New Stellantis Unit Takes Aim At EV Charging Anxiety

Jeep and Fiat parent company Stellantis on Tuesday launched a Charging and Energy business unit as it seeks to remove one of the perceived obstacles to electric vehicle (EV) ownership by reducing charging anxiety.

The unit aims to offer a wide range of services around EV charging to both individual consumers and businesses, from installation of home charging points to offering a large network of charging stations on the road through partners.

Under the name Free2move Charge GO the unit said it would initially offer a “curated” network of charging points through partners in North America and Europe, with other regions to be announced “soon”.

Free2move Charge GO is to include access, payment and 24-7 support services as well as reservations, loyalty programmes, subscriptions and prepaid packages, Stellantis said.

Charging network aggregation

“As the pace of mainstream EV adoption accelerates, our customers need us to be more than just a mobility provider,” said Ricardo Stamatti senior vice president at Stellantis and head of the Charging and Energy unit.

The company said its partner network would include access to more than 500,000 charging points in Europe by the end of this year.

Stamatti reiterated at a media event on Monday that the firm is evaluating Tesla’s charging standard, which is being adopted by competitors Ford and General Motors in North America, and said the company would discuss plans around Tesla’s standard “soon”.

Stellantis, whose other brands include Ram, Peugeot and Opel, is aiming for all its European passenger car sales and half its US passenger car and light-duty trucks to be battery EVs by 2030.

Business opportunities

Stamatti said the new group sees business opportunities from operating charging points as well as from advertising, retail and media consumption opportunities while people are waiting for their vehicles to fill up.

More details on the unit are expected during the course of this year, including financial targets.