Stellantis chief wants to be on the ‘right side of history’ with EVs

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares wants to be “on the good side of history” in the switch to electric cars and will not call on any governments to delay their adoption.

Tavares has spoken out against schemes like the UK’s zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate that requires car makers to sell a set proportion of electric vehicles or face fines, claiming they go beyond consumer demand, but ultimately he is convinced the switch to electric cars is the correct one. 

In a passionate address at the Paris motor show, Tavares said: “We want to be on the good side of history in terms of contributing to fixing the global warming issue.”

He admitted that he was “very cynical” about the European Union’s strategy to adopt EVs, “which I believe was too costly and not efficient enough”, but he said that his grievances with this are now “over”.

Tavares said: “We are now in a regulatory framework that is clear, and we say if this is what the society wants and if it contributes to fixing the global warming issue, we can do it. We are ready. We don’t ask for anything else other than stability of the rules.”

Two years ago Tavares called politicians “dogmatic and naive” in the race to switch to EVs, but he is now behind them as they were elected off the back of clear policies. 

“That’s what the people that the citizens have elected have decided – zero emissions,” he said.

Tavares, though, is convinced that EVs are “better cars”.

He said: “Maybe that’s strange for you, but I’ve been in this industry for 42 years. An EV is a better car in smooth ride, agility, acceleration, body load control. It’s a better car.“

“Now the problem is that there are still some inconveniences in the customer journey,” he added, listing stiff, heavy charging cables, the uncertainty around where and when you could charge your car, and potentially having to queue for chargers at inconvenient times as current problems.

“Let’s imagine that in 30 seconds we fix these and remove those inconveniences. You are left with a [kerb] weight which is still too high and we need to reduce the weight of the batteries, which means doubling the power density of the battery cells. This is something like solid-state batteries, which by 2030 will be here.

“Then the weight of battery packs will go from 500kg down to 200-250kg. The weight will be reduced, the cost will be reduced. That’s something that needs to be done.

“After that, you need the price. You need the price of EVs to be the same as ICEs. In the meantime, the political leaders are going to find a way to increase taxes on ICEs to discourage you to buy ICEs.

“I believe that once we remove those inconveniences, then things start to be smooth, and then we need to move on.

“A few weeks ago, half of my country in Portugal was on fire. Half of the country burned – 130,000 hectares. My youngest daughter was driving through a forest on fire. The door panel of her car melted, driving through the fire.

“We can ignore this. We can ignore the flooding, we can ignore the hurricanes. We can ignore everything. But there is a moment where you can ask to postpone all of this [the EV adoption], or you are on the right side of the issues. 

“I want to contribute. In the past you asked if we are going to get the job done. It’s tough. But by the end of this year I will have 40 electric cars on sale. I have the capacities, I have the platforms, I have the electric motors, I have the cells. I have all of this.

“It’s time to do something about it. And the cars are better cars.

“I’m always laughing, because there is only one thing that my guys always, always forget, and it’s quite lazy. If you go to a racetrack and you take an EV, the car accelerates faster, has better body control. It’s not noisy, and there is only one moment where you feel it’s an EV and it’s in the braking distance, because it’s heavier.

“So I always say [to engineers], did you put a larger size of tyres for the EV version? They always forget. You need bigger tyres to protect the braking distance, that’s it. Then we are done. Thank you.”