NEW YORK – The Chrysler group’s transition to electric vehicles will take off over the next 18 months as the Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram brands each launch at least one EV, Stellantis’ top North American executive said in an interview as the automaker unveiled the production version of the 2025 Ram 1500 Rev electric pickup at the New York auto show.
Chrysler will be an all-electric brand by 2028, said Mark Stewart, COO of Stellantis, the automaker created when Fiat Chrysler merged with Peugeot in 2021. Half Stellantis’ sales in the U.S. will be EVs by 2030, Stewart said. Stellantis develops electric vehicles around the world, with engineering of large vehicles and frame-based pickups based in the former Chrysler tech center in Auburn Hills.
First out of the gate will be the Ram ProMaster electric delivery van and the Fiat 500e, due later this year. The ProMaster EV is likely to be built in the U.S., while the 500e, a little city car, will come from Europe.
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Not your father’s 500e
The chic little 500e is entirely different from the EV of the same name Fiat Chrysler reluctantly sold in the U.S. in 2010-19. While funky and fun to drive, that was a “compliance car,” built solely to satisfy a few states’ demand automakers sell EVs. Fiat Chrysler lost so much money on each 500e that its then CEO, the late Sergio Marchionne, once publicly asked people not to buy them. It had a short range and an affordable price Fiat subsidized as a cost of business to sell Jeeps, Rams, minivans and muscle cars in big, profitable states like California.
Coming to America in the fourth quarter of this year: the new 500e is Europe’s best-selling EV, Stewart said. It’s slightly bigger than the previous model but retains the “Dolce Vita” style and bright color palette that distinguished its predecessor. Expect more features and a longer range than the previous 500e, which was rated at less than 100 miles on a battery charge.
“Fiat’s strategy is to focus on the 500e,” Stewart said, adding that it’s now “the right vehicle for the right time.”
The electric ProMaster, a UPS-style delivery van, should go on sale this fall. It’ll compete with Ford’s E-Transit and Rivian electric vans.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT
A production electric muscle car based on Dodge’s head-turning Charger Daytona SRT concept will keep the brand’s lineage of fast, dramatic and loud cars alive. Dodge made bold promises when it revealed the Daytona SRT concept in August 2022. Dodge has shown EV drivetrains with 455 to 679 hp, a stepped transmission and a patented “Fratzog exhaust” set of sound chambers to create a new sound signature for muscle cars.
A pair of Jeep EVs
The Jeep Recon arrives mid-2024. Intended to channel the Wrangler’s personality and off-road capability, it’s crucial to Jeep’s transition to EVs, which is off to a strong start with a pair of plug-in hybrids, the Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe.
In 2024, maybe early or maybe late in the year, expect a big, luxurious Jeep flagship bearing the Wagoneer nameplate. Stellantis isn’t talking about prices for any of its EVs yet, but it’d be no surprise if the Wagoneer EV sets a new high for Jeep stickers, maybe even exceeding the top of the line Tungsten version of Ram’s 1500 REV pickup.
Chrysler reborn?
Suffering from a dearth of new vehicles, the Chrysler brand was thought to be destined for extinction before Stellantis took over. CEO Carlos Tavares has shown an aptitude for managing a multitude of brands, including restoring GM’s former European Opel/Vauxhall to at least a semblance of financial health. Tavares decreed all 14 of Stellantis’ brands would get a decade to prove they deserved to stay in business.
For Chrysler, that’s meant “a clear difference since the merger,” Stewart said, citing “great energy” and a “revitalization” with new models Chrysler hasn’t had in some time.
One EV’s been approved for Chrysler. It may debut in 2024, signaling a future built around family-moving vehicles, but “not just minivans.” That sounds like a Ford Explorer/Toyota Highlander style SUV.
Ram 1500 Rev pickup
The 2025 Ram 1500 Rev electric pickup will go into production in the fourth quarter of 2024.
While some observers were disappointed the production version shown in New York omitted advanced features Ram hinted at earlier this year, Stewart vowed more features from the concept shown at January’s CES show “are coming to production.”
The 1500 Rev will be built in the U.S. The plant hasn’t been named, but speculation centers on Stellantis’ Sterling Heights plant in metro Detroit.
Stellantis is “looking for other use cases” for its recently idled Belvidere, Illinois, plant, Stewart said.
Belvidere, which built the Jeep Cherokee compact SUV until April, is likely to be the subject of intense negotiations in this summer’s contract talks with the United Auto Workers.
Investment to build new EVs at Stellantis’ two Canadian assembly plants will also loom large in talks with the Unifor union there.
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.