After being a laggard even among traditional automakers, Stellantis N.V. trotted out its top executives to presented at EV Day 2021 an electrification strategy that is intended to deliver class-leading vehicles for its 14 auto brands. They include Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot, Ram, and Commercial Vehicles.
The company promises to leverage in-house expertise and partnerships to deliver advanced technology at affordable prices. The strategy will allow the company to target sustainable, double-digit adjusted operating income margins in the mid-term.
The €30 billion-plus investment plan is meant to offer customers “iconic vehicles that have the performance, capability, style, comfort and electric range that fit seamlessly into their daily lives,” said Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer, Stellantis.
Stellantis is targeting sustainable, double-digit adjusted operating income margins in the mid-term (by around 2026) while providing global electrified mobility—a tall order. The company plans to invest more than €30 billion through 2025 in electrification and software development, including equity investments made in joint ventures to fund the activities.
It is also aiming to be the global leader in e-commercial vehicles, with a commercial vehicle electrification rollout extending to all products and all regions over the next three years. This includes the delivery of hydrogen fuel-cell medium-duty vans by the end of 2021.
The electrification roadmap
Stellantis is targeting what it says is the entire value chain for its electrification roadmap.
The company aims to secure more than 130 GWh of battery capacity by 2025, doubling that to more than 260 GWh by 2030. This will be satisfied with five “gigafactories” for batteries in Europe and North America, with additional supply contracts and partnerships to support demand. It has signed MOUs with two lithium geothermal brine process partners in North America and Europe to ensure a sustainable supply of lithium and integrate it into its supply chain.
The company expects its technical expertise and manufacturing synergies will drive battery costs lower. Two battery chemistries are planned by 2024: high-energy-density and nickel/cobalt-free options. The first competitive solid-state battery technology is targeted for a 2026 introduction. The plans call for EV (electric vehicle) battery pack costs reductions of more than 40% from 2020 to 2024 and by more than an additional 20% by 2030. The company is targeting EV (electric vehicle) total cost of ownership to be equivalent to that of internal-combustion-engine vehicles by 2026.
The aim is to optimize overall packs by simplifying module formats, increasing battery-cell sizes, and upgrading battery chemistries. Sustainability will be reinforced by looking at the battery life cycle through repair, remanufacturing, second-life use, and recycling.
Stellantis is targeting driving range and rapid recharges, which it says are key to widespread BEV consumer acceptance. Plans call for BEVs that deliver ranges between 300-500 mi (500-800 km) and “class-leading” fast-charging capability of 20 mi (32 km) per minute.
To improve charging, efforts will include providing day-to-day smart charging using green energy sources, tapping into existing partnerships to expand charging options, and accelerating smart grid use. The company intends to support the development of fast-charging networks across Europe, enabled by an MOU signed between Free2Move eSolutions and Engie EPS that mimics Free2Move’s North America business model.
Four BEV-centric platforms
Stellantis plans on covering its broad spread of brands with four “BEV-centric” platforms having a “high level” of length and width flexibility and component sharing, with each platform supporting the production of up to 2 million units per year. The four STLA platforms will be Small, with a range up to 300 mi (500 km); Medium, with a range up to 440 mi (700 km); and Large and Frame, with up to 500 mi (800 km) of range.
Propulsion will be from a family of three electric drive modules (EDMs)—combining motor, gearbox, and inverter—that are said to be compact, flexible, and easily scaled. They will be configured for front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, and 4xe.
The company believes the combination of platforms, EDMs, and high-energy-density battery packs will deliver vehicles with best-in-class performance in efficiency, range, and recharging. A program of hardware upgrades and over-the-air software updates will extend platform life well into the 2030s. Stellantis will develop software and controls in-house to maintain brand characteristics.
“Our electrification journey is quite possibly the most important brick to lay as we start to reveal the future of Stellantis just six months after its birth,” said Tavares. “We have the scale, the skills, the spirit, and the sustainability to achieve double-digit adjusted operating income margins, lead the industry with benchmark efficiencies, and deliver electrified vehicles that ignite passion.”
Europe leading the electrified charge
The company highlighted six of its brands at its EV Day, the Europeans providing real substance to the new electrification strategy.
Presentations started with Opel Brand CEO Michael Lohscheller with news that it will go fully electric in Europe by 2028, enter the China market with 100% electric offerings, and will re-invent the Manta with an “e” version by mid-decade.
