Yet another nail in the internal combustion engine’s coffin. Fiat and Abarth through their parent company Stellantis have announced to become purely electric brands in Europe by 2027. The disclosure was made in a document released detailing the automotive conglomerate’s 2021 results. It also contains a product roadmap with a Fiat EV set to be launched by the end of 2023.
The zero-emissions model in question is likely a next-gen Panda as previewed by the Centoventi concept a few years ago. It will be larger than the electric 500 city car already on sale and we’re hoping it will retain the all-wheel-drive system that has made the previous Panda models so capable. That would obviously require one electric motor at the front and another at the rear.
Fiat and Abarth are the latest on a long list of Stellantis brands announcing plans to ditch the combustion engine in Europe before the end of the decade. Also in 2027, Alfa Romeo will abandon gasoline and diesel engines on the Old Continent. Opel and Vauxhall will follow suit a year later, in 2028. Meanwhile, luxury brand DS Automobiles will launch only EVs from 2024 when Lancia will start to introduce only hybrids and EVs. Come 2026, the troubled Italian brand will exclusively introduce BEVs.
Before that happens, Jeep will have its very first purely electric model on sale by the end of 2023. In the same interval, Maserati will introduce the Grecale crossover and next-gen GranTurismo / GranCabrio sports cars powered by electric motors. A new Dodge Hornet heavily based on the Alfa Romeo Tonale will hit the US with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Over in Europe, Peugeot will get an unknown PHEV, likely a 4008 coupe-crossover related to the 308 plug-in hybrid hatchback / wagon.
As far as Citroën is concerned, it too wants to roll out two EVs by late 2023, one of which could be an all-new C3 supermini.
Source: Stellantis
