The Heart Of Electrification Is In Europe
The Heart Of Electrification Is In Europe

Video: The Heart Of Electrification Is In Europe

Video: The Heart Of Electrification Is In Europe
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The FCA group seems to have slept through electromobility. But Roberto di Stefano, who is responsible for this area at the car manufacturer, doesn't want to know anything about it.

“It is absolutely not true that we do not have electromobility on our radar screen. We have publicly announced that we will have 13 differently electrified models in our model portfolio within the next few waves,”said di Stefano in an interview with Autogazette. The manager is Head of e-Mobility at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

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E-mobility should now start on a broad front, as di Stefano announced. After the Jeep Renegade, the bigger brother Compass will also be electrified. The two SUVs are part of the investment of five billion euros in the Italian plants that was decided at the end of last year. The Mirofiori (Fiat 500), Sevel (Ducato), Pomigliano (Alfa Romeo Tonale) production sites will also benefit from this, as will the new Maserati models.

Melfi heart of electrification

The heart of the electrification of the brands with their own electric team, however, is in Melfi Basilicata. The production site in the south of Italy not far from Bari, which can look back on 25 years of history since September, is the most modern technology facility at FCA and the “home of the jeep”, as the Italians proudly emphasize again and again when visiting the factory.

1200 vehicles are currently rolling off the production line here, including the Renegade and Fiat 500 times a day. In addition, the new production line for the upcoming Jeep hybrid drives Renegade and Compass is being built.

It's a question of battery capacity

The side view of the Renegade. Photo: Jeep
The side view of the Renegade. Photo: Jeep

Autogazette: The Jeep Renegade, the first electrified Jeep, has a range of just 50 kilometers as a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). Why so little?

Roberto di Stefano: We deliberately designed it that way. In any case, we can retrofit it; depending on how the market demands it. It's a question of battery capacity.

Autogazette: So far, FCA has not yet given any figures regarding the number of Jeep Renegades with plug-in hybrids. Will they come by the official start of production of the Renegade early next year? From America?

Di Stefano: No, that's not how it works. The heart of electrification is in Europe, and more precisely here in Melfi. In Europe in particular, we have to meet certain climate requirements from next year until 2028 due to requirements. According to our projections for the EMEA fleet (Europe, Middle East, Asia), we can meet these requirements with a purely electric range of 50 kilometers. Regardless of this, we are now discussing this topic with our customers, because the goal is not only to meet the new rules, but above all to meet customer expectations.

Larger battery units are required

Autogazette: That means?

Di Stefano: We already know that we have to offer greater ranges for the Renegade. This requires different battery units accordingly. So far we cannot say when exactly these units will officially be on the market.

Autogazette: Are you waiting for the right battery units ?

Di Stefano: Yes. The point is to increase the amount of energy that we equip the battery with. The general rule is: We are flexible. The Jeep Plug-in Hybrid was designed in our global technical center. That means it's a mix of our skills.

Autogazette: What's next with electrification? When you talk about FCA, you don't really think of electric mobility so far, even if the Fiat 500 has now been announced as a purely electric variant. Is there such a thing as a roadmap?

Di Stefano: It is absolutely not true that we do not have electromobility on our radar screen. We have publicly announced that we will have 13 differently electrified models in our model portfolio within the next few waves.

«First wave 2020»

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Autogazette: which ones will they be?

Di Stefano: I can only name the first wave explicitly. It will take place in 2020. At the beginning of the year, we will start with the mild hybrid, i.e. with minor electrification, in the smaller segment of our models, so that these vehicles can drive into the center of cities with environmental zones. In spring we will start mass production of the Jeep Renegade and the larger Jeep Compass, which will be on the market between spring and summer. Then, in the middle of the year, our famous baby and city car will follow, the new Fiat Cinquento, which is produced in Mirafiori near Turin in northern Italy. The first test vehicle has just left the production line.

Production of our light commercial vehicle Ducato will start at the beginning of autumn. In my opinion, it is our most important vehicle for e-mobility. We already have an incredibly high demand. The Ducato is ideal for commercial use, but also for passenger transport. The market in this segment is not particularly large. With the electrified Ducato, nothing will change compared to the combustion engine in terms of performance data, space and costs (total cost of ownership). It's really a great product that our technical center here has developed. Towards the end of the year there will be a second big wave, which will really come to fruition in early 2021. It will be aimed at the other vehicle segments.

We are ready to go

Autogazette: Is that a little more precise?

Di Stefano: We are ready to go. That means we are pursuing a well-developed strategy with all types of electromobility. We have the supply when and where the market for it and the demand for it is there. This is exactly what we explore in close dialogue with customers. We know that next year customers will continue to be skeptical about electromobility. We call this electromobility offensive an "Italian story".

Autogazette: How so?

Di Stefano: We are upgrading all of our Italian factories towards electromobility. This electromobility offensive is my area of responsibility, for EMEA and worldwide. That means that electrification is entirely in Italian hands and affects all of our locations. Our most important base vehicle Ducato is produced in Sevel in central Italy, the jeep stands and falls with our "factory of the future" and lead factory here in Melfi. Pomigliano near Naples is an important location for mild hybrid cars and Mirafiori for the Cinquecento. This applies to the entire EMEA region.

Larger battery units are required

Jeep Compass, Photo: Jeep
Jeep Compass, Photo: Jeep

Autogazette: Electrification is one thing. How do you feel about other fuels like the synthetic ones for internal combustion engines? But above all: what about fuel cell vehicles? Are they part of the Group's strategy?

Di Stefano: Let me put it this way: We are working on all technologies, rethinking and even starting the pre-development of all possible scenarios in order to be able to pull the right product off the shelf at the right time, i.e. to be able to offer the appropriate mobility solution. Because the market is still not tied to one direction. So once again: We are working on all technologies, simply because we cannot leave out any option in favor of others. Of course there will be a period in which battery-powered electromobility, whether fully electric, as a mild or full hybrid, is a solution.

Autogazette: So a bridging technology?

Di Stefano:This may be. It depends on how all the stakeholders involved interact. Because the future type of mobility is not only dependent on the solutions offered by the automotive industry. We live in a time of hybridization of industry. That is why we at FCA are pursuing a strategy according to which we 'hybridize' with many partners, keyword wallboxes, connectivity and much more. Our goal: To offer the best possible mobility solution and the best possible customer experience for those who want to move electrically. There are competitors who want to represent all of this vertically. Our strategy, which our e-team, which I lead, has worked out and is constantly optimizing, is different. Our company is in the middle of a transformation process:We see ourselves as a flexible company within a large mobility network.

«Need political support»

Autogazette: There is also the role of politics …

Di Stefano: That is exactly the other side of the story of this, shall we say, 'new' industry. We and even more so our customers need political support. So far we have been experiencing a nightmare of a jumble of rules that vary from city to city, country to country. It is the task of politics to solve this, i.e. to have a generally applicable strategy that offers the customer a mobility offer that is kept as simple as possible. Our demand is: "Simplify", simplification. Above all, a very fast implementation is required before the customer turns away from this form of mobility.

The interview with Roberto di Stefano was conducted by Susanne Roeder

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