Lohscheller stood beside the concept that could preview the new Manta EV. The Manta GSe ElektroMOD concept shown in May combines the classic design of the original with electric propulsion inspired by similarly transformed classic cars from the new breed of convertors.
Under its Opel black hood is an electric motor with 108 kW (compared to the mid-1970s GT/E combustion engine’s 77 kW) and 255 N·m (188 lb·ft) outputs sent to the rear wheels. Its 31-kW·h lithium-ion battery allows a range of around 200 km (124 mi). As with the production Opel Corsa-e and Opel Mokka-e, the Manta GSe has a 9.0-kW onboard charger for single-phase and three-phase AC charging.
Linda Jackson, Brand CEO for Peugeot expects 100% of models in Europe to be electrified (assuming partially and fully) by 2025.
It already offers the e-208 and e-2008 BEVs, but adding more excitement to the brand’s electrification story was the announcement earlier in July of the 9X8, its Hypercar challenger to make its competitive debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2022. The successor to legendary 905 and 908 racecars is meant to project Peugeot’s Neo-Performance vision combining a premium “sporting pedigree” with styling excellence, efficiency, and technological expertise that can be carried over to road cars.
Powered by a hybrid powertrain that drives through all-wheel drive, the racecar’s rear-mounted, 2.6-L V6 combustion engine produces 500 kW supplemented by a Hybrid4 500-kW electric powertrain. The front-mounted 200-kW motor-generator unit, seven-speed sequential gearbox, and battery are in the process of being assembled. The 900-V, high-energy-density battery is being co-developed by Peugeot Sport and Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies.
Fiat Brand CEO Olivier Francois said his brand is going to embrace fully electric tech, at least in Europe, as he stood with the New 500, which went all-electric in 2020. He announced a complete electric LCV (light commercial vehicle) lineup (with fuel cells) from the end of 2022; that a BEV version will be available on every nameplate by 2024; and that Abarth would switch to 100% BEV powertrains.
He pointed to the Centoventi, a concept shown at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, as a prime example of Fiat’s ingredients for disruption and an example of its pure people’s electric car ideas. Celebrating the 120th anniversary of the brand, the concept was designed to offer an electric mobility solution that is affordable for all.
Designed as a “blank canvas,” it would be produced in just one color and “painted” with a choice of four varieties of roofs, bumpers, wheel covers, and external wraps. Customization extends to configurable interiors, accessories, and the modular battery pack, which allows drivers to extend the range from 62 to 310 mi (100 to 500 km) by buying or renting additional battery units.
From North America, with electrification plans
From North America, Jeep Brand CEO Christian Meunier mentioned the brand’s commitment to solar charging stations on trails; announced that there will be a zero-emission fully electric 4xe in every SUV segment by 2025, with 70% of sales being electrified; and revealed the first images of the 2022 Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid.
In support of the 2021 Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid launch (and future electrified Jeeps), the brand announced in March that it is establishing the 4xe Charging Network, installing Level 2 charging stations at Jeep Badge of Honor off-road trailheads around the U.S. over the next year. Iconic Jeep vehicle trails at Moab, Rubicon, and Big Bear got the first charging stations in the Spring.
The charging network is operated by Electrify America, with Jeep 4xe owners getting free charging via a custom mobile app. With 21 mi (34 km) of all-electric range, the Wrangler 4xe can conquer many trails with zero emissions.
Ram Brand CEO Mike Koval stood in front of five draped vehicles at the Auburn Hills tech center to announce a full portfolio of Ram e-technologies of BEV and REPB (range electric paradigm breaker) including a 1500 BEV full-size pickup in 2024; fully electrified solutions in a majority of other segments by 2025; and a full portfolio of electric solutions for all its segments no later than 2030.
Koval also discussed how the Stellantis Commercial Vehicles operation is leveraging technology from the 100% electrified mid- and large-sized van range in Europe to deliver electrification in North America, with the first beneficiary being the Ram Promaster. And the first fuel-cell vans will be delivered by the end of 2021.
From the Dodge Brand, CEO Tim Kuniskis announced that it will launch the world’s first full battery electric muscle car in 2024. It will have tough shoes to fill if it is to compete with the brand’s ultimate current model, the Challenger SRT Super Stock.
That muscle car is powered by a supercharged 6.2-L Hemi V8 that powers the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, with a revised powertrain calibration that increases rated power output to 807 hp (602 kW). The revised powertrain, combined with stickier standard Nitto drag radials, combines to make the car a claimed muscle car performance champ, with 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) acceleration in 3.25 s and a quarter-mile elapsed time of just 10.5 s.
