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Fiat is developing a new 500 Hybrid

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At the end of 2023, Fiat announced that it was temporarily suspending production of its all-electric model 500e at the Mirafiori plant due to low demand, and the problems continued in 2024. Now, it seems that Stellantis has finally found a solution, and it could be a hybrid version of this model.

The analysis showed that the biggest reason for the drop in demand for the 500e is the price, so production at the Mirafiori factory is not economically profitable. Back in May, it was announced that the Fiat 500e would undergo its first reverse transition, which is necessary in the hope of saving the model and its production. Also, it should be pointed out that the high price of cars was also influenced by the sudden abolition of incentives in Italy and Germany.

It was decided to try to significantly reduce costs by developing a hybrid version and technical evolution of the current 500e, with a new battery and a new battery management system, in order to make the price of the car affordable to a larger number of customers.

The plan is the annual production of up to 100,000 units of the hybrid version, and whether this will have an effect remains to be seen, because the arrival of this version is announced in two years.

Source: Fiat

Tuning

LÀ SLR based on the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

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In early November at the SEMA Show, the private Coach Design Studio located in Southern California, S-Klub, presented the LÀ SLR based on the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. This company specializes in the design and creation of high quality automobiles.

The LÀ SLR is equipped with a wild 30-part body kit, including 10-inch wider front and rear wheel arches, a huge rear wing, and a large diffuser.

Inside, Red Alcantara covers the seats, door panels, steering wheel and dashboard. The original silver air vents and air conditioning controls from the SLR McLaren have been retained, with the addition of carbon details and a Formula 1-like halo system that extends above the cockpit. In front of the driver and passenger is a pair of windshields.

The S-Klub did not say if there were any changes under the hood.

Source: S-Klub

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LÀ SLR based on the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
News

Hertz Car Rental is selling over 30,000 EVs

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Hertz Car Rental announced that it is selling almost 30,000 electric vehicles due to increased losses. A few years ago, the rental company acquired a large number of electric vehicles, but in the end this experiment was not successful.

The company aims to sell a certain number of cars by the end of the year, including the Tesla and Polestar models. A number of vehicles will remain in the fleet to meet the needs of customers booking trips in electric cars. The reason for this decision is low earnings, and electric vehicles that are not in use quickly lose value.

Three years ago, the company ordered 100,000 units of the Tesla Model 3, which at the time seemed like a good business move. Customers liked the car, and the company only had to pay for simple interventions such as tire repair, windshield wiper fluid, etc. Luckily, all the vehicles were not even delivered, so the losses are smaller.

The biggest problems appeared when Tesla started cutting the prices of the vehicles. This forced Hertz to start thinking about selling, as the price of the vehicle they owned was higher than the price of a new car, causing them to quickly lose money.

To make matters worse, the analysis showed that Tesla cars are not as economical as the company thought. There were also transport problems caused by accidents, leading to high repair costs and long deliveries.

Hertz will continue selling EVs in 2025.

Source: Hertz Car Rental; Photo: EPA-EFE