Fiat's first modern electric car? The 1974 Cinquecento Elettrica!

In October 1973 the first oil crisis hit the world when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo. By the end of the embargo in March 1974 the price of oil had risen from US $3 per barrel to nearly $12 globally (source Wikipedia).

But the crisis meant also new opportunities for the automotive industry which suddenly started to develop an array of electric driven cars. With Italy's 90% dependency on foreign oil, car giant Fiat pushed forward the development of alternative fuels power trains. The first prototype of the electric "Cinquecento" was presented to the Italian automotive press in 1974.

Unfortunately for the first electric Cinquecento, the oil crisis was resolved in less than 6 months when the oil producing countries started to pump oil more than ever before and the electric Fiat 500 was soon forgotten. For almost 40 years.

It was only towards the end of 2012, thanks to California's regulations for zero-emission vehicles, that Fiat (FCA) started to produce at its Mexico plant the first - ever to make it into production - Fiat Cinquecento Elettrica.

This time, it's here to stay.