Stellantis plans fast chargers at European dealerships

By the end of 2024, a network of DC charging stations with a capacity of at least 50 kW will be installed at official Stellantis brand dealerships throughout Europe. Stellantis will not build and operate the stations but will allocate these to third party charging point operators. (UPDATE BELOW)

Stellantis is planning up to 1,600 charging points at 400 dealerships throughout Europe but has not yet disclosed details of the distribution by country. The charging stations will be co-branded with Free2move Charge – the Group’s charging ecosystem presented in the summer. While Stellantis brand dealerships will provide the locations, unnamed “renowned CPOs” are to invest in, develop and operate the charging stations.

As the operators and their plans have not yet been named, details about the charging stations are not yet clean, with Stellantis saying only that the charging points will have “at least” 50 kW charging power. It is already certain that there will not be 20 kW chargers, for example, as is the case at many VW dealerships. Whether the respective partner CPO still considers 50 kW stations a good business model or prefers to install 100 kW has been left open.

Stellantis says each location will be equipped with several fast-charging stations “so that retail partners can offer a seamless, first-class charging experience”. The retailers should also “benefit from increased visibility and more public traffic”. The carmaking conglomerate says this will allow dealerships to “offer new services to their loyal customers and at the same time attract new electric customers”. People driving Stellantis-branded electric vehicles can access discounted charging rates via the Free2move Charge Go app.

“This project represents a synergistic partnership between Free2move Charge Europe, led by Magdalena Jablonska, together with our world-class Europe Retail team, best-in-class dealer network, and key CPO partners,” says Ricardo Stamatti, Stellanti’s Senior Vice President of Global Charging & Energy. “Everyone involved is united by one goal: meeting the fast-charging needs of our customers. A four-pronged approach that provides our customers with a seamless, accessible and valuable charging experience wherever they need it.”

Danilo Annese, Global Head of Dealer Network at Stellantis says, “The new fast charging stations in the Stellantis network will integrate customers and Stellantis dealers into the same sustainable and positive journey.” According to Stellantis, European dealer associations of the Stellantis brands also see the “approach and the win-win strategy positively”.

Update 22 March 2024

Free2move Charge and E.ON Drive are expanding fast charging infrastructure at Stellantis dealers in the UK, following the announcement in December 2023. The Chorley Group, based in the North-West of England, has selected two of its sites in Blackpool and Ormskirk to have rapid DC public chargers installed.

The Free2move Charge stations feature the latest technology from EDRI, including up to 300KW ultra-rapid chargers, with a total of 24 charge points being installed at these initial sites.

Group Managing Director of Stellantis UK, Maria-Grazia Davino, explained: “Increasing the number of EV rapid chargers is critical to the acceleration of EV sales, enabling the customer to have a frictionless user experience. Our Free2move Charge ecosystem is there to support all drivers to always be charged.”

stellantis.com, stellantis.com (update)