The Fiat Ecobasic is a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

and presented in December 1999 at the

Bologna Motor Show The Bologna Motor Show (known as the "''Salone internazionale dell'auto e della moto di Bologna''" in Italian) was an auto show which was scheduled to be held annually in December, in Bologna, Italy. The editions of 2009 and 2012 were the shor ...

and exhibited in March 2000 at the

Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...

. The purpose of this concept was to prove that it was possible to design and build a car capable of transporting four adults in a structure made of fully recyclable composite materials and whose production and operating costs were ultra-low.

Overview

The Ecobasic has been homologated according to

Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in February ...

standards; moreover, the materials that cover the structure are all recyclable. The design of the concept has been studied in the wind tunnel, boasting a drag coefficient of just 0.28. The front grille included a sort of transparent hatch that gave direct access to the coolant and oil reservoirs, as well as the positive and negative battery terminals. After manufacturing 10 units of the Ecobasic, the brand decided not to put it into production.

References

External links

Ecobasic Hatchbacks {{auto-stub