Stellantis Announces New Electric Car With Surprising Range Priced at R$ 128,000

Stellantis Recently Announced Its Newest Electric Car. The Model Will Be Built by the Citroën Brand and Sold for About R$ 128,000.

Stellantis, a giant in the automotive sector and owner of 14 brands, announced its newest battery electric car with an affordable price in 2023. The starting price of the new vehicle, which will be from Citröen, will be below US$ 27,000, which, in direct conversion at the current exchange rate, is around R$ 128,000, according to data from Bloomberg and Autocar.

Stellantis Electric Car Has a Range of 300 km

Set to be developed under the Citroën brand at the group’s factory in Slovakia, the upcoming electric car will be nicknamed e-C3 and will fit somewhere between the Opel Astra and the Chinese Dacia Spring. In short, the expectation is that the vehicle will be similar in size to the Chevrolet Bolt EV, which is about to be retired.

Simultaneously, the new model is expected to offer a range of over 300 km on a single charge. The next electric car from the French brand will also seek to compete with the next generation Renault 5, as well as the planned affordable electric hatchback from Volkswagen, which is still about two years away.

According to Citroën CEO Thierry Koskas, the automaker has a history of producing affordable cars, and its role now is to make electric mobility accessible to everyone. There is currently no equivalent to this car.

In March, the automaker based in Hexagon announced plans to launch a mix of small electric cars priced around US$ 27,000, equivalent to R$ 128,000, surpassing its main rivals in Europe by a few thousand dollars.

New Stellantis Electric Car Will Be Based on BEV-native Platform

Concrete technical details have not yet been released; however, the French automaker stated that the new electric car will be approximately four meters long and will be fully equipped as standard. This means the new e-C3 from Citroën will likely feature air conditioning and power windows.

Additionally, the automaker mentioned that its new affordable zero-emission electric model will be based on the BEV-native platform, although it did not provide further details about it. According to reports, the new vehicle announced by Stellantis will be closely related to the C3, which debuted in India in 2022 and later in South America based on a version of the group’s CMP architecture that also underpins the Jeep Avenger and the Opel Corsa.

To keep costs low, the company’s executive states that the new electric car will be offered in only three trim levels, each with a maximum of 5 options. This strategy has been recently employed by other automakers, such as Ford, in an attempt to streamline the production process and increase profit margins.

The French automaker, established 104 years ago, aims for a 5% market share in Europe, which it could achieve as early as the second half of this year, up from 3.7% last year.

Automaker Will Also Focus on Ethanol-Powered Vehicles

The CEO of Stellantis Group, Portuguese Carlos Tavares, stated that Brazilian consumers do not need electric cars but rather ethanol.

The statement was made at a press conference with journalists from around the world during the group’s financial results announcement in January of this year.

The response came after the company’s CEO was questioned about the taxes levied on electric vehicles in Brazil. The executive argues that there is no reason for people to bring electric cars to the country, as it does not make sense compared to a car that can run on 100% ethanol.