World upside down: Fiat wants to put a gasoline engine in an EV

According to Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, Fiat has asked its suppliers for quotes to increase production at the MIrafiori plant – where the all-electric Fiat 500e is built – by around 100,000 units.

Now the same supplier has come forward to European Automotive News: Fiat is investigating the possibility of equipping the Fiat 500e with a petrol engine. This is surprising, considering that the 500e was developed as an electric car a few years ago. As far as we know, this did not consider the possibility that a petrol engine would be installed in the car.

Reason: EU cyber security law

Fiat has good reason to consider this engine change: the current Fiat 500 with a petrol engine will likely be discontinued. This has everything to do with the new cyber security law that will come into force in the European Union from July this year.

We previously wrote about the law that kills variants such as the Suzuki Ignis and the Porsche Macan with a combustion engine. According to the new law, cars must meet certain safety requirements in the field of cyber security, otherwise they cannot be sold.

Fiat 500 is very old

It will not be surprising that the Fiat 500 is the prey of the new EU law, because the model is so old. Generally, a generation of a car model lasts about 8 years, but the Fiat 500 has been sold in its current form since 2007. That makes the Italian 17 years old. For example: the current Fiat 500 was announced earlier (2006) than the iPhone the very first (2007).

500 to replace 500

Despite its age, the 500 remains Fiat’s best-seller. Last year, the 500 with a petrol engine sold more than 104,000 European counters. Losing these sales numbers would be a big blow to Fiat, which explains why it might turn to rebuilding the 500e.

The conversion has a chance of success, as the platform on which the 500e stands is a further development of the platform used for the Alfa Romeo MiTo. However, the process would take between 18 and 24 months.