Stellantis debuts electric Jeep Avenger, invests in self-sustaining energy

Stellantis CEO, Carlos Tavares, says the company will be using its own sites to generate at least half the energy it needs for manufacturing by 2025.

The CEO made the comments to CNBC at the Paris Motor Show leading up to the unveiling of the new Jeep Avenger, which is expected to reach showrooms next year. Tavares called the Avenger the “first pure-EV jeep” after announcing details of the vehicle last month. Stellantis says the Avenger has a “targeted electric range” of 400 kilometers or just under 249 miles.

The automaker, which includes the Fiat, Chrysler, and Citroen brands, has said it wants all passenger sales in Europe to be battery-electric by 2030. As for the US market, Stellantis says it wants a “50% passenger car and light duty truck BEV sales mix” by the same time.

Those goals fall in line with the plans of both the US and Europe as economies and auto manufacturers look toward an all-electric future. The European Union, for example, plans to stop the sale of all new diesel and gasoline cars and vans after 2035. The UK is looking to do the same.

Fellow competitor companies are utilizing similar methods to find ways to generate their own energy leading up to the EV transition. Mercedes-Benz has mentioned plans to develop a wind farm in Germany, and the company’s CEO, Ola Kallenius, has said the company recently made a decision with a European energy provider to “build a large-scale project in the Baltic Sea.”

Inflation and rising energy prices would affect the speed at which the transition to EVs occurs. Tavares said, “Well of course, energy is the number one precondition for success of electrification, that is no surprise.” He then added that the question should be posed to political leaders because “electrification has been triggered by regulation.”

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