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Fiat Launches Spain’s First Fast Battery Swap Station in Madrid

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In a pioneering move towards accelerating electric mobility, Fiat has unveiled Spain’s first fast battery swap station for electric vehicles in Madrid. Launched in collaboration with American battery technology firm Ample and Stellantis-owned car-sharing platform Free2move, the pilot project marks a major milestone in EV infrastructure development.

The initiative introduces a new level of convenience for electric vehicle users: battery swaps in just five minutes, eliminating the traditional waiting times for charging. This service will be available exclusively for Fiat 500e electric models, initially integrated into Free2move’s Madrid-based car-sharing fleet.

Revolutionizing Urban EV Use

Instead of plugging in to charge, Fiat 500e drivers can simply swap their depleted battery for a fully charged one at the station. The entire process is managed via a mobile phone application, offering an intuitive and efficient user experience.

“This technology ensures that users are always ready to drive—no waiting, no charging,” said Fiat in a statement. “The aim is to simplify urban electric mobility and remove one of the main barriers to EV adoption: charging time.”

Fleet Expansion Underway

Currently, 40 Fiat 500e vehicles in the Free2move fleet are participating in the pilot project. That number will increase to 100 vehicles in the coming months, making this one of the most ambitious battery swap initiatives in Europe to date.

Free2move, which operates car-sharing services in major cities across Europe and the U.S., is a brand under Stellantis, the global automotive group to which Fiat also belongs.

Madrid: A Strategic Launchpad

The decision to launch the project in Madrid aligns with the city’s aggressive climate strategy. The Spanish capital has pledged to cut CO₂ emissions by 65% ​​by 2030, making it an ideal testing ground for sustainable mobility solutions.

The project also supports Spain’s national target of having 5.5 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030, a goal that requires innovative infrastructure and public-private partnerships.

A Model for the Future?

While battery swapping remains rare in Europe, Fiat’s move could signal a shift in how automakers think about EV usability—especially in densely populated urban areas. If successful, the Madrid pilot could become a model for other cities seeking to boost EV adoption without waiting for large-scale charging networks to catch up.

As Fiat, Ample, and Free2move lead the charge in Spain, the message is clear: the future of electric mobility may be faster, simpler, and more flexible than ever before.

Source: Stellantis

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Stellantis is stopping production of the Fiat 500e at the Mirafiori plant

At the end of 2023, Fiat announced the temporary halt of production of the all-electric 500e at the Mirafiori plant due to low demand, and the same problems continued in 2024. According to the latest information, Stellantis announced that it would suspend operations from December 2, 2024 to January 5, 2025.

Stellantis confirmed that production at the Turin plant will be temporarily halted due to the decline in sales of electric cars in several European markets. This means that this decision affects not only the Fiat 500e but also Maserati cars, which are also experiencing poor demand in the US and China.

The company’s management is trying to find a way out of this situation, and Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares blames bad marketing for the poor sales results. The company is turning to selling the new Fiat 500 powered by a consumption engine, and the plan is to offer a hybrid version of the Fiat 500 from 2026.

The first generation Fiat 500 Hybrid will be produced in Poland, with an annual production plan of up to 100,000 units.

Source: Stellantis

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Abarth will be an all-electric brand

“Abarth is officially giving up the internal combustion engine,” said Gaetano Thorel, head of Fiat and Abarth in Europe. This means that after 75 years, the Italian carmaker will become an all-electric brand.

This is no surprise as Abarth started phasing out its models with combustion engines a year ago and replacing them with all-electric ones, and in 2023 we saw the introduction of the first all-electric models based on the Fiat 500 e and Fiat 600 e. It seems that the company wants to take advantage of the growing popularity of small city cars.

Cars with combustion engines have become expensive to maintain, so Abarth wants to focus on simpler options, which means rejecting hybrid models as well.

In an interview with Autocar, Thorel said: “Is it fair if we can offer customers an electric hot hatch that behaves in the same way, offers the same level of enjoyment and equivalent performance? All at the same price? I think it’s better to offer electric cars.”

He also mentioned another piece of information that is not in favor of the users of cars with a combustion engine: “If you produce a hot hatch with a combustion engine that emits 180 g/km and you are in Italy, every year you have to pay between 1,000 and 2,000 euros in road tax.”

It seems that Abarth has no intention of producing its own models in the future either, because they want to stay true to the original idea of ​​their founder Carlo Abarth, who focused on reworking existing models into powerful sports cars.

Source: Autocar