Stellantis launched Free2move Charge, the first product under its new charging and energy management business unit that aims to handle every aspect of powering up an EV whether at home, work or on the road.
Free2move Charge will be managed by the automaker’s charging and energy management business unit, which was announced in January during CES 2023. The new product is the latest, and perhaps most important, investment by Stellantis as it pushes toward an ambitious goal — among several laid out in its Dare Forward 2030 Plan — to sell 5 million battery electric vehicles annually by the end of the decade.
Stellantis, which owns 14 brands such as Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat and Maserati, said it wants battery electric vehicles to represent 100% of sales in Europe and 50% of sales in the U.S. by 2030. The company had 23 battery electric models on sale globally in 2022 and plans to offer 75 BEVs globally by 2030. Stellantis has already seen progress on its goal. The company reported that global battery electric vehicles in 2022 grew 41%, to 288,000 vehicles.
That kind of EV saturation will require an accompanying charging and energy management plan. And that’s where Stellantis execs hope can help.
Stellantis didn’t share many details of what Free2move Charge will look like. And company executives wouldn’t say if Stellantis will adopt the Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS).
Ricardo Stamatti, the senior VP of Stellantis’ charging and energy business unit, describes Free2move Charge as a “collection of products and services.”
What this means is EV owners should expect a mobile app and software integration in the vehicle that will handle the charging management, payments and navigation pieces. There will also be a home EV charging product and partnerships with third-party charging companies to provide better access to chargers.
“Our goal is that we’re going to be best-in-class or match best-in-class, both in Europe and the U.S.,” Stamatti said during a media briefing as he described plans to lock in partnerships with EV charging companies. In Europe, Stellantis is targeting to have more than 97% coverage — in terms of EV owners having access to public chargers — by the end of the year. By 2024, Stamatti said the company wants 99% coverage, which translates to access to “just south of” 600,000 chargers.
“We’re doing deals every day,” he added. “The team has been active doing deals that we will be making specific announcements (about) in the next couple of months.”