Fiat has launched the Grande Panda Hybrid in the UK, which will join the electric version of the company’s new compact SUV in showrooms this summer.
Like its electric sibling, the Fiat Grande Panda Hybrid shares its underpinnings with a raft of Stellantis models like the Citroën C3 and Vauxhall Frontera.
At the heart of the hybrid model is a 1.2-litre engine delivering 110hp, combined with a 48-volt battery and six-speed automatic transmission. The system integrates a 21kW (28hp) electric motor and a small battery, so its electric propulsion is inevitably limited.
The hybrid system provides electric power to launch, creep in stop-start traffic, and park, and the Grande Panda can operate in full-electric mode during gentle low-speed driving, but only for just over half a mile at speeds under 18mph.
The main purpose of the electric motor is to support the petrol engine to provide smoother acceleration, silent city driving, and lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The exterior design follows its electric sibling with what Fiat calls “a contemporary reinterpretation of the 1980s Panda”, with its distinctive pixelated LED headlights that are designed to “evoke retro video games”. Other distinctive features include cube-like taillights, blacked-out pillars, 3D, ‘Panda’ lettering on the doors and similar Fiat branding at the back.
Inside, the cabin is spacious and there’s a generous 412-litre boot capacity, plus numerous storage solutions throughout the cabin – such as in the cleverly designed 13-litre dashboard, three litres of which are housed in a single compartment.
The Hybrid models add a new entry-level trim, called Pop, to the Icon and La Prima trims already available on the electric version. It starts at just over £18K.
Grande Panda 4×4 concept
Hard on the heels of the launch of the new Fiat Grande Panda Hybrid, Fiat has revealed a concept for a new Grande Panda 4×4, following on from previous generations of Fiat’s hugely popular Panda 4×4 model.
It’s a concept model at the moment but will almost certainly end up in production, although Fiat is cagey about saying exactly when.
The new Grande Panda is available as an EV or the new hybrid version discussed above. While details of what’s going to be under the Grande Panda 4×4’s bonnet haven’t been released, Fiat has revealed that the all-wheel-drive Grande Panda is planned with an electrified rear axle, meaning that it will be either a full EV or a far more electrically biased hybrid than the Grande Panda Hybrid outlined above.