Stellantis has released further details on the new architecture that will underpin a raft of small and mid-sized electric vehicles, offering up to 700km of range.
The company says the STLA Medium platform, first announced at its 2021 EV Day and considered “BEV by design”, will support electric passenger cars, crossovers and SUVs with either front- or all-wheel drive.
Stellantis promises vehicles on the platform can offer more than 220mm of ground clearance “to ensure off-road capability and performance”.
STLA Medium will debut on a new vehicle this year – expected to be the next-generation Peugeot 3008 – and Stellantis says up to two million vehicles can be built on it across several plants across the world.
The platform will support vehicles of between 4.3 and 4.9 metres in length, with a wheelbase that can range between 2700 and 2900mm.
For context, a Peugeot 308 measures 4367mm long, while a two-row Jeep Grand Cherokee is 4914mm long.
Stellantis specifically says STLA Medium will be used by C- and D-segment vehicles, of which it currently offers 26 vehicle nameplates across a variety of platforms. These include the Citroen C4, Jeep Compass, Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Peugeot 508.
It’s a significant chunk of the global car market. Stellantis says C- (small) and D- (mid-sized) vehicles accounted for 35 million out of a total of 78.5 million global vehicle sales in 2022.
The company is promising best-in-class range, charging time, performance, efficiency, affordability and driving pleasure.
It promises more than 700km of WLTP range with a ‘Performance’ battery pack, and more than 500km with a ‘Standard’ pack, with useful energy of up to 98kWh.
STLA Medium vehicles will use a 400V electric architecture. Depending on the application, Stellantis promises energy consumption of less than 14kWh per 100km, and the ability to charge a vehicle from 20 to 80 per cent in 27 minutes – a rate of 2.4kWh per minute.
They’ll also offer single- or dual-motor powertrains with between 160 and 285kW of power.
The battery packs will be modular and feature a single layer so as to maximise interior space.
While Stellantis hasn’t specified exactly what battery chemistries it’ll offer, the STLA Medium platform has been designed with provisions for future inclusions like nickel- and cobalt-free and solid-state batteries.
“What we see today is the product of just over two years of no-compromise innovation to deliver clean, safe and affordable mobility, supported by our €30 billion investment in electrification and software through 2025,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
“The STLA Medium platform demonstrates the power of the global Stellantis technical community, delivering products that are hyper-focused on our customers and rewriting long-held assumptions of transportation as we drive for carbon net zero by 2038.”
STLA Medium is one of the four global EV platforms Stellantis outlined on its 2021 EV Day, the others being STLA Small and STLA Large (naturally) and STLA Frame for large body-on-frame vehicles.
All are designed to be future-proof, flexible in wheelbase, width, overhang, ride height and suspension design. They’re also designed to incorporate the STLA Brain architecture and STLA SmartCockpit and STLA AutoDrive technology platforms.
By 2030, Stellantis is aiming for electric vehicles to account for 100 per cent of its passenger car sales mix in Europe and 50 per cent of its passenger car and light-duty truck mix in the US.