and only in hatchback form. These cars get unique badging and dedicated fabric and vinyl seats, bolstering a specification that otherwise largely matches the base Icon car.

Prices haven’t been announced, but considering the electric 500e is currently being offered for just over £25,000, the 500 Hybrid should be priced from well under £20,000. The Kia Picanto currently starts from £16,695, but we’re still waiting on confirmed pricing for the new hybrid-powered Aygo X.

Fiat 500 Hybrid couldn’t come soon enough

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The latest iteration of the Fiat 500 was introduced in 2020, and is an undeniably sweet car. However, it has only been available as an EV until now, limiting its appeal and sales, which it seems the brand is now willing to admit was a mistake by fitting the mild-hybrid set-up that, in its own words, “brings the 500 back to the people, blending the heritage and technology developed with the electric version into a more accessible form”.

Head of Fiat Europe Gaetano Thorel told Auto Express earlier this year: “The new 500 is one of the best cars Fiat has ever had from a design and technology standpoint. The fact that we have limited the possibility for the majority of consumers to enjoy the new 500 really makes me very sad. So when the engineers found a way to put the engine inside, giving us the go [ahead] for the new 500 hybrid, it was one of the best days of my life.”

To do this, Fiat’s engineering team has had to rework the latest 500’s electric architecture to shoehorn the powertrain of the previous 500 hybrid – which has been off sale in the UK for nearly a year – into the nose. 

“It was an engineering challenge,” admitted Thorel. Removing the battery has not freed up any additional cockpit or trunk space, Thorel asserts, with the main interior difference being the installation of a manual stickshift. It’s possible the name ‘Hybrid’ may also change to ‘Ibrida’ (Italian for ‘hybrid’) – as fellow Stellantis brand Alfa Romeo has done with its new mild-hybrid Junior Ibrida. 

Interestingly, the 500 Hybrid is not using the same mild-hybrid technology that Fiat’s parent company Stellantis has installed in numerous models, including the Fiat 600 compact SUV, Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa. They use a turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, paired with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with an integrated electric motor, which can propel the cars for short distances on pure electric power. 

Don’t get excited thinking the six-speed gearbox presages an Abarth replacement for the 595 hot hatch either. Speaking to us on an earlier occasion, Thorel emphasised that the engine was more for affordable motoring than performance: “The new 500 hybrid that will be built in Mirafiori [in Italy], its micro hybrid engine [is] nothing spectacular.”

Instead, the company is pouring investment into new models: a mid-size SUV and Fastback, plus a Grande Panda 4x4. Those cars, along with the 100 million Euro investment in the 500e that includes redesigning its platform and potentially fitting new battery tech, rules out an indulgence such as a new baby Abarth.

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