Stellantis CEO Has Doubts About Widespread EV Adoption

Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, has raised significant doubts regarding the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) during his remarks at the 2024 Freedom of Mobility Forum, yesterday. Tavares expressed concerns that a one-size-fits-all approach to EVs may not be suitable for every part of the world, emphasizing the need to move away from dogmatic thinking. “In a diverse world, it’s essential to acknowledge that current EVs may not cater to the needs of every society,” Tavares stated. He highlighted the challenges associated with EV batteries, emphasizing the necessity for a breakthrough in battery chemistry to significantly reduce weight and … (read full article...)

 

[Mopar392]

He’s contradicting himself.
We see brands trying or planning to fully transition to EV only. Fiat, Maserati, Alfa, Chrysler even some models like Wrangler.

 

[bill burke]

Travares is paid big bucks, a smart guy, no surprise he has figured this out, all electric can not and will not succeed. Problem is weak leadership that crumbled in the face of extremists in government and the mainstream media rather than market experts and engineering experts who if honest, knew the truth.
There is a place in the auto business for electric vehicles, but plain and simple, the product is not perfected, the electric infrastructure can not support it and the product is unattainable and inaccessible to a majority of the worlds population.
It takes guts to admit your mistakes, and Stellantis, in its lust to beat the competition to an all electric imposed future went “all in” and when reality and market forces which historically is a natural economic free market process kicked in, the bottom dropped out on this nonsense. Reality check time!
Stellantis still has a small window of opportunity to get this right. NEVER, EVER designate any brand as all electric. Utilize the current STLA adaptable platforms to offer full hybrids choice with gas supported and plug in engines and fully gas engines in every brand. The market and reality has spoken.
If the Wagoneer S and the Recon and anything from Chrysler is launched without at least a hybrid option, in spite of Travares having this late inning epiphany, it spells real trouble for these models and potential risk to the whole brand. Ford has reversed course, so should Stellantis, and Carlos knows this clearly. Save the company and ditch electric as fast as possible.

 

[patfromigh]

Problem is weak leadership that crumbled in the face of extremists in government and the mainstream media rather than market experts and engineering experts who if honest, knew the truth.

You overlooked a weaponized banking system and activist stock holders. The Japanese brands stood up to this insanity and paid a price. The Toyota boss was forced to step down from some of his corporate activities while woke banks and stock holders were making threats. There was a steady drumbeat of negative propaganda from media pundits saying, "Toyota is a backwards company run by a bunch of Luddites." " The company is going down and will be the next Kodak." Tesla and the new EV startups were booming. This all peaked last year. What a difference one sales quarter makes. This isn't the place to discuss the sales of hybrid vehicles from the Japanese brands during last quarter. People will have to look up the details and compare them to the Tesla results themselves.

I'm paid peanuts, plus I'm not the brightest bulb in the lamp, but I knew this "one size fits all" panacea isn't going to work a long time ago.

 

[AlexB]

Travares is paid big bucks, a smart guy, no surprise he has figured this out, all electric can not and will not succeed. Problem is weak leadership that crumbled in the face of extremists in government and the mainstream media rather than market experts and engineering experts who if honest, knew the truth.
There is a place in the auto business for electric vehicles, but plain and simple, the product is not perfected, the electric infrastructure can not support it and the product is unattainable and inaccessible to a majority of the worlds population.
It takes guts to admit your mistakes, and Stellantis, in its lust to beat the competition to an all electric imposed future went “all in” and when reality and market forces which historically is a natural economic free market process kicked in, the bottom dropped out on this nonsense. Reality check time!
Stellantis still has a small window of opportunity to get this right. NEVER, EVER designate any brand as all electric. Utilize the current STLA adaptable platforms to offer full hybrids choice with gas supported and plug in engines and fully gas engines in every brand. The market and reality has spoken.
If the Wagoneer S and the Recon and anything from Chrysler is launched without at least a hybrid option, in spite of Travares having this late inning epiphany, it spells real trouble for these models and potential risk to the whole brand. Ford has reversed course, so should Stellantis, and Carlos knows this clearly. Save the company and ditch electric as fast as possible.

