Fiat hopes sex sells with 500e: "Stop Global Warming, Start Global Hotness"


In the 1983 Chevy Chase film "National Lampoon's Vacation," sexiness (at least of the female variety) was personified by Christie Brinkley driving a Ferrari 308 that got about 15 miles per gallon. Nearly three decades later, Fiat brand chief Olivier Francois is pitching a kinder, greener sexy.

Speaking at the Los Angeles Auto Show Wednesday afternoon in front of a screen that read "Stop Global Warming, Start Global Hotness," Francois used every innuendo he could find to put distance between what he called the "busy, shiny, goofy, blocky" aspects of green living and the battery-electric Fiat 500e that the Italian automaker will start selling in California by mid-2013. He then showed a clip of a couple of test drivers take the 500e out on a racecourse only to get derailed mid-track by an impromptu make-out session. Another 500 ad featured a clever scorpions taking the top off a supermodel.

"Isn't ugliness the worst kind of pollution," Francois asked rhetorically in front of images that included the nearly-triangular EV the Kewet Buddy. You can watch this all unfold below.

The 500e will have a 111-horsepower motor that Fiat says will deliver at least an 80-mile single-charge range. The model will also have three color packages and an interior with electric orange accents for those that can't contain themselves. As for pricing, Francois, when asked after his presentation, maintained the company's silence on the subject.