Fiat discovered several key assembly steps were skipped in early versions of the 500e battery-car.
Fiat’s little 500e has had its first short-circuit, so to speak, the Italian partner of U.S. automaker Chrysler announcing the battery-electric vehicle as to be recalled due to a problem that could cause an unexpected loss of power.
Despite the relatively small size, the service campaign could prove costly for Fiat whose executives have acknowledged they’re losing substantial amounts of money on every battery-car they sell. But they were hoping that the 500e would be an image booster, especially in green-minded California, currently the only market where the battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, is sold.
The problem turns out to be unrelated to the electric portion of the Fiat 500e powertrain. Instead, it involves half shafts that transfer torque from the vehicle’s gearbox to its wheels. An investigation was launched after Chrysler Group learned a customer’s vehicle unexpectedly lost power, engineers discovering two assembly steps had not been properly completed, creating a condition that could lead to half shaft separation.
Chrysler Group is unaware of any related accidents or injuries. And it says only a relatively small number of vehicles will be impacted, about 270 owners of model-year 2013 Fiat 500e battery-electric vehicles likely to receive recall notices in the coming weeks. Some of the affected vehicles have not even been delivered to buyers and will be repaired on dealer lots.
Repairs will be performed at no charge to customers. Chrysler did not disclose the cost of the recall but it clearly won’t enhance an already money-losing proposition.
Last spring, Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer for both Fiat and Chrysler, revealed that the company expects to lose $10,000 on every Fiat 500e it sells. But, like other automakers it had no choice but to bring the battery-car to market to meet a strict zero-emission vehicle, or ZEV, mandate set by California regulators. The alternative would be having to pull out of the Golden State.
(Marchionne warns the Fiat 500e will be a big money-loser. For more, Click Here.)
A number of other makers have also acknowledged they expect to lose money on what critics have dubbed “compliance cars,” vehicles developed specifically to meet California’s mandate.
Compounding the situation, slow sales have forced manufacturers to sharply reduce costs on their plug-based vehicles. Last week, General Motors took a $5,000 price break on the 2014 version of its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, while Smart trimmed the monthly lease price of the newly update Smart Electric Drive to $139, down from $400 for the old model.
Fiat has fired its own shot, cutting the monthly lease on the 500e to $199. The maker had hoped that the well-equipped battery microcar would help enhance its image not only for design and features but by improving its traditionally poor reputation for quality. It remains to be seen if that will be tarnished by the new 500e recall.
(Chrysler getting charged up about battery-cars. Click Here for the full story.)
Fiat isn’t the only battery-car maker to have experienced a recall, however. Nissan has had to launch a service campaign on its Leaf, Tesla on its new Model S. Most impact relatively small numbers of vehicles, a June recall of the Volt covering just four plug-in hybrids due to a software glitch.
(Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this story.)