A two-cylinder hybrid: Can consumers change?

[atlaw4u]

Outrageously cheap and fuel efficient

HYBRIDCARBLOG - July 24, 2010

In the very near future Fiat might offer a two-cylinder car for the American market. Obviously, such a vehicle – one would think – would be called a joke by most Americans. Yet, what if Fiat offered an agile, fun-to-drive 100 mpg, 2-cylinder hybrid for just $12,000?

Could such a hybrid outsell the Smart ForTwo? Could it compete with Toyota Prius sales?

The other day, MotorTrend asked their community whether they would personally buy a two-cylinder car. Not surprisingly, many of the gear heads mocked the entire concept. Surprisingly, however, nearly half expressed an interest with various caveats of course, such as fun to drive, excellent fuel economy, price, etc... [Read More]

[ksstathead]

No way a two-seater competes with Prius sales, whether they mean take sales from Prius or just sell in like quantity. Two-seaters have a place, and I could see me buying one, but it is a much smaller market. Hope it sells like hotcakes.

[RobertSmalls]

A small car with 30HP from gas and 60HP from electric sounds just about perfect to me. Today's engines are far too lightly loaded during cruising, so downsizing the gas and using electric for acceleration is the solution.

But it is too much to ask of American consumers to accept a car that can't do 75mph up a mountain into a headwind with the A/C on. Just like we're not getting the two-cylinder EcoBoost, we're likewise going to have to settle for a 50HP, three-cylinder Fiat.

The $12000 figure seems pie-in-the-sky to me. Someone who wants a car stripped down worse than a base model Versa isn't going to want to spend $2500 extra on the hybrid powertrain. We won't see a hybrid under $16000 any time soon.

[JohnM]

The Fiat 500 is a 4 seater. Check this site for more information about the Twin Air engine:
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/07/09...e-in-fiat-500/

[Blackbelt]

SOLD!!! Where do i send my deposit?

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by Blackbelt

SOLD!!! Where do i send my deposit?

*Sigh* And a few years after the peak in gas prices Americans begin up-sizing again.



I think at $12k and 100mpg a car like this would sell like crazy even in America to Americans. At 12k(mpy) it would save $770 per year in gas over a 30mpg vehicle at $2.75pg.

At only $2 more than a base Versa it would pay back even if you had to replace the battery every 60k miles!

There's a big difference between asking people to pay more for a 50mpg vehicle and pay less for a 100mpg one.

[Chuck]

80-90% of Americans commute to work alone and two-seaters don't have a market?

[ksstathead]

There is a market. It is the portion of solo commuters who either do not need a bigger car at other times or are willing to carry two cars in their inventory plus a few who will rent another car occasionally. This market will take off big time when gas is really high. Right now gas is very cheap due to the economy.

Is this a back seat adults can really sit in? Thing looks pretty small...

[ILAveo]

Originally Posted by Chuck

80-90% of Americans commute to work alone and two-seaters don't have a market?

They do, but it is mostly filled by pickups and convertibles presently.

Now that the under 45 crowd has experienced a real recession, I expect that more families will switch to a smaller second car that complements their bigger family car. Getting stung in the recession would have to bring home the financial strain of having two SUV's in the driveway.

[JohnM]

This will give you a good look inside, including the back seat and the USB port. http://fiat500usa.blogspot.com/2010/...-fiat-500.html