With a focus on converting light commercial vehicles with internal combustion engines into electrically powered vehicles, with a view to prolonging vehicle life and use, while ensuring sustainability in the most affordable way possible, Stellantis Group signed a partnership with French technology company Qinomic.
The alliance seeks to develop a retrofit solution, as part of Stellantis’ comprehensive “Dare Forward 2030” strategic plan, which accelerates the path towards electrification and reinforces the decarbonization strategy.
In addition, the agreement aims to secure future mobility with an option that meets the customer’s needs to prolong their vehicle ownership and continue their business activities if this involves access to low-emission zones (LEZs) in cities.
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Scope of the program
Stellantis and Qinomic will initiate testing of prototypes that will enable the future conversion of internal combustion engine light commercial vehicles, both diesel and gasoline, to electric drive vehicles, while ensuring that quality, safety and reliability levels are maintained.
For Alison Jones, Stellantis’ Senior VP in the Circular Economy Business Unit, explained that this innovation offers professional customers the possibility of converting their current commercial vehicles to electric, extending the life of their cars and meeting legislative and mobility requirements.
Electric retrofitting is posed as a sustainable solution for users who wish to move to zero emissions and reduce their total cost of ownership, while keeping their vehicles.
According to Xavier Peugeot, Senior VP of the Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, the technology used will reinforce Stellantis’ leadership in zero-emission mobility solutions, complementing the fully electrified commercial car range.”
Frédéric Strady, Co-Founder and CEO of Qinomic, said that the agreement reached is an important step in the company’s development, which will allow it to finalize and implement some of the innovative technical solutions it is implementing for the retrofit industry.
According to Stellantis officials, access restrictions in cities will soon require recent light commercial vehicle owners to look for a solution to convert to zero emissions in a market driven by last mile demand.
The first demonstration vehicles will be ready in 2023 for potential customers to get a feel for the performance of converted vehicles, with marketing expected to begin in 2024.
