So Stellantis (and not only) tries to challenge Tesla in charging stations
There is not only battery swap in Tavares' electricity strategy. Stellantis' plan comes to life together with the German BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the American General Motors, the Japanese Honda and the Korean Hyundai and Kia, to rival Tesla in the electric charging station market in the USA
On the delicate front of charging electric cars, which is still too slow and difficult given the lack of infrastructure and charging stations almost everywhere, the strategy of Stellantis appears to be twofold, one of the few large groups that has not yet adopted the charging standard of Tesla which is quickly establishing itself in the United States of America.
THE STELLANTIS DOUBLE STRATEGY FOR CHARGING ELECTRIC CARS
On the one hand, the group led by Carlos Tavares intends to experiment in Europe with the so-called Battery Swapping which is so fashionable in China and which consists of replacing the battery in special service stations rather than recharging it. It seems impossible but it takes half the time. And it is the factor for which more and more Asian brands, as will be seen shortly, are investing in it.
On the other hand, it has created a particularly varied joint venture, which includes European, American and Eastern manufacturers (the German BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the American General Motors, the Japanese Honda and the Korean Hyundai and Kia) to create high-pressure charging stations. high power.
IF YOU CAN'T SPEED UP…MAKE BREAKS FUN
In this case it seems that Stellantis & Co.'s plan is not so much to develop a hyper-fast technology, which at the moment would clash with the limits of current batteries, but rather to create a recognized "brand" where it is pleasant to stop.
Already 30 thousand high power charging points are being studied (obviously equipped with the CCS connector to intercept state subsidies from the White House, and with Tesla's NACS to open up to the majority of brands currently on the market) between the United States and Canada, equipped with a plurality of services: catering, retail trade, games and unspecified leisure activities for motorists in forced parking.
A CEO with proven experience has been placed in the command post of the new joint venture: Seth Cutler, previously at EV Connect, Electrify America and General Electrica. The intent to annoy Tesla is clear, not so much on the connector front, where the game has already been won by Elon Musk , but on that of the "quality of the break".
WHO HAS ADOPTED THE TESLA NACS STANDARD
As we said, almost all of the large manufacturers (many of which are part of Stellantis' rival jv) have already come on board Tesla's proprietary technology. Latest last year was luxury electric car rival Lucid , and before that – in May – Ford, joining General Motors (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC), Genesis, Hyundai and Kia, Nissan with Infiniti , Toyota with Lexus, Honda with Acura, Fisker, Jaguar, Mercedes, Rivian, Subaru and Volvo with Polestar. An unexpected victory for Musk had already been obtaining the membership of Audi, Porsche, Scout and Volkswagen, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce. A few weeks ago Mazda also joined.
DOES STELLANTIS REALLY BECOME EVERYTHING ON SWAPPING?
Stellantis, like most Chinese manufacturers, seems to have started to believe that the future of the electric car does not lie in charging stations: slow and still too few. The fourth largest automotive group in the world is in fact investing in battery swap , a solution abandoned by Tesla some time ago.
The fact that the path of replacing batteries instead of recharging them is being followed by Geely, Nio, Chery and Jac who are creating a real Chinese alliance for battery swapping means that the scenario remains changeable and open: the weight of the brands involved in fact, it would be virtually capable of subverting world balances by imposing pit stop boxes on charging stations. In short, faced with similar unknowns, Stellantis' double investment in navigating the various fronts is clear.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/cosi-stellantis-e-non-solo-prova-a-sfidare-tesla-nelle-colonnine/ on Sun, 18 Feb 2024 06:41:15 +0000.