MILAN: Stellantis has unveiled its new "STLA Medium" vehicle platform, the first of four new electric-centric bases that will underpin all future models made by the world's fourth largest carmaker by sales.
The Amsterdam-based producer of Jeep, Peugeot and Alfa Romeo cars was formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler with France’s PSA Group in 2021.
It sold around 6 million vehicles last year.
It has plans to move all its future products onto four new BEV platforms, STLA Small, Medium, Large and Frame, starting with STLA Medium from Europe this year.
"STLA Medium is intended to be manufactured in many countries: France, Italy, Germany and then in North America in different locations," CEO Carlos Tavares said, adding further locations could added at later stage.
The group said on Wednesday all its new platforms were designed with provisions for future battery chemistries, including nickel- and cobalt-free and solid-state batteries.
"This enables Stellantis brands to tailor vehicle capabilities for the ideal balance of cost and performance," it said.
The STLA Medium platform will support several propulsion configurations; in full electric configuration it will feature a standard range of over 500km, which can be raised to up to 700km with a "performance pack".
Battery charge from 20% to 80% will take 27 minutes, Stellantis said.
"BEV is the focus of the design of this platform," Tavares said.
Stellantis said it currently offered 26 models in the market segments which will be served by the STLA Medium platform.
Aimed at the mid-sized cars, the STLA Medium platform will be the base for up to two million Stellantis vehicles a year, built in several plants across the world, the Italian-French group said in a statement.
Stellantis, whose brands also include Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Citroen and Opel, has plans for 100% of its European passenger car sales and 50% of its US passenger car and light-duty truck sales to be battery EVs by 2030.
On Tuesday, Stellantis NV unveiled two new electric vehicles in Italy as the carmaker comes under rising pressure from local politicians to safeguard production and jobs in Fiat’s home country.
The company unveiled the battery-powered Fiat 600 compact sport utility vehicle and an electric revamp of the 1930s Topolino mini car at its factory in Turin on Tuesday.
The cars are produced at plants in Morocco and Poland, respectively. The SUV starts at €35,950 (RM183,000), while the Topolino - Italian for "little mouse” - will cost from €9,890 (RM51,000). — Reuters/Bloomberg
