With its compact body and highly efficient range of gasoline and diesel engines, there aren't a lot of cars on the road that return better fuel economy and lower emissions than the Fiat 500. But if the latest reports are to be believed, Fiat isn't about to rest on its green laurels.

According to emerging reports, a hybrid version of the Fiat 500 is in the works. The gas/electric retro mini would start off with Fiat's 900cc two-cylinder engine, hooked up to a battery pack and backed up by a start-stop ignition system and a dual-clutch transmission. The idea of an environmentally-friendly 500 was previewed by the Fiat 500 Aria concept (pictured above) shown earlier this year at the Geneva show, while the 500 hybrid would reportedly be unveiled, oddly, at next year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The combination of green credentials would surely increase the 500's economy to industry-leading levels, and help the entire Fiat Group come in below impending European emissions standards.

[Source: Auto Express via Auto Unleashed]

We have heard all about these European hypermilers who manage to churn out 45-50mpg U.S. in production cars, usually with high-technology turbocharged diesels. However, British TV station Channel 4's motoring website 4Car has carried out real-world fuel economy tests on eight low-emissions cars (5 diesels, 2 gasoline and one hybrid) and has found out that they didn't meet the official mileage and CO₂ emission figures. Although the EU driving cycle is more theoretical than real-world driving, the difference is quite stunning. For instance, the worst offender was the Ford Focus Econetic, which got 11mpg Imperial (9mpg U. S. or almost 1l/100 km) worse in the Channel 4 tests than the official numbers whould have us believe. Moreover, higher fuel usage means that these cars pollute more than expected, and means they should fall in a different Vehicle Excess Duty (Road Tax) band and the driver should pay a higher rate. Follow us after the jump for the complete list and their press release which explains their evaluating method.

[Source: 4Car]

Gasrec, a British company that produces liquid biomethane fuel, Veolia, which works in waste management and truck manufacturer Iveco have joined forces to test a new truck. The CNG Iveco Daily Light will be run for six months on biomethane obtained from a landfill in Surrey by Gasrec. It will be compared alongside regular CNG-powered Iveco Dailys to check performance and emissions. The vehicle will be refuelled at a refuelling station installed by Gasrec at Camden Council's York Way depot. According to Gasrec, biomethane is the most sustainable biofuel available and it reduces emissions by 70 percent, compared to regular diesel trucks. Thanks to Jason for the tip.

[Source: Italiaspeed]

Click above image for a hi-res gallery of the Tata Nano

Tata is asking Fiat to assist in selling the Nano overseas, as an expansion of the two marques partnership in manufacturing and distributing cars, engines and commercial vehicles. Fiat's initial intentions are, however, largely directed towards bus and truck manufacturing. "We have held talks about the Nano being marketed in markets where Fiat has already a strong presence. I am open to consider a partnership," said Ratan Tata at a forum promoting cooperation between Italian and Indian companies.

Tata is also forecasting supply problems for its new microcar, which goes on sale next October. That said, high raw material and fuel prices have cut demand for vehicles in India. Between that development, the burden of the Jaguar/Land Rover acquisition, and a 31% decrease in profits, it'll be interesting to see if Tata is ultimately able to keep the Nano priced as low as planned.


[Source: Automotive News]

For those who hate diesel but still want to have low CO₂ emitting cars, Renault is offering a solution: A new variant of the Twingo has been introduced that emits 120 g/km and burns 5.1 l of unleaded for each 100 km (46mpg U. S.). This qualifies for France's 700€ bonus for low-polluting cars. The engine, named LEV, is derived from the standard 1.2-liter 75hp gas version which has the engine tuned specifically, as well as a gerbox with higher speed ratios.

Fiat has followed Renault and has launched the Fiat Panda Eco as well.. With lower consumption and less CO₂ emissions, the Fiat Panda Eco is made starting from the base 1.1-liter 56hp gasoline engine and reduces consumption from 5.6 to 5.0 l/100 km (42 and 47mpg U. S. respectively and puts the CO₂ figure under the magic 120 g/km figure.


[Source: Le Blog Auto]

If you love the Fiat 500 as much as we do, live in the UK and wished you could buy an electric version of this nuovo-retro then you are in luck! The NICE Car Company have announced they will launch the Micro Vette Fiat e500 at the British International Motor Show (BIMS). Micro Vette has a close relationship with Fiat and because their work leaves the vehicle structurally undisturbed, not only is the e500 covered by the full Fiat warranty, but you can also order from the full range of Fiat options.

