FIAT Offers Built-In Espresso Machine in the New Fiat 500L


FIAT/Promo image

How did we live before this? It is so logical: FIAT is offering a built-in espresso machine as an option on their new bigger 500L. Now that the pod people have taken over our kitchens, they are after our cars, with a Lavazza coffee maker wired in between the seats. According to the press release,

It is the first production car in the world available with a fully integrated espresso coffee machine as an accessory. Designed in cooperation with famous Italian coffee-machine producer Lavazza and using the company’s convenient “A Modo Mio” pod system, the espresso maker integrates perfectly into the passenger compartment, free of power cables and including a dedicated set of accessories to keep the interior neat and tidy, including a spoon holder, pod dispenser and sugar container.

It looks so easy in the video; all you need are another set of hands or a Google drive option as well. I am not surprised any more to find kitchen appliances in cars; the Ford Flex has a fridge. But in a FIAT?


Wikipedia/Public Domain

Espresso was designed to be fast, that’s where the name comes from. You pick it up and you knock it back. In a real Italian coffee culture, it takes more than just a machine; According to the Smithsonian,

It is said that a good espresso depends on the four M’s: Macchina, the espresso machine; Macinazione, the proper grinding of a beans –a uniform grind between fine and powdery– which is ideally done moments brewing the drink; Miscela, the coffee blend and the roast, and Mano is the skilled hand of the barista, because even with the finest beans and the most advanced equipment, the shot depends on the touch and style of the barista. When combined properly, these four Ms yield a drink that is at once bold and elegant, with a light, sweet foam crema floating over the coffee.


FIAT/Promo image

Instead, we get pods in our cars, delivering an instant hit of caffeine. But there are so many advantages; instead of paper cups littering the side of the road, now we will have much smaller pods. Drivers will be buzzed and alert. An Italian car website explains how it works:

[It is] a reinterpretation of the traditional ‘macchinetta del caffè’ by Bialetti, which astonished the entire world before the Second World War. The concept is the same; the specially designed flagon can be safely heated in between the chairs. The water in the bottom eventually reaches the correct temperature and is then pressed through the coffee (in specific pods). The result is delicious Italian coffee in the upper reservoir.

I am not certain that it will catch on; When I am in a Starbucks I never see people drinking espresso, it’s always a latte or a mixed and flavored coffee drink. It’s also about $300, which buys a lotta latte. But like the cupholder wars of a few years ago, this may start a trend. More in Autoblog


FIAT/Promo image

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