And of course, it points us in the direction of Fiat’s EV transformation. Simple in appeal, the small 5-door Fiat Centoventi looks functional, and borrows dated styling cues. Both headlights and taillights are small boxy LED set-ups, and there’s plenty of ribbed body detail in the front and rear.
There’s no missing the Italian flag stripe on the front, and the toned down back to basics instrument cluster would be a seeming fit when its all down to digitalization, smartphone connectivity, and apps for assistance.
Fiat Centoventi Concept suicide doors and no B pillar would obviously be axed for the very reason the idea was done away with many years ago. It’s modular appeal stresses on a basic car that can easily be outfitted at a dealer to meet personal requirements.
This includes roof style and colour, bumpers, hubcaps and other wraps. Multiple roof options include a polycarbonate top, a top-down canvas, roof with integrated cargo box, and solar panel roof setup to cool interiors. Even battery charging is flexible. A basic setup would do 62 miles / 100 kms. Batteries can be multiplied to get to a 310-mile (500 kms) max range. An add-on battery fits under the car seat, and can be charged at home, akin to entry level electric bikes today.
Speaking about current scenario of Fiat cars – Reports from 2018 point to a production slowdown of Fiat Panda diesel variants. This is not altogether unexpected as the company had already announced phasing out diesel engines on all passenger vehicles by 2021, in mid 2018. Manufacturing 1.3-litre diesel engines powering Panda were charged to the FCA plant in Bielsko-Biala, Poland. With ‘Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) emission tests coming into effect in Europe on September 1, the process is likely to have sped up decisions regarding the future of diesel Panda.
For Fiat, Italy is a top selling market, even more so for Fiat Panda. And little else could disappoint more than European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) awarding Fiat Panda zero stars and the worst child-protection. This is the worst crash test score ever, largely because Punto lacks autonomous emergency braking, and advanced driver-assistance systems. All these imply that Fiat will very soon need to launch the next gen Panda, which is where this Centoventi electric concept comes into picture.