Powered by lithium-ion polymer batteries, the e500 has a range of 70 miles and will do 60 mph. While maybe not ideal for those with a super long commute, it seems to possess just enough performance to fill its role as an electric city car. It's definitely preferable to driving a G-Wiz (sorry Wizzers). If you're interested in it, let them know at BIMS since they are saying this produced-to-order sweetie is available for a limited time.


[Source: NICE Car Company]

We're not sure that a bigger MINI Cooper is exactly what the buying public at large has been waiting for, but it is exactly what they might get. We would certainly hope that the small-size MINI would remain in the line, though that would certainly negate whatever savings BMW is hoping for by collaborating with Fiat on the project in the first place. Fiat will be using the platform for the next Grande Punto, due in 2011. MINI would not use the platform until 2012 at the earliest, followed up by Alfa Romeo's planned MiTo successor a year later. Also on the docket is a new Fiat-sourced 1.6L four-banger, which would be the third 1.6L engine used by BMW for the MINI in as many platforms.

It sounds as if BMW would like to save a few million euros in the development cost of the next MINI so it can continue building its larger rear-wheel drive passenger cars and *ugh* sports activity vehicles. What's more, the expected costs to hit future targeted fuel economy standards are rather staggering. This being the case, despite the huge sales potential of the MINI brand, it could well be playing second fiddle to the larger machines from its parent company in this case.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req'd.]

There has been quite a lot of speculation about a low-consumption Ferrari, or well, just one that uses less fuel (maybe not that little) but some prayers might have been answered by this: Because Fiat and Ferrari are linked, owners of Ferraris will have a special Fiat 500 as replacement vehicle when they take their cavallini rampanti to the dealers for maintenance. The Fiat 500 is the sportiest version available, the 1.4 liter with 100 HP, and before you comment let me be the one to say that they will surely find a difference in acceleration. The 500 will have Ferrari spirit in the sense that it will be painted in rosso corsa, the "Ferrari red." However, don't take out your checkbook yet, the 200 planned vehicles won't be on sale. At least for now.

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

We've discussed these electric cars before but now Whatcar? has gathered the NICE Mega City, the Smart ed, the Micro-Vett Fiat Doblo, and the Reva G-Wiz together for a group evaluation on the streets of London town to "...decide whether or not they do make a practical alternative to urban transport.". The first thing they discovered about the cars as they prepared for the initial shoot is that people are now extremely interested in electric vehicles as the quartet attracted "masses" of people with lots of questions.

So, how did they do? Somewhat surprisingly the G-Wiz seemed to best the Mega City as it was quicker, stronger and less expensive. The G-Wiz is set to get even better in Q4 when lithium ion batteries become an option and it's range and, no doubt its power, receive a welcome boost. The presenter, Peter Lawton, enjoyed the Smart ed saying that after driving the quadricycle entrants it "felt as safe as a tank.". This is another vehicle whose performance will greatly improve when they are produced with a lithium ion battery though the sodium-nickel chloride version is already quicker then the gas burning one. Lastly, the electric Doblo was the only vehicle already equipped with li-ion and had the best range and top speed. It also had the seating for 5 and a "boot". Although it was also the most expensive at £30,000 (nearly $60,000), it seemed the best choice for both the streets of London and those of America. Hit the jump to check all the shootout action as well as a bonus visit to a fuel price protest at the end of the clip.

[Source: WhatCar?]

Although the first two generations of BMW's revival of the Mini brand have been sales sensations and are nothing if not fun to drive, the Bavarian company's true engineering merit has always been with rear-wheel drive vehicles. So, it isn't at all surprising that the huge sporting automaker from Germany is looking to co-develop its next front-wheel drive Mini platform with Fiat. Though it could be argued that the Fiat 500 is a direct shot across the bow of the retro-style Mini Cooper, the money savings from platform sharing was apparently just too much to resist for the two automakers.

Fiat certainly has a long history of producing fine small cars, and its current Punto and Panda-based 500 have received rather good reviews from the European motoring press. What's more, BMW has always used engines developed in cooperation with other manufacturers for the Mini. Still, it seems odd that the two marque's would go at each other with vehicles built off the same underpinnings. We'll just need to wait and see how well the two vehicles are differentiated from one another.

[Source: Reuters]

Fiat's Tichy plant.

Small cars need small engines, and Fiat is preparing both.