Clearly you don't pay attention, but it is complete Bull$#it to state "late inning epiphany" when the all the Stellantis underpinnings are multi-energy.
Stellantis plans outside of Chrysler brand was never Complete EV in North America.
However you are gaslighting me & others claiming Ford is some how ahead, maybe in a fantasy of an old man who wishes the broke & burst Chrysler Corporation was still around .

 

[bill burke]

Gaslighting, not my intent, perhaps a difference of opinion. Sure I’m aware of the plans for North America and the 50% goal, but even that is unattainable as the rest of Stellantis goes whole hog on electric. I would never accuse you of being uninformed, but if you follow the flurry of mergers and investments in various battery and electric technology companies by Stellantis, is it not a anxiety level of money spending for the obvious purpose of market domination ? I see it that way. Not sure about comment on Ford, but they just walked away from electric investment, research and production as billion dollar loses for rejected electric vehicles are happening and further projected just last week. I call that a major shift in policy, one Stellantis should emulate ASAP. Just my thoughts but clearly not an attempt for any preconceived purpose to deceive anyone. Maybe just inform.

 

[patfromigh]

In Bill's defense, Mr. Tavares is quoted by the Wall Street Journal, MSN, and along with other news outlets uttering that infamous phrase, "Going all in" for electrics. When Mary Berra said it for GM, she was serious. We have heard contradictory statements from Carlos Tavares on this subject before, and I suspect when he says, "Going all in" it's jailhouse religion. In today's neo-pagan, post-Christian world the dominant religion is environmentalism. Look at the picture above, who is that behind Carlos with his arms crossed, staring at Carlos making sure he gets all the words right. Isn't that the little Napoleon of "my mouth started a nuclear world war" fame? Carlos is speaking for the party bosses in the WEF.

The reality on the ground with Stellantis is they are baking a saw blade into the cake. The four STLA platforms the company's plans are based upon are adaptable to ICE power. Ford and GM caught that fact immediately, pointing out this sacrilege against the Green religion. Green dogma says all platforms must be battery only skateboard platforms, that is the way of efficiency. Carlos Tavares, in defense of the Stellantis design, points out that battery weight cuts into efficiency as well and the STLA platforms allow substitution of some petrol for batteries.

Put the phrase Toyota 1:6:90 rule in a search engine and see the results. The original Toyota document where this formula comes from was classified and supposed to be a secret. It was leaked out and now challenges the narrative. Ford is doing a full 180 because they committed huge resources to what is basically a lie, that battery only is the only way to efficiency. Take the number of unsold Ford F-150 Lightnings and Mock-e Mustangs, multiply that by 6 for the number of plugin hybrids which could have been built. Multiply the unsold Ford EV number by 90 to see how many regular hybrids Ford could have built.

So we see the full battery electric vehicles cued up in the Stellantis portfolio. How many will they build and try to sell remains unanswered. The Stellantis strategy is different, however. Any investments they make in full battery electric may also benefit hybrids.

 

[bill burke]

In Bill's defense, Mr. Tavares is quoted by the Wall Street Journal, MSN, and along with other news outlets uttering that infamous phrase, "Going all in" for electrics. When Mary Berra said it for GM, she was serious. We have heard contradictory statements from Carlos Tavares on this subject before, and I suspect when he says, "Going all in" it's jailhouse religion. In today's neo-pagan, post-Christian world the dominant religion is environmentalism. Look at the picture above, who is that behind Carlos with his arms crossed, staring at Carlos making sure he gets all the words right. Isn't that the little Napoleon of "my mouth started a nuclear world war" fame? Carlos is speaking for the party bosses in the WEF.

The reality on the ground with Stellantis is they are baking a saw blade into the cake. The four STLA platforms the company's plans are based upon are adaptable to ICE power. Ford and GM caught that fact immediately, pointing out this sacrilege against the Green religion. Green dogma says all platforms must be battery only skateboard platforms, that is the way of efficiency. Carlos Tavares, in defense of the Stellantis design, points out that battery weight cuts into efficiency as well and the STLA platforms allow substitution of some petrol for batteries.

