Electrification

What You Need To Know

The future is electric for the Stellantis group, makers of Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler vehicles. The future is an exciting place to be looking at right now, with waves of new vehicles on the horizon. The electric revolution that is happening throughout the automotive industry is alive and well with the Stellantis brands. With a suite of vehicles already in development for most of the brands.

With this transition the company pledges to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 with a goal of carbon neutrality by 2038. The company plans to sell upwards of 5 million battery electric vehicles by 2030. With eyes on having 75% of its sales coming from electric vehicles in North America by 2030.

Looking at the road map head for brands like Jeep and Ram the future is exciting. With Jeep just releasing its first images of a fully electric SUV. This unnamed vehicle is expected to come to market as soon as next year in 2023. With a smaller body style, that seems to borrow design elements from the Jeep Compass it will surely be a competitive offer at release. Also on the horizon for Jeep is the fully electric Jeep Wrangler slated to come out in 2024. With the success of its forefather the hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xE sparking the next generation of the iconic vehicle.

Ram has an equally electric future ahead of it, with the first fully electric Ram van scheduled to come to market in 2023. With large preorders already in places from companies such as Amazon. The ProMaster van will be a landmark breakthrough for the parcel industry. Vans aren’t the only announced full electric vehicle from Ram with an electric Ram 1500 coming in 2024. This will be the company's first full-sized electric truck with expected range and towing capacities to rival its petroleum brothers.

These are just a few of the announced vehicles coming to market, with many still under development from Chrysler, and Dodge. Chrysler is expected to announce its first fully electric lifestyle family vehicle in the coming months based off their air flow concept designs. Dodge on the other hand is developing the company’s first full electric muscle car. Expected to combine brunt with brains redefining the concept of electric vehicles.

Benefits of Electric Vehicles

No CO2 Emissions

Electric cars don’t create any CO2 emissions when operating.  Running solely off of battery power, this helps to reduce air pollution.

Faster Acceleration

Electric motors have more torque than most combustion engines, this allows electric vehicles to have higher acceleration rates.   

Quiet

Electric vehicles can run close to silent.  Without the need for a combustion engine, their motors create very little noise 

Lower Maintenance Cost

Electric vehicles have fewer moving parts compared to complex combustion engines.  This means that electric motors are less expensive to operate and maintain.  

Less Expensive to Refuel

Charging an electric vehicle from the wall or from a charging station is less expensive than gasoline or diesel.  Many times, costing a fraction of what it would cost to operate a similarly sized conventical vehicle.  

Better Control

In vehicles with multiple electric motors powering separate wheels can improve vehicle control.  Independently powering wheels can improve handling in corners.  

Hybrid cars combine both combustion and electric power in some capacity.  This can range from minimal electric motor assist to full EV driving modes.  The main benefit of hybrids is their increased fuel efficiency.  Using electric motors to assist the car when moving can dramatically increase fuel efficiency.  Some hybrids also utilize regenerative braking, which captures energy used to brake, sending that power back to the battery.  In a conventional brake setup, every time you brake that energy is wasted.  

The downside of hybrids come in a couple of different forms.  Hybrids typically have higher maintenance cost because their more complex than conventional vehicles.  The batteries in particular can be very expensive to replace or repair as hybrids age.  Winter weather can also dampen the benefits of hybrid vehicles.  Deducing range and effecting gas mileage when heating is required.  

Plug-in hybrids work similarly to conventional hybrids. The key difference is that plug-in hybrids can be charged from an outlet to run entirely on electricity for a short distance.  For short trips this means 0 exhaust emissions, and 0 gas usage.  For longer trips that can’t be accomplished on electric alone, plug-in hybrids have an engine as well.  These engines can work to drive the car directly, or they can be used as a generator to feed power to the electric motors.  This system combines the best of both worlds providing the efficiency of an EV with the range of a conventional vehicle.  

Plug-in hybrids don’t require you to plug them in either, they function like a normal hybrid when not charged.  This provides the most flexibility on the market for low emissions vehicles.   

Electric Vehicles are exactly that, vehicles that run exclusively on electricity. Many using multiple motors that drive wheels independently.  This can increase handling and help maintain traction.  The beauty of electric vehicles is the lack of moving parts. With an electric vehicle it only requires one moving part to function.  This can reduce the need for extended maintenance required by standard vehicles.  Charging from the wall or charging station is often less expensive than gasoline. 

The largest downside of electric vehicles currently is the lack of range, and time to charge the batteries.  Many of the most advanced EVs still have a range around 320 km, which for most people satisfies their day-to-day distances.  With charging times taking over 40 minutes for most current EVs, stopping to recharge on a trip is a major time waster.  This is where future generations of EVs will have to improve.  Reaching longer distances and faster charging time will speed up the adoption of EVs.   

Road Map For Stellantis