Stellantis executive: ‘The people have decided: we will be purely electric’
In a new interview, Stellantis European Head, Uwe Hochschurtz, claimed, “The people have decided: we will be purely electric,” backtracking statements made by the company’s CEO, Carlos Tavares.
The statement is a surprise as the Stellantis CEO has been adamantly against going all-in on electric vehicles.
Less than a year ago, the Stellantis leader said electric vehicles were being “imposed” on the auto industry while claiming “there is no way” the automaker can avoid passing on additional EV costs to buyers.
More recently, in response to the European Union’s proposed ban on fossil fuel car sales from 2035, Tarvis argued hybrids should play a more significant role in the transition. Under the new proposal, hybrid vehicles would be phased out as low-emission vehicles in 2030, paving the way for fully electric cars.
Mr. Tavares has made it clear he believes electric vehicles are being forced upon them, saying in an interview in January:
What is clear is that electrification is a technology chosen by politicians, not by industry.
However, since these comments were made, there has been a clear shift in sales of electric vehicles. EVs have continued to gain ground in every major auto market (including the US, Europe, and China). The International Energy Agency forecasts global EV sales share to reach 13% compared to 9.4% in 2021.
More importantly, people prefer EVs. The latest EY Mobility Consumer Index 2022 Study found that 52% of car buyers prefer an electric vehicle for their next purchase, and the preference for fully electric has more than tripled since 2020.
In light of the CEO’s warnings about going all in on EVs, the automaker’s European boss seems to be on board with the new gas-powered car ban yet reiterates the CEO’s message on affordability. To help offset the purchase price, Hochschurtz offers a solution by proposing a lower tax rate on EVs.
Stellantis European head on the transition to electric vehicles
In an interview with a German newspaper, Stellantis’s chief operating officer for enlarged Europe, Uwe Hochschurtz, claims:
The people have decided: We will be purely electric.
But, during the interview, the Stellantis executive criticized the German government’s move to reduce electric vehicle incentives even as the growing demand for EVs makes them expendable. According to Hochschurtz, since (at least in Stellantis’s case) electric vehicles cost more to produce, the government should make up the difference.
Hochschurtz offered the idea of a lower tax rate on electric vehicle purchases in Germany as an alternative to the subsidies, stating:
An electric car helps us keep our environment clean, and a non-electric car makes our environment dirtier. I don’t think you can use the same tax rates there.
Despite Tavares’s comments, as part of the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030, the automaker is aiming for 100% electric vehicle sales in Europe and 50% in the United States by the end of the decade. Stellantis revealed its first fully electric Jeep Avenger, built for the European market earlier this week.
Electrek’s Take
To clarify, several other automakers have proven it’s possible to build profitable electric models. To me, it seems Stellantis needs to invest in the technology and supply chains required to build EVs at scale instead of trying to make excuses.
Electric vehicles are working. According to a new IEA analysis, CO2 emissions are set to grow by just 1%, and the report adds that the increase would be “much larger – more than tripling” if it were not for the growing number of electric vehicles and renewable energy deployments.
As far as hybrids go, they were a great bridge to fully electric vehicles. The biggest reason consumers didn’t make the switch was limited range. Now that battery technology has progressed and charging stations are rolling out, there’s no reason not to go fully electric.
Stellantis is late to the party and now looking to play catch up, so it makes sense that Tavares continues to argue against the transition to fully electric vehicles.
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National Grid Renewables has broken ground on its 100 MW Apple River Solar Project in Polk County, Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin solar farm, which will use US-made First Solar Series 6 Plus bifacial modules, will be constructed by The Boldt Company, creating 150 construction and service jobs. Apple River Solar will generate over $36 million in direct economic benefits over its first 20 years.
Once it comes online in late 2025, Apple River Solar will supply clean energy to Xcel Energy, which serves customers throughout the Upper Midwest. According to National Grid Renewables, the solar farm will generate enough energy to power around 26,000 homes annually. It will also offset about 129,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year – equivalent to taking 30,900 cars off the road.
“We are excited to see this project begin as it underscores our dedication to delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy to our customers,” said Karl Hoesly, President, Xcel Energy-Wisconsin and Michigan. “This project is an important step in those goals while bringing significant economic benefits to Polk County and the local townships.”