Put the phrase Toyota 1:6:90 rule in a search engine and see the results. The original Toyota document where this formula comes from was classified and supposed to be a secret. It was leaked out and now challenges the narrative. Ford is doing a full 180 because they committed huge resources to what is basically a lie, that battery only is the only way to efficiency. Take the number of unsold Ford F-150 Lightnings and Mock-e Mustangs, multiply that by 6 for the number of plugin hybrids which could have been built. Multiply the unsold Ford EV number by 90 to see how many regular hybrids Ford could have built.

So we see the full battery electric vehicles cued up in the Stellantis portfolio. How many will they build and try to sell remains unanswered. The Stellantis strategy is different, however. Any investments they make in full battery electric may also benefit hybrids.

Super impressed with your intellect and information, grateful for your kind defense of my intentions. I am ignorant of the person with folded arms, his position visa ve Stellantis or influence over Carlos. Having personal experience in upper management dynamics in major companies I know clearly the shallowness of their thinking, the meaningless credibility of their Ivy League credentials and the unlimited hubris of their determined unwillingness and fear of admitting their mistakes. It’s the regular folks who figured this nonsense out and knew through common sense the truth and the logic. My management style always included the unincluded, respect for lunch pail logic and the understanding and recognition of my limitations that allowed me to seek advice and admit mistakes. This is Travares attempt at truth telling and a moment of catharsis.
This world of corporate/political driven elitism is marked by the rubble of their errors. The common folk got that too, but guys like Carlos, who cares?

 

[Matt Lewis]

Travares is paid big bucks, a smart guy, no surprise he has figured this out, all electric can not and will not succeed. Problem is weak leadership that crumbled in the face of extremists in government and the mainstream media rather than market experts and engineering experts who if honest, knew the truth.
There is a place in the auto business for electric vehicles, but plain and simple, the product is not perfected, the electric infrastructure can not support it and the product is unattainable and inaccessible to a majority of the worlds population.
It takes guts to admit your mistakes, and Stellantis, in its lust to beat the competition to an all electric imposed future went “all in” and when reality and market forces which historically is a natural economic free market process kicked in, the bottom dropped out on this nonsense. Reality check time!
Stellantis still has a small window of opportunity to get this right. NEVER, EVER designate any brand as all electric. Utilize the current STLA adaptable platforms to offer full hybrids choice with gas supported and plug in engines and fully gas engines in every brand. The market and reality has spoken.
If the Wagoneer S and the Recon and anything from Chrysler is launched without at least a hybrid option, in spite of Travares having this late inning epiphany, it spells real trouble for these models and potential risk to the whole brand. Ford has reversed course, so should Stellantis, and Carlos knows this clearly. Save the company and ditch electric as fast as possible.

Stellantis is partnering with Samsung and has dropped a few billion dollars on two huge ev battery plants currently under construction in Kokomo, IN. Kokomo is also where Stellantis builds both 8 and 9 speed transmissions. If Tavares is now having doubts about the ev transition, you wouldn't know it by watching the battery plants under construction...they are working day and night at break-neck speed to complete them.

 

[patfromigh]

Stellantis is partnering with Samsung and has dropped a few billion dollars on two huge ev battery plants currently under construction in Kokomo, IN. Kokomo is also where Stellantis builds both 8 and 9 speed transmissions. If Tavares is now having doubts about the ev transition, you wouldn't know it by watching the battery plants under construction...they are working day and night at break-neck speed to complete them.

I have to applaud what Mr.Tavares said. It is about the weight of the batteries, the forced speed of change to fully electric, and the scarcity of critical materials. Oh yeah I forgot about the absurdity of a one size fits all panacea. Kokomo also builds the eFlite hybrid transmission and is being tooled to cast the blocks for the 1.6 liter hybrid engine, which will be built in Dundee, MI a year from now.

Toyota stood up against the narrative and flipped the market back to hybrids. Yet, Toyota is making huge investments in battery production as well.