Weapons... hmm, the amount of oil leaking onto your driveway in the first year will likely lead the US to try and invade your property from the PureTechs!
As discussed, these days probably lower production costs. For the next current Panda refresh we're talking about, it's just an easy way to sell them as technology moves on. more to do with the other low cost / small competitors the buyer might be out to test drive the same day. Walks-the-walk of being a 'modern' car. It will appeal to younger buyers, who believe it or not, the current Panda's designer says the Panda is and always has been designed for. I know that's not the reputation it's had in the UK (at least in my circles when I owned them) but it's seen as a young persons car in its home market.
Digital dashes, when done well like in some Mercedes models at the minute, can show different combinations of the endless little dials and screens related to the drive. If you're concerned about your MPG, could be all the fuel stats, consumption, range, eco driving index. Or if you're into your performance your torque, launch mode, G-metre and the gimmicks, or it can be all maps, directions, virtual arrows floating in the view in front of you. I think some Peugeot models had a 'night vision' mode that could see things using the sensors that were nearly impossible to spot by eye. There are some quite cool ideas.
Having driven a lot of modern and outgoing Toyota / Lexus models recently, I can say that for such a large company with huge R&D, they haven't really worked out how to make them very useful. A lot of owners would admit they're a bit of a step back but inevitably just a sign of the direction things are going.
My favourite aspect was being able to switch to KMH when driving down south then back to MPH when home. Bit more practical. Then again, it had silly things too, like 'car wash mode' (see the attachment).
I just read this weekend that BMW have come out ditching an EV strategy in favour of hydrogen! PROGRESS. The only thing Hydrogen falls back on is what EVs fell back on 20 years ago: lack of infrastructure. But completely overcome the nuisance of 45 minute fill ups.. finding a free and functional charging spot on route... the questionable ethics of manufacturing... and the short term wastage of using up some of the earths rare minerals that won't grow back!
BMW was quite all-in on EVs before they had to like some other EU makes. It's quite the statement that BMW, a very loved and highly regarded brand [somehow] is confident in hydrogen. Though I can't say I'm a fan of its cars, there's no denying people love them. They have been consulted by Toyota over the decades on improving manufacturing quality / reliability and more recently sharing Hybrid tech / development of the Supra and sadly, diesel engines in the Auris / Avensis which was a cruel, cruel curse to owners.... but. They've clearly seen some sense and probably derived some insight from that partnership about the wider world and practicalities over the EV strategy.y It's a hell of a statement for them to be moving that direction, being an EU based and enslaved to its legislation. If you ask me, it could be the first bit of the turning point we might see away from EVs as the adoption has become wider.
From what I can gather reading on various forums, speaking to people at work, friends, family - the older folks with the time, money and lower demand on their driving routes / schedules are buying EVs, really enjoying the experience, the technology and whatnot. Some of the younger ones (who are big earners) are buying them because they want a Tesla, or they're VAG-nuts and bought one of the IDs, they initially loved the cars, enjoy the acceleration and low electric tariffs but they admit they won't buy another unless there are monumental improvements to the range and the local infrastructure in terms of broken chargers, unstable range estimates in the ice and cold and normal cars parked in the limited charging spaces.
If you look at the BMW i3 and i8s, 150k cars the i8 was it not? You can get them for next to nothing now that they're older and the batteries are done. BMW has probably heard from too many of its customers who weren't happy about that and has done some serious adjustment of its strategy. Pretty sure they want to retain their brand, customers and money coming from other parts of the world too which don't see EVs as the future.
Fiat can afford to not have to make tough calls or risky investments on its own now as in the past regarding Hydrogen. They are part of a much larger Stellantis who can use the German playbook of combining huge R&D sums into its new platforms and models across a bunch of badges and selectively choose which ones use which grade of plastic or leather stitching and start to deliver much more competitive cars at lower prices. Fiat is a beneficiary now. It will benefit from Hydrogen if Stellantis' dabbling in it (and the likes of BMW / Toyota's success as pioneers) in the next decade(s).
And honestly, the Panda has been there and got the t-shirt! This car has been there through pretty much everything and Fiat, despite its flaws, hasn't been afraid to open its mind to some interesting one-offs and configurations! It's quite impressive in my opinion - but I'm biased.
let’s just hope they can make less leaky hydrogen systems when they go there 
