If there were any doubts that Fiat has its eyes on electrification, they were undone with the arrival of the new 500, which does not have thermal engines. But the Italian brand wants to go further and aims to become fully electric as early as 2030.
The announcement was made by Olivier François, executive director of Fiat and Abarth, during a conversation with the architect Stefano Boeri — famous for its vertical gardens… — to mark World Environment Day, which is celebrated on June 5th.
“Between 2025 and 2030 our product range will progressively become 100% electric. It will be a radical change for Fiat”, said the French executive, who has also worked for Citroën, Lancia and Chrysler.
The new 500 is just the first step in this transition but it will be a kind of "face" of the brand's electrification, which also hopes to reduce the prices of electric cars to close to what is paid for a model with a combustion engine.
Olivier François, executive director of Fiat and AbarthOur duty is to offer to the market, as soon as possible and as soon as we manage to reduce the cost of batteries, electric vehicles that do not cost more than vehicles with an internal combustion engine. We are exploring the territory of sustainable mobility for everyone, this is our project.
During this conversation, the Turin manufacturer's “boss” also revealed that this decision was not taken because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that it sped things up.
“The decision to launch the new 500 electric and all electric was taken before the Covid-19 came along and, in fact, we were already aware that the world could no longer accept 'compromise solutions'. The confinement was just the last of the warnings we received,” he said.
“At that time, we witnessed situations that were previously unimaginable, such as seeing wild animals in cities again, demonstrating that nature was regaining its place. And, as if it were still necessary, it reminded us of the urgency of doing something for our planet”, confessed Olivier François, who places in the 500 the “responsibility” of making “sustainable mobility for all”.
“We have an icon, the 500, and an icon always has a cause and the 500 has always had one: in the fifties, it made mobility accessible to everyone. Now, in this new scenario, it has a new mission, to make sustainable mobility accessible to everyone”, the Frenchman said.
But the surprises don't end here. The mythical oval test track located on the roof of the former Lingotto factory in Turin will be converted into a garden. According to Olivier François, the objective is to create “the largest hanging garden in Europe, with more than 28 000 plants”, in what will be a sustainable project that “will revitalize the city of Turin”.