To provide propulsion for its new Topolino microcar, coming in late 2009, Fiat has announced it will expand its plant in Bielsko Biala, Poland to make its new 900cc two-cylinder engine. The 900cc engine was shown in the Aria concept at the last Frankfurt Motor Show and will be the only two-cylinder car in all of Europe. Automotive News says that the powerplant will provide anywhere from 65hp (with <100 g/km of CO₂) to 110hp in turbocharged form. After the Topolino is all set, the new engine will find its way into the 500, the Panda and maybe more vehicles. As we wrote last month, the Topolino may get more than 67 mpg (U.S.) and that's without a potential full hybrid system.

[Source: Automotive News]

The negotiations regarding proposed European Union CO₂ emissions regulations are ongoing, it seems. Even after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy agreed to push the starting date from the year 2012 to the year 2015, Fiat's CEO, Sergio Marchionne is still unhappy.

The latest issue that Fiat has with the proposals is related to the sliding-scale that automakers would be subjected to. Companies which make larger vehicles would not be required to meet the same regulations as those which produce smaller, more efficient vehicles. Marchionne says that Fiat will hit the proposed 130 gram per kilometer mark that has been thrown about, but would be unable to chop another eight grams from its cars, as the latest proposals would require. If those standards went into effect, Fiat would be charged penalties despite offering the lowest carbon emissions of all automakers in the European Union, which does seem a bit backwards. Still, the company is already hitting that standard, so some reduction may not be too much to ask. As always, we expect these protracted negotiations to continue on well into the future.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

When Fiat unveiled the revamped 500 almost a year ago, the company said it hoped the car would be considered the "iPod of cars." There's one aspect of the iPod, though, that Fiat is probably glad they aren't associated with: the products disposability. I mean, really, does Apple need to release a new version every other month?

Lucky for Fiat, "residual experts" say that the 500 will hold onto more of its value in three years than previously expected. Sure, the vehicle will still be worth less than half of what you paid for it today, but the experts say the value will be 46 percent of the original list price instead of the previously expected 42 percent. All the reasons for the change in prediction were not given, but one is that this is a stylish car that's also pretty clean. Fiat's announcement, pasted after the jump, says that small- and medium-sized companies like the 500 since "it offers drivers a high profile company car that is low on fuel use and CO₂ emissions." Sound like a better deal than having a dead iPod in 36 months.


[Source: Fiat]

Lancia once seemed like a brand on the edge of extinction. With a tradition that in the '80s gave us names like the Delta Integrale that won many rallies, the Lancia was just kept alive by the Ypsilon, and a couple of very unsuccessful models. Now Fiat is insisting on revamping it, and has not only introduced a compact minivan with all the luxury features, the Musa, it has also resurrected the Delta model. So what's the new Delta about? A compact size - about 20 cm less than the Fiat Bravo - that can include all sorts of luxury features such as LED headlights, Alcantara upholstery (a Lancia touch for years), and a glass roof.

Under the hood, Fiat is installing the T-Jet gasoline series in the 1.4-liter versions of 120 and 150 HP, which are good for 6.6 l/100 km (35 mpg U.S.) and 7.0 l /100 km (34 mpg U.S.) with CO₂ emission figures of 156 and 165 g/km, respectively. There are also three diesel version, a 1.6-liter 120 HP, a 2.0-liter 165 HP and a 1.9-liter good for 195 HP. Consumption is 4.9, 5.3 and 5.7 l/100 km (48, 44 and 41 mpg U.S.) and CO₂ figures of 130, 139 and 149 g/km. All these engines are Euro-V compliant, and will try to keep Lancia alive for a while longer.


[Source: Lancia]

Last September at the Geneva Motor Show, Fiat unveiled the Panda Aria concept car, a little dual fuel city commuter that can burn a petrol/methane blend. The Panda Aria's seats are made from things like coconut fiber and the body panels are from an eco-resin.The concept and more of Fiat's vision of greener driving will be on display a Fiat's Marylebone flagship store in London starting tomorrow. Fiat will be showcasing these items as part of something balled the DR1VE ECO experience, which runs until the 28th. While there is an Eco Survey available to visitors, the Eco Simulator will be more fun. The idea is to see how changing your personal driving style could reduce the CO₂ emissions of the vehicle you currently drive. Even if you're not a Fiat fan, stop by the store if you're in the area. Fiat is giving away free London public transportation cards worth £8 if you take that survey. Details after the jump.