Teslarati 
Stellantis plans to unveil a $27,000 battery electric vehicle (BEV) in 2024 which may launch around the same time as the Volvo EX30 and the Volkswagen ID.2. Stellantis’ $27,000 BEV would also likely hit the market around the same time Tesla’s $25,000 vehicle launches.
Stellantis’ Citroen brand plans to release a city car named the e-C3 to compete specifically against the China-made Dacia Spring and the Renault 5EV. The main objective for e-C3 is to cater to the needs of mass-market customers and steer them away from affordable China-made vehicles, reported Bloomberg.
“Citroen has a history of making affordable cars, and its role now is to make electric mobility accessible to all. There is no equivalent to this car today,” said Citroen’s brand head Thierry Koskas.
The Citroen e-C3 is expected to have about 186 miles of range on a single charge. Stellantis aims to sell 1 million units this year, up from nearly 700,000 in 2022. The legacy automaker wants to claim a 5% market share in Europe by the end of Q2 2023. Stellantis will have to take on big Chinese car brands like BYD to achieve its goal. Additionally, the company will need to accelerate its transition towards EV manufacturing.
The transition to electric vehicles is trending in the global auto market, influencing—or pushing—automakers to manufacture BEVs. However, switching to BEVs is difficult, so it has been challenging for a few OEMs who are used to building fossil fuel vehicles.
The next wave of electric vehicles seems to focus on affordability and compact size. Volkswagen and Volvo have announced vehicles with price tags around $20,000 to $30,000, called the ID.2 and EX30, respectively. Tesla has talked about releasing a $25,000 vehicle for quite some time now and has hinted that the affordable compact EV is already in development.
