GENEVA — Fiat has used its megahit 500 as the basis of a concept car to show off its environmentally friendly technological expertise. The 500 Aria concept will be unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show in early March.
The 500 Aria is fitted with a 1.3-liter 16-valve Multijet diesel engine that meets Euro5 emissions standards, paired with a robotic Dualogic transmission and Fiat's Stop & Start system that cuts power when the car is idling or stopped. As a result, fuel consumption is decreased by 10 percent over the standard 500, and CO2 emissions are kept to a very green 98 g/km.
Recycled materials are abundant in the Aria, including recycled rubber from used tires to make the floor and natural fibers combined with thermoplastics for some of the interior components. The seats are woven from Mataleather, which is a product that reuses leather materials with natural lattice combined into sheets that appear like "real" leather. Fiat says the fabrics in the Aria concept have been granted Ecolabel approval, sort of the European ecological equivalent of the Good Housekeeping seal.
Fiat will also display a similarly ecologically advanced prototype Panda Aria in Geneva.
What this means to you: A wonder of simplicity like the Fiat 500 seems like an excellent canvas from which to create a more environmentally efficient car. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
The 500 Aria is fitted with a 1.3-liter 16-valve Multijet diesel engine that meets Euro5 emissions standards, paired with a robotic Dualogic transmission and Fiat's Stop & Start system that cuts power when the car is idling or stopped. As a result, fuel consumption is decreased by 10 percent over the standard 500, and CO2 emissions are kept to a very green 98 g/km.
Recycled materials are abundant in the Aria, including recycled rubber from used tires to make the floor and natural fibers combined with thermoplastics for some of the interior components. The seats are woven from Mataleather, which is a product that reuses leather materials with natural lattice combined into sheets that appear like "real" leather. Fiat says the fabrics in the Aria concept have been granted Ecolabel approval, sort of the European ecological equivalent of the Good Housekeeping seal.
Fiat will also display a similarly ecologically advanced prototype Panda Aria in Geneva.
What this means to you: A wonder of simplicity like the Fiat 500 seems like an excellent canvas from which to create a more environmentally efficient car. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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