- Car manufacturing conglomerate Stellantis will bring a second budget electric car to market in the future, with a price tag below €25,000 (£21,500).
- This new model will be inspired by the current cheap ICE-powered Fiat Panda model, and go alongside the already-planned budget Citroen e-c3 in Stellantis’ portfolio.
- CEO of Stellantis’ Fiat brand has said that “there is a real need for more affordable EVs”.
Cheaper EVs on the way?
Stellantis is planning to bring a Fiat-branded EV to market with a price tag below €25,000, or around £21,500. This will be unveiled in July of next year, according to an interview between Bloomberg and Fiat CEO Olivier Francois.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of the news that Stellantis plans to release a similarly priced all-electric Citroen, called the ‘e-C3’, around the same time next year.
This new Fiat-branded model will be inspired by the outgoing petrol-powered Panda model. Thanks to its great value, the latter has continuously been a best-seller in its home territory of Italy, despite it showing its age as a model originally introduced in 2011. An electric replacement will have a lot to live up to, which explains the bargain price tag that Stellantis are planning for this model – a major selling point of the old Panda.
The cheap electric car game is hotting up
The planned price would put this new electric car squarely in the crosshairs on the upcoming all-electric Renault 5, which is also targeting a sub-€25k sum. The same goes for a rumored smaller and cheaper Tesla model, as well as a €25,000 electric hatch from Volkswagen.
These models will also have to compete with future Chinese offerings, which have not yet surfaced in Europe. However, we’ve seen how the country is able to sell uncompromised, extremely price-competitive EV hatchbacks for under €30,000, with the likes of the MG4 EV and BYD Dolphin.
BYD sells its ‘Seagull’ city car in China for the equivalent of around €10,000, which would be a big challenge to manufacturers like Stellantis if it is to make its way across to global markets.
Last month, Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares did suggest that western car manufacturers will need to adopt similar production strategies to Chinese manufacturers, which could include outsourcing of parts and production to other countries. However, European manufacturers also have to contend with pricey trade tariffs surrounding what percentage of a car’s materials come from within the EU and UK.
