Auto Express 1710

THE very best people in business, I’ve noticed, tend to belie their age. And sure enough, when Fiat CEO Olivier François (above), pointed out to me during a recent Zoom chat (me in a cluttered study in Berkshire, him in a swish-looking kitchen in Milan) that he’s only just turned 60 years of age, I had to raise an eyebrow. Olivier is fizzing right now, and with good reason: Fiat’s all-electric 500 has been well received and the company is just about to tap into the huge potential for parts and platform-sharing with its Stellantis group stablemates: Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall/Opel and DS. Development costs for new models, he freely admits, can be cut by up to three quarters, in some cases. There was a key point in our conversation, in…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy ● Electric 500 could form basis for new five-door and SUV ● Simple Panda city car to offer electric drive on a budget FIAT is to use “affordable electrification” at the heart of a major product offensive over the next five years – and the Italian brand will establish the 500 and the forthcoming ‘reborn Panda’ as the pillars of its growth as part of the Stellantis group. The Italian manufacturer enjoyed strong sales volumes in 2021, thanks to the successful launch of the new, all-electric 500. Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Fiat’s CEO Olivier François has now outlined how that iconic model will be the style focused offering in its portfolio, alongside a more pragmatic range of vehicles that will forego swoopy styling in the name of…

THE Abarth sub-brand will beat Fiat to full electrification by a couple of years, and the company is working to create performance cues that can remain authentic in a world without combustion engines. At present, the only Abarths on sale are based on the previous generation, petrol-powered 500. But Fiat CEO Olivier François has confirmed to Auto Express that there will be a new, pure-electric Abarth developed from the electric 500 – as illustrated here – along with at least one additional model that will also be available as an EV. As a result, François says, Abarth should go pure electric by 2025. “Abarth is a 500, and the current 500 is born electric,” François told us. “And then there are the other models that are coming; by 2025 all…

Yousuf_Ashraf@autovia.co.uk @ashrafoncars ● Claimed range of 357 miles ● Hits 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds “The iX M60 develops a healthy 1,100Nm of torque, thanks to a dual-motor set-up” BMW has boosted the performance of its iX electric SUV with the new iX M60. With 611bhp and chassis tweaks by BMW’s M division, the iX M60 will rival the Tesla Model X when it launches in summer 2022. Sitting above the iX xDrive50 as the most powerful variant of BMW’s technological flagship, the iX M60 develops a healthy 1,100Nm of torque, thanks to a dual-motor four-wheel-drive set-up, and will sprint from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds. It powers on to a limited top speed of 155mph, which is 31mph faster than the xDrive50. The latter does the 0-62mph sprint in 4.6 seconds.…

ENGINEERS have unlocked more usable energy from the battery fitted to the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV. It results in a small but useful improvement to real-world range for most models in the line-up. Initially uncovered on Ford’s US configurator, the tweak means that, depending on spec, the Mach-E will offer between one and 7.4 per cent more claimed range, resulting in as much as a 17-mile gain on the Standard Range RWD model. The results come from official testing by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Standard Range-battery models have seen an increase in usable energy from 68kWh to 70kWh, while the Extended Range models has increased from 88kWh to 91kWh. In the UK, the Standard Range RWD car offers up to a claimed 273 miles on a full…

THERE will be more electric Skoda vRS models beyond the Enyaq and Enyaq Coupé vRS duo that are expected this year, according to the Czech brand’s sales and marketing boss Martin Jahn. Speaking to Auto Express, he said that the board had taken the decision to continue with vRS because it has been very successful for Skoda. “We have decided to take it [vRS] to the electric age,” Jahn said. “We’re changing our ecological behaviour and pushing for emissions-free mobility, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to have good acceleration and an emotional experience. We will keep the vRS badge also for the other electric cars that are coming.” Skoda design chief Oliver Stefani has hinted that the hot Enyaqs are only a start for how performance electric Skodas…