New Fiat 500e Electric-Return of The Peoples Car??

[Kent]

Well they brought back a much loved design, and brought it into the 21 century.
Europe has a long tradition of "peoples cars". Many designs pre-date the Second World War, and remained in production well into the 1970's. Simple designs. 2-3-4 cyclinder engines. Many got over 40 mpg. The Citroen 2 cv, for example, designed in the thirties and was to "enable four peasants to drive 110 lb. of farm goods to market at 31 mph”.

So i was excited to see this post and photos:
Beautiful Fiat 500e Electric Car Gets Best-in-Class 116 MPGe Rating from EPA
Michael Graham Richard
Transportation / Cars
January 10, 2013

The Fiat 500e electric car, which debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show a few months ago, and which will no doubt be prominently featured by Chrysler at the Detroit Auto Show next week, has just received its official EPA efficiency ratings. It looks like the Fiat/Chrysler engineers did a good job because with 122 MPGe city, 108 MPGe highway, and 116 MPGe combined, it beats all other small electric cars that have been rated so far except for the 2013 Scion iQ EV in the City and Combined ratings (the Scion gets 138 and 105 MPGe respectively), but the iQ only has a 38-mile driving range, so it's not entirely comparable
The EPA has rated the electric driving range of the 2013 Fiat 500e at 87 miles, which is actually more than the Nissan LEAF (73 miles), the Honda Fit EV (82 miles), the Mitsubishi i (62 miles), and the Daimler Smart ED (68 miles).Compared to the regular gas version of the Fiat 500, the 500e's exterior has been tweaked to be more 'slippery' through the air, accounting for a significant improvement in the coefficient of draft of the vehicle (from .36 to .31). This helps most in highway driving, where air resistance is a big factor.




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But seriously, I prefer the looks of the original. Why do they have to fiddle with success?. The original was classic in its simplistic beauty. It doesn't have to be stylized or made more modern. Compare the front bumper/grille of the original with the "fascia" of the new one. Replacement costs over a parking lot bump $$? Yeah i know, all the new ones are like that. I guesss that's why I am old school-back when cars had bumpers that bumped...

So yes, I yearn for simplier times. Mind you, the new interior is a step up.

Anyone have $30k they can loan me?

 

[2moto]

Yes, a very cute car. They did a far better job of restyling an old classic than BMW did with the Mini, IMHO.

 

[Kent]

Yes, a very cute car. They did a far better job of restyling an old classic than BMW did with the Mini, IMHO.

I agree. Here is the original:

 

[spinningmagnets]

I think a small amount of the updated design is the requirement for 35-MPH bumpers and a "crush zone". That being said, I also like the charm of the classic small cars.

Here's some stuff I read and added to an article I wrote:

https://www.electricbike.com/spa-bicicletto/

Fiats new 2007 remake of their classic 500 “Cinquecento” has been a big financial success across the entire globe. The 500 name comes from the air-cooled two-cylinder 500cc motorcycle engine from the version they made in 1949. The attractive 1949 version was itself an update of the 500cc 1936 Topolino (little mouse).

California passed a law that for any car manufacturer who wants to sell their profitable gasoline-burning cars there…they must also sell a minimum number of low-emission vehicles. California is such a big car market (especially for high profile “cool” cars), that it is a market that can’t be ignored. Since Fiat had to make a low-emission version to sell in the crucial California market, they investigated a hybrid power-plant, but there was simply no room for that configuration. They decided to make and sell a full-electric version called the 500e.

Here is where it gets a little weird. Because Fiat has to price the 500e low enough so that they sell enough of them to make the minimum required yearly sales…they lose $10,000-$14,000 per car on every sale! The CEO of Fiat has even publicly asked everyone to “please do NOT buy a Fiat 500e!“

The popular and profitable gasoline version sells for around $18,000, and since the electric version sells for approximately $32,000…The Fiat CEO is saying that the 500e costs roughly $44,000 to break even. If that is true, what are the buyers getting for their money? The small volume of the battery pack meant that they were forced to spec the most energy-dense batteries available (expensive), and the small volume of the “engine” compartment limited the size of the motor they could use, so…they chose a highly respected motor from Bosch which then used a high 9.6:1 reduction from the motor to the single-speed drive unit (as opposed to the 3:1 reduction used in the larger Chevy Spark).

Fiat engineers limited the motor speed to 12,800-RPM’s, but…with a 9.6:1 reduction, they have much more wheel torque than the Chevy Spark. The result is a very Peppy EV that is reported to be a lot of fun to drive. Top speed is capped at 88-MPH, and max efficiency is around 40-MPH (due to wind resistance and gearing).

 

[Punx0r]

Pedestrian safety requirements heavily influence the front-end design of cars nowadays