2006 Fiat Panda MultiEco Concept

Maximizing Current Green Technology

Since its divorce and cash-paid settlement with General Motors, Fiat has done some serious thinking about the future. After a near-death brush with accountants, the brand has moved well ahead, bouncing back from the sorry state it was in just a year ago with several new products for the Fiat brand and its luxury/performance subsidiary, Alfa Romeo, destined to enter North America by 2008.

One of the key vehicles behind the Italian firms rejuvenation is the Panda, a city car so impressive that it bowled over judges, winning European Car of the Year back in 2004 when it debuted. Though it is powered by an assortment of engines suitable for small kitchen appliances, Fiats

The Fiat Panda MultiEco is the latest in a long lineup of Panda-based concepts. (Photo: Fiat S.p.A.)

think big motto and practicality strong-card helped this tall, boxy, but extremely affordable Panda put young Europeans on wheels.

Given its outright popularity, Fiat has explored different themed routes with the Panda. The companys first modification was to allow the little machine to head for the hills by jacking up the suspension, fitting it with a torquey MultiJet diesel motor and a lightweight all-wheel drive system. The result? A Panda at home in the wilderness.

Fiat CrossPanda Climbing: Not a verb, but a trim level. (Photo: Fiat S.p.A.)

Fiat also added some colorful cladding and some new bodywork, spot lamps and a safari-style roofrack system to the Panda 4X4, and called it the Simba Concept. It was such a successful prototype that Fiat decided to produce it, giving it the name PandaCross. Its an appropriately cute name for such a cute vehicle.

In more recent times, Fiat has become more serious about the environment; this years Geneva Show served as a platform from which the brand launched a variety of new alternative fuel technologies, including a prototype hydrogen-powered Panda, a near-production methane-powered

Hydrogen-powered Panda gives light for an even greener Panda. (Photo: Fiat S.P.A.)

Panda, and this, the Panda MultiEco.

As the name suggests, the MultiEco lumps together Fiats advancements in the environmental powertrain department. The MultiEco uses the fundamentals of the methane-powered Panda and combines it with other existing ecological engine technologies. By the way, methane-powered cars arent anything new; in terms of the automotive world, methane fuel is natural gas, also known as CNG, a cleaner fuel than petrol. Coincidentally, the MultiEco runs on methane, one of the primary emissions of the black-and-white, bamboo-eating Panda. All silliness aside, what the MultiEco brings to the table is a new engine thats able to run on gasoline, CNG, or a mix of the two, and in the near

Lightweight panels help to stretch the MultiEcos range to 217 miles. (Photo: Fiat S.P.A.)

future, hydrogen will be added to that list.

Built on a modular and flexible chassis with a tall body, the Panda was an easy conversion to natural-gas power. Its frame allowed for two new tanks - one longitudinally, one transversely - to be fitted giving it a capacity of 13 gallons, without detracting from the interior volume or cargo space in any way whatsoever. The MultiEcos powerplant is a converted version of the Pandas FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotized Engine), featuring a new belt-operated starter (BAS). This innovative starter-alternator provides instantaneous starts for the idle-stop mode, and is a similar system to that used in hybrids.

Before the Pandas green-generated power hits the front wheels, it is mated to a robotized clutchless manual gearbox, similar to the unit found in the smart

Silly looking CrossPanda is actually very capable off-road. (Photo: Fiat S.P.A.)

fortwo. This style of transmission combines the power and efficiency of a manual with the convenience of an automatic, without the third pedal of the former or the energy-sapping torque converter of the latter.
To make the most out of these incremental changes, Fiat has improved the Pandas exterior by ways of material and styling. Using recyclable thermoplastics to replace standard steel body panels, lightweight seats plus carbon-fiber and steel for the fuel tanks, Fiat shaved an impressive 202 lbs off the curb weight of its production contemporary.

To further enable the car to reach its claimed 217-mile range, the Pandas body spent some time in the windtunnel, yielding more aerodynamically efficient bumpers, mirrors and other extremities. Of course, to give it a bit of glamor for its Geneva debut, the car was finished in pastel blue paint scheme with unique blue-tinted headlamps and tail lamps. The

The MultiEco Panda emits 42 percent less CO2 gas, and is some 63 percent cheaper to run per mile than this, a regular Panda. (Photo: Fiat S.P.A.)

Panda MultiEco also rides on low-rolling resistance tires with a new compound developed by Pirelli that reduces energy loss, but provides consistent grip in wet and dry conditions.

The Panda MultiEco doesnt so much bring anything new to the game of green automobiles, as it perfects existing mechanical know-how. The combined efforts of Fiat allow the MultiEco to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by up to 42 percent as compared to the gasoline version, which is roughly equal to 5.3 oz/mile. For comparison, a 2.0-liter gasoline-powered compact car (e.g. a VW Golf or Ford Focus) emits around 10.5 oz/mile. Further benefits of natural gas include cleaner emissions than gasoline, and the reduced cost of natural gas means that the MultiEco is roughly 63 percent cheaper to run in relative costs per mile.

As was mentioned, the MultiEco is Fiats concept demonstrator vehicle for a milder, natural-gas/gasoline bi-fuel powered Panda that goes on sale later this year. Too bad that nothing like this will be available on our side of the Atlantic.

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