Mild Hybrid 1.0 3Cyl Engine Code 46341162

Great Value for Money 12Volt Mild Hybrid Car. UZEZ Compliant easy to maintain

I was between the Picanto, the Aygo X and the i10.
I ended up Test Driving all of them and I did purchase the Panda Hybrid.

The Panda has superior suspensions, better brakes and handling in my opionion and a better clatch pedal manual gear selector which you use all the time.

The original spare parts at the dealer are a rip off but I do service my Panda outside the dealer network with Original Spare Parts ordered & delivered directly from Italy. This way the savings are significant.

The panda is overall reliable. I have put 30.000 Kilometers driving this in Greece for 1 Year. Zero problems so far.
Just change the Oil every 10,000Km or once per year and do not got with the extended servicing intervals they propose at the dealership and owners manual and you will be fine with a professional mechanic looking after your car.

0W-20 Acea C5 engine oil consumption from factory is about 0.4 Litters per 8.000Km's and the oil capacity including filter is 2,8 Litters.
So you may get a low oil engine pressure warning because the Pressure sensor is super sensitive, you can check also the Oil Pressure Valve just in case but it is supposed to brake - be replaced at 50.000-60.000Kms

.If you drain the regular 12Volt Battery the ECU will set the hybrid system offline until the regular 12Volt battery is recharged or replaced or charged though a wall outlet with the accessory.

The 12Volt Mild hybrid battery found under the driver's or passenger' seat is produced by Samsung Korea and is both air cooled from the cabin air especially the airconditioning from your legs also liquid cooled with coolant. This battery is small in capacity really reliable and you can open it at a hybrid repair battery facility and change the cells which are not standard but you can find replacement if needed.
This battery new in Greece costs 400 EUR as a spare part but you can also find them new or used from eBay or from Italy spare parts dealers and have them shipped to your door. There is no airfilter being blocked like in Toyota or Honda or Nissan ePower systems so the user driver does not have to worry about this. Just always check coolant level as this is the main method of keeping the battery within its thrermal elvelope.

When the battery is fully charged it assists with acceleration going uphill on 2nd, 3rd gear also it assists doing motorway accelaration and helps you maintain 6th gear on the gearbox in order to not have to drop to 5th gear. You can expect about 1Hp and sereral Nm of torque of acceleration from the mild hybrid system. The electric motor is located behind the manual gearbox . The motor is a belt starter generator ie it helps through the belt the engine rev higher.

During the braking or when you lift you foot off the acceleration pedal there is some but very little Regenerative Braking. During big downhill descents the battery will completely charge within 6 minutes lets say going downhill at speed. Comparing to the TwinAir or 1,2 or 1,4 the brake pads last approximately 9.000Kms more due to regenerative braking. In my humble opinion this is a very nice feature. You get into a corner and there is some braking re-assuring the driver every moment even if the driver has not applied the brakes yet.

The engine starts with a regular starter and the airconditioning has its own power from the engine directly so even if the battery is completely drained or broken you can drive the car no problem you will just not have the hybrid system to assist you.The airconditioning uses the same belt as the engine and the BSG Belt Starter Generator so you only change 1 belt and you are done with that and have no other worries. Very simple and easy to maintain design.You will not be stranded due a faulty battery or a hybrid system offline situation due to an error.

If you use very good engine Oil and original or very good engine Filter you will notice the engine being more happy and more potent. There is a big difference between AMSOIL or Lucas or Motul and Selenia that the dealership uses..

You get a 3cyl engine natural aspirated 70Hp and 92nm of torque at 6.000rpm. When the hybrid system is offline you get 69Hp and 88nm of torque.

This car has an EGR that needs removing and cleaning every 15.000Kms. I have converted my Myld Hybrid Panda to run on LPG and you get 3 times the cleaning intervals on the EGR due to much cleaner fuel leaving behind much less residue, also the engine Oil comes out more clean. Also every 15.000Kms you need to change the NGK MOPAR Spark Plugs these you have to buy original for warranty and the such (13.000Kms if you run on LPG)

I have rented a 2024 Kia Picanto and i10 while travelling to other countries and I believe the Panda Mild Hybrid runs better drives better & faster, has faster acceleration and better socks and handling. It also sounds better

Due to the mild hybrid system it has a much better more civilised Start Stop operation that you do not want to turn off the moment you sit at the car and you can actually live with it.

The Mild Hybrid Panda or Pandina will be produced - made in Italy until the end of 2027. The Pandina has a new screen & Dashboard and ADAS also better floor mats.

I highly recommend the Panda because the engine 46341162 will be in production until 2027 at least so big spare parts supply since 2021. The i10 picanto MPI and the other engine will be faced out due to emmisions and not possible to be offered with at least a mild hybrid system.
At least the made in Europe and made in Italy Fiat Panda has adequate Parts Supply as the entire value chain is in Europe.
The Fiat 500e turned hybrid starting production end of 2025 with a 48 Volt Hybrid System will also use same engine 46341162 from the 2021 -2027 Fiat Panda/500 so at least 2030 this engine will be in production meeting Euro7b specs

Speaking of LPG the same engine 46341162 mild hybrid with LPG and zero mechanical changes is found on the 2021-2024 Legacy Thermal Lancia Ypsilon being sold in italy and engine and LPG system produced new in Italy Maranello Factory by Fiat itshelf. So it is safe to run with LPG.
At 50,000Kms already in 1 Year of ownership with road trips from UK to Greece to Switcherland and back due to work the car is very reliable if you are carefull with servicing as discussed above.

Its a small cheap to run, cheap to insure, cheap to maintain little fan car to drive around city and around the city. I push it the car in general within the speed limits and because it is slow to pick up speed you don't get so many speed tickets so that is an added bonus.
You can park it very easily with City function making the steering wheel like butter, also very good at turning sharply if needed.

The Panda does not have the Best EuroNcap Safety rating but let me tell you I had a head on crash collision with a drunk driver of a much heavier Nissan Leaf (BEV) and another time was rear-ended by an i20 and let me tell you I was very much surprised by the Fiat Panda in both cases. I did fix the car as the insurance of the other guys paid both times and the car is like new and the engine repaired and runs fine.

I higlhy suggest the Fiat Panda

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