There was a whisper of something coming from Stellantis regarding EV cars a couple of days ago. But there was no way that anybody was prepared for the full-on battery of news that the company released today that spelled out the future of not just the North American brands, but every brand under the Stellantis fold. It’s not too surprising that EV powertrains are the focus…Stellantis, and previously FCA, have been viewed as lacking in electric vehicle innovation and like it or hate it, that is a part of the company that is necessary for business in today’s automotive climate. We’ll run you through the quick notes on the brands overall, but obviously we want to tackle the four main brands that we feel BangShift readers want to know the most about. The very short version goes like this: There will be four main platforms coming out soon (“soon” meaning about 2024, provided no more global plague, chip shortage, zombie apocalypse, what have you) and they will flow like this:
- STLA Small, with up to 300 miles of range
- STLA Medium, with up to 440 miles of range
- STLA Large, with up to 500 miles of range
- STLA Frame, with up to 500 miles of range
And this impacts every brand under the Stellantis fold. And just in case you didn’t know or weren’t aware, here’s the full list of brands and the associated taglines they are using for this EV push. Don’t shoot the messanger, we didn’t write these.
- Abarth – “Heating Up People, But Not The Planet.”
- Alfa Romeo – “From 2024, Alfa Becomes e-Romeo”
- Chrysler – “Clean Technology For A New Generation Of Families”
- Citröen – “Citröen Electric: Well-Being For All”
- Dodge – “Tear Up The Streets, Not The Planet”
- DS Automobiles – “The Art Of Travel, Magnified”
- Fiat – “It’s Only Green When Green Is For All”
- Jeep – “Zero Emissions Freedom”
- Lancia – “The Most Elegant Way To Protect The Planet”
- Maserati – “The Best In Performance Luxury, Electrified”
- Opel/Vauxhall – “Green Is The New Cool”
- Peugeot – “Turning Sustainable Mobility Into Quality Time”
- Ram – “Built To Serve A Sustainable Planet”
- Commercial Vehicles – “The Global Leader In e-Commercial Vehicles”
So, what are the new products that are coming? We’ll get to Chrysler, Jeep, Ram and Dodge in a minute, but here’s the cliff notes for the rest: Peugeot is taking the lead with their already decent-selling EV line. Fiat is going full EV, though there is no word on if that will continue to sell in the North American market. Lancia, a company many thought was on death row with a guaranteed date, is supposed to be whipping up at least three new vehicles. Opel/Vauxhall is projecting to have a crossover SUV tenatively named “Manta” and intends to be fully-electric by 2028. But we know what you came here for, so let’s get straight to it.
Chrysler
Not much was spoken in the way of Chrysler. But in the full Stellantis EV Day video (at the bottom of this story), during Ralph Gilles’ segment, you will see this concept that is plainly badged as a Chrysler. It comes off like a street-friendly AWD crossover, but the big story here is that something is happening at Chrysler that doesn’t involve further de-contenting the 300 sedan. It’s that one blip of heartbeat on an otherwise dead heart monitor. Now, let’s see if something comes from this. Stellantis promised that every brand had some time to prove their value before they were pruned off. Chrysler was vying with Lancia at the bottom of the pile for years. Let’s see if they can claw their way back into the market.
Jeep
Ram
Dodge
Jeep and Ram speak for themselves. But pour over the Dodge video carefully, because there are some surprising notes in here. Namely three items:
Item 1: A roofline that could either be Charger or Challenger (or, potentially, a new-named vehicle).
Item 2: The return of the “Fratzog”, the tri-point emblem that graced Dodge products from 1962-1975. Those hood creases have an interesting shape to them as well…
Item 3: As you can see in both the lead image and the video below, a car with a very 1968 Charger-esque front light design and the Fratzog symbol waking up all four tires with extreme violence, after Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis showed off tons of tire-torching muscle (and the car world’s version of a hiked-up skirt with that slight pullback of the covered car). Out of all of the announcements of Stellantis’s EV Day, Dodge has our full attention. Not for the battery car, not for the planet. EVs have proven to be daily-useable. They’ve proven to be blindingly fast…ask the dude in the stripped Tesla Model S who hustles Hellcats what that life is all about. What they don’t have is a soul. If Dodge can give an EV a soul, and provide that X-factor that no other EV really has for a gearhead, they win. Hands down.
