Stellantis CEO says: Driving Europe’s electric cars comes with environmental, social risks

PARIS – The European Commission’s strategy to phase out internal combustion engines in favor of tram Stellantis CEO, Carlos Tavares, said in an interview with European newspapers.

Since the merger Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot To create the world’s number four automaker by output, Tavares outlined a 30 billion euro ($34 billion) electrification plan that sent Stellantis shares up more than 60% in its first year.

“What is clear is that electrification is the technology of choice for politicians, not industry,” he said in a joint interview with France’s Les. EchoHandelsblatt, Corriere della Sera and El Mundo.

He added that there are cheaper and faster ways to reduce carbon emissions.

“With Europe’s current energy mix, a tram need to drive 70,000 km to compensate for carbon emissions manufacture the battery and start catching up with the light hybrid vehicleshalf as expensive as an EV (electric vehicle),” he said.

He also said a 2035 ban on thermal vehicles in Europe means carmakers need to start transforming their factories and supply chains quickly.

“The ferocity of this change creates social risk,” he said.

In an interview detailing the various challenges facing Stellantis, Tavares also made clear his promise not to close factories in Europe.

“I usually keep the promises I’ve made, but we also need to stay competitive,” he said, citing specific production costs in Italy “significantly higher, sometimes twice as much as prices at plants in other European countries”, mainly due to “exorbitant” energy prices.

Pointing to Rome, where the government is working to reduce industrial costs, he said: “It will take some time for the measures to be implemented. We will discuss this again at the end of 2022.”

($ .)first = 0.8835 euros)

(Reporting by GV De Clercq and Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Mark Potter)