Electrek reported in February that Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, expects to cut more than 80% – and possibly up to 88% – of its emissions by 2030, putting it on track to hit Minnesota’s goal of net zero by 2040. It also says it’s on track to achieve its clean energy goals for all the Upper Midwest states it serves – Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Michigan.
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Tesla has announced that it will finally deliver 500 kW charging as it is about to install its long-awaited V4 Supercharger cabinets.
The rollout of Supercharger V4 has been a strange one, to say the least.
Tesla has been deploying the new charging stations for two years and calling them “Supercharger V4”, but it has only been deploying the charging stalls.
Supercharger stations are made of two main parts: the stalls, which are where the charging cable is located, and the cabinets, which are generally located further back and include all the power electronics.
For all these new “Supercharger V4”, Tesla was actually using Supercharger V3 cabinets. This has been limiting the power output of the charging stations to 250 kW – although
Today, Tesla officially announced its “V4 Cabinet”, which the automaker claims will enable of “delivering up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semi.”
Here are the main features of the V4 Cabinet as per Tesla:
- Faster charging: Supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, including 30% faster charging for Cybertruck. S3XY vehicles enjoy 250kW charge rates they already experience on V3 Cabinet — charging up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.
- Faster deployments: V4 Cabinet powers 8 posts, 2X the stalls per cabinet. Lower footprint and complexity = more sites coming online faster.
- Next-generation hardware: Cutting-edge power electronics designed to be the most reliable on the planet, with 3X power density enabling higher throughput with lower costs.
Tesla reports that its first sites with the new V4 Cabinets are going into permitting now. The company expects its first sites to open next year.
We recently reported about Tesla’s new Oasis Supercharger project, which includes larger solar arrays and battery packs to operate the charging station mostly off-grid.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to all Supercharger stations, and Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
It took about 8 years, but it sounds like the pieces are now getting actually in place with Supercharger V4, Megapacks, and this new Oasis project.
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Hyundai has a new secret weapon it’s about ready to unleash. To revamp the brand in China and counter BYD’s surge, Hyundai is launching a new AI-powered EV next year. The new model will be Hyundai’s first dedicated electric car for the world’s largest EV market.
With the help of Haomo, a Chinese autonomous startup, Hyundai will launch its first EV equipped with generative AI. It will also be its first model designed specifically for China.
A Hyundai Motor official said (via The Korea Herald) the company is “working to load the software” onto the new EV model, “which will be released in the Chinese market next year.” The spokesperson added, “The level of autonomous driving is somewhere between 2 and 2.5.”
In comparison, Tesla’s Autopilot is considered a level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the SAE scale (0 to 5), meaning it offers limited hands-free features.
With Autopilot, you still have to keep your eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel, or the system will notify you and eventually disengage.
Haomo’s system, DriveGPT, unveiled last spring, takes inspiration from the OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
The system can continuously update in real-time to optimize decision-making by absorbing traffic data patterns. According to Haomo, DriveGPT is used in around 20 models as it looks to play a bigger role in China.
Hyundai hopes new AI-powered EV boosts sales in China
Electric vehicle sales continue surging in China. According to Rho Motion, China set another EV sales record last month with 1.2 million units sold, up 50% from October 2023.
Over 8.4 million EVs were sold in China in the first ten months of 2024, a notable 38% increase from last year.
BYD continues to dominate its home market. According to Autovista24, BYD accounted for 32.9% of all PHEV and EV (NEV) sales in China through September, with over half of the top 20 best-selling EV models.
Tesla was second with a 6.5% share of the market, but keep in mind these numbers only include plug-in models (PHEV).
Like most foreign automakers, Hyundai is struggling to keep up with the influx of low-cost electric models in China. Beijing Hyundai’s sales have been slipping since 2017. Through September, Korean automaker’s share of the Chinese market fell to just 1.2%.
Last month, Hyundai opened its first overseas digital R&D center in China to help kick off its return to the region.
According to local reports, Hyundai is partnering with other local tech companies like Thundersoft, a smart cockpit provider, and others in China to power up its next-gen EVs
With its first AI-powered EV launching next year, Hyundai hopes to turn things around in the region quickly. The new model will be one of five to launch in China through 2026.
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