WATCH: The Launch Of The Electrified Fiat 500e In Brazil LIVE:
First Time The New Electrified City Car Comes To The Western Hemisphere!
For the first time, FIAT is bringing its newest rendition of its electrified city car – the Fiat 500e to the Western Hemisphere. Tonight, the FIAT Brazil team will launch the vehicle with a unique marketing campaign that focuses more on the path forward to electrification and technology, than just your standard “save the planet” campaign. The introduction of the Fiat 500e in Brazil gives those who are passionate Fiat 500 fans in North America a glimpse of hope to see a newer, better, and more technology-driven model come our way.
While the event is Livestreamed in Portuguese (the official language of Brazil), you can hit the closed caption (CC) button on the video above and should be able to auto-generate translation to the language of your choice (pending if YouTube allows).
As the FIAT brand in North America currently sits with one vehicle in its lineup, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has said that the Italian brand will not leave the North American market and it will have the next decade to justify itself. While some of the Mopar community would rather see FIAT gone and have those vehicles intended for the FIAT brand blended into the Chrysler/Dodge portfolio, the 500e could be the next step towards expanding the lineup.
Remember that it was the American market which first marketed an electrified Fiat 500e. A vehicle that was sold exclusively in California in order for then Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to meet tough California emissions regulations. That car, like the standard Fiat 500 was dropped from the lineup in 2020.
Now, as the industry switches to electrification, the 500e makes sense to bring back to America and the rest of North America. It would allow the FIAT brand to gain some traction on the electric car market and with three available configurations including hatchback, Cabrio, and 3+1 (three-door models), and now can achieve an estimated range of 199 miles (320 km) on the European WLTP cycle (the first-generation 500e only had 84 miles or 135 km of range), it’s better than ever before.
The new 500e marks the first electrified vehicle for the FIAT Brazil brand, which continues to dominate the Brazilian market thanks to vehicles like the Strada, Toro, and Cronos.
