Stellantis automaker pledges to catch-up on EVs by 2025

Stellantis is a little late to the global electric vehicle party, but on Thursday it pledged to catch up and pass its competitors.

CEO Carlos Tavares says that by 2025, some 98 per cent of its models in Europe and North America will have fully electric or plug-in gas-electric hybrid versions. He says the company that combined Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot is developing four fully electric vehicle platforms with ranges from 500 kilometres (311 miles) to 800 kilometres (497 miles).

It also will have three electric drive modules to power all of its vehicles, and Stellantis will take advantage of its scale to reduce electric vehicle costs. The company expects to reduce battery costs by more than 40 per cent from 2020 to 2024 with two new battery chemistries. It plans to introduce solid-state battery technology by 2026 that can store more energy than current versions.

The models include a fully electric Ram pickup in 2024 and a hybrid Jeep Grand Cherokee later this year, as well as small cars. There even will be an electric Dodge muscle car. The company says it will use its electric commercial vehicle expertise from Europe to build EV models worldwide. It says Jeeps, known largely for going off road, will have zero-emissions electric vehicles in every market segment by 2025.

Tavares says Stellantis will spend no less than €30 billion (US$35.6 billion) over the next five years on EVs. It will build five battery factories in the United States and Europe. By 2030, 70 per cent of European sales and 40 per cent of US sales will be full electric or plug-ins, he said.

“We are already in the race,” Tavares said during an electric vehicle day presentation via a transatlantic webcast on Thursday. “We are on a rolling start and we are now accelerating full speed.”

This year, he said the company will have between 30 and 40 battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles for sale globally through all 14 of its brands. The bulk are in Europe, and at present there are no fully electric vehicles for sale in the US, the world’s second-largest market.

Of the fully electric and hybrid vehicles, no fewer than 80 per cent of them will run on batteries alone, Tavares said.

Stellantis says the Opel brand will go fully electric in Europe by 2028, with 100 per cent of its vehicles in China being electric. It will bring back the Manta sports car with a fully electric version by the middle of the decade.

Tavares said Stellantis would convert plants that now build internal combustion engines and transmissions into battery cell factories. Of the five battery plants, three will be in Europe, including conversion of the Termoli plant in Italy.

AP