Stellantis will invest 160 million euros (AUD261.8 million) in retooling its Rennes, France plant to produce electric vehicles.
In Thursday’s announcement, Stellantis also confirmed that the Rennes plant will produce a new all-electric mid-size SUV from 2025, based on the new STLA Medium platform.
Media based on Medium Architecture STLA will have a battery capacity of 87-104 kWh, allowing a maximum operating range of up to 700 km.
The electric SUV is expected to be the successor Citroen C5 AirCross.
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Current C5 aircraft
Based on ReutersWhen asked if the upcoming SUV will be offered with combustion and hybrid powertrains along with electricity, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told journalists “not in principle”.
A large part of the investment will go to the battery assembly workshop located along the assembly line to ensure easy installation on electric vehicles.
In addition, the plant will have a plastic injection molding workshop for use in the front and rear modules, the first at any Stellantis site in France.
Stellantis said plant employees have received training in electric vehicle (EV) production.
In addition to EV production, the Rennes plant will also support Stellantis’ Dare Forward 2030 plan by replacing one of its gas-fired boilers with a biomass boiler that uses locally sourced wood.
A 90,000 square kilometer solar farm will also come into operation in 2025, meeting 30% of the plant’s electricity needs.
“The location allocation is a direct result of their seriousness and involvement in the quality of production… Rennes will be a compact and efficient venue, its agility allowing it to engage in competitive events. daring projects (while working) are good for the environment,” he said Tavares.
Stellantis’ Rennes plant is currently responsible for the production of the Citroen C5 Aircross (PHEV) plug-in hybrid version, which accounts for 30% of daily production capacity.
It also produces non-PHEV versions of the C5 Aircross, as well as Peugeot 5008.
The Citroen C5 Aircross is offered in Australia with a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, but a 165 kW 1.6-liter plug-in hybrid powertrain option is not currently offered locally.
Two Rennes factory groups are responsible for the daily production of 360 C5 Aircrosses.
Originally established in the 1960s as a Citroen facility, the Rennes factory began producing Peugeot models such as the 407 in the 2000s.
Stellantis, the parent company of brands like Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep, plans to sell electric cars only in Europe by 2030.
