Tag Archives: Stellantis

Stellantis Advancing Factory Tech

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Investigating and installing new technologies to improve production operations

By Gary S. Vasilash

Chances are, when you think of a corporate venture startup fund focused on early and later-stage startup companies, a multi-million fund, you probably don’t think “auto industry.”

Yet they exist. While like those firms you think about they invest in AI, new battery chemistries and other advances, at Stellantis Ventures the team is looking for ways for the parent company’s factories to work more efficiently and effectively.

Realize that in North America alone Stellantis has 31 manufacturing operations, 18 in the U.S., seven in Mexico and six in Canada, so making improvements can have significant effects on the bottom line.

Inside Detroit Assembly Complex–Jefferson. (Image: Stellantis)

To say nothing of the fact that the company also operates plants in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, etc.

Tim Fallon, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Stellantis Production Way, said that an objective that he and his team have is to assure that production systems around the world are setup so that benefits realized in one facility can be shared with others so the whole system is continuously improved. Among the areas focused on are quality, efficiency and sustainability.

And one of the ways there is improvement is through the implementation of new technologies. One of the ways this is being achieved is through the discovery of new tech, something that Anna Valeria Anllo, Head of Global Innovation for Vehicle Process Engineering, said Stellantis Ventures helps the manufacturing team discover.

In addition, there is an on-going compilation of a list of potential suppliers that can help advance the manufacturing process.

Stellantis recently held what it calls its “Factory Booster Day,” an annual event that is attended by Stellantis personnel as well as 80 suppliers—traditional suppliers and startups.

The event was held at the company’s Conner Center in Detroit.

Fallon said there were some 700 people on site as well as an additional 1,200 on-line.

While there is an abundance of advanced technology showcased, the objective is to make this tech operational in Stellantis factories.

For example, at the 2024 Factory Booster Day a firm named KCF Technologies worked with Stellantis personnel on an AI-powered predictive maintenance (PM) system that is being used in North American paint shops. The system collects sensor data from various systems within the paint shop (e.g., pumps, fans, exhaust systems) and then makes a determination as to when PM is necessary.

Fallon said that unlike systems identify problems, this AI system learns and, as a result, uptime is maximized in the paint shops, which are a highly critical part of any assembly plant.

Another example is a camera system that uses AI to perform 100 inspections per vehicle at the Detroit Assembly Complex—Jefferson (where the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango are produced). The KEYENCE IV4 camera system—it features built-in lighting, lenses, and AI-powered inspection functions—provides real-time feedback to operators and automated repair alerts.

Supplementing this is a Stellantis-developed AI Agent Tracker that provides daily performance analytics.

Although the Factory Booster Days are annual events, Anllo said they are consistently looking for the ways and means to improve operations: “We believe in the fast and the furious.”

Stellantis Simplifies

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This should have been obvious all along

By Gary S. Vasilash

While Sergio Marchionne’s “Confessions of a Capital Junkie,” a 2015 screed that included the recommendation that there be more sharing between OEMs (e.g., given that most people—unless those with a HEMI—don’t know what’s under their hoods, why should there be so many different I4’s and V6s when there could be an Acme Engine Company that could provide OEMs with common engines) helped make him seem like a visionary,  an early presentation he made about the brands on offer from Fiat-Chrysler was less perspicacious.

That is, he made it would like Fiat products would fly out of the dealerships—or “studios,” as they were called—because Americans can’t get enough of Italian design.

That didn’t work out so well.

No one can be right all the time.

Stellantis recently announced its efforts to “simplify its organization.”

This essentially means various executive assignments/reassignments that “allow for the right balance between regional and global responsibilities to enable speed of decision and execution.”

On the one hand, Stellantis wants to have economies of scale, which means using whatever it can wherever it can.

But on the other hand there is the non-trivial issue of providing customers in various markets what it is they actually want.

So, for example, people in the U.S. (broadly speaking) want Ram pickup trucks and they don’t want Fiat 500s.

You can’t share what people don’t want. If you do you end up with a whole lot of vehicles sitting on dealer lots.

Scale comes only when people are buying the products in number.

That’s really not hard to figure.

And someone(s) got really big bucks to make that determination.

Imagine.

About Battery Timing

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At some point will it be analogous to buying Duracell, Eveready or Kirkland. . . ?

By Gary S. Vasilash

Compared with GM and Ford, the other company in the “Detroit 3,” Stellantis North America, which is still simply referred to as “Chrysler” in southeastern Michigan, is behind the curve when it comes to electric vehicles.

You can buy or lease an EV from GM or Ford.

But so far, with the exception of the exceptionally limited Fiat 500e (limited as in having a range of 149 miles, which is about half of what many people are interested in when thinking about an EV), there is no mainstream EV available from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, or Alfa Romeo.

But earlier this week it announced that NextStar Energy, a joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, has started battery module production in its plant in Windsor, Ontario. Next year it plans to launch cell manufacturing.

The Dodge Charger, electric version. (Image: Dodge)

And the company also announced that it will be operating a demo fleet of Dodge Charger Daytona EVs with solid-state batteries from Factorial, a battery company that it has invested $75-million in.

What is interesting about the Factorial battery is that the company claims they’re working for a range of 600+ miles from a battery that is 33% smaller and 40% lighter than a conventional lithium-ion battery.

However, that fleet won’t go into operation until 2026.

So presumably if all goes well, it would still take some time before the Factorial tech makes its way into production vehicles, which explains why there is the production at NextStar Energy: they’re going to need something sooner rather than later.

Factorial is also working with Mercede-Benz. The two companies announced last month the development of a new solid-state battery technology, about which Markus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Board of Management at Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said: “The Solstice solid-state battery technology represents another landmark milestone in our partnership with Factorial, which is a cornerstone of Mercedes-Benz’s strategy and commitment to leading the charge in battery development. Solstice offers further improvements in energy density and safety features that will help us develop electric vehicles that set new standards in range, cost, and performance.”

Note the future tense of “will.” Not now. But sometime.

In the meantime Mercedes gets batteries from companies including LG Energy Solution and CATL.

Mercedes, like Stellantis, has had a joint-development arrangement with Factorial since 2021.

So at some point in the future will the situation be that multiple OEMs will have access to the same battery technology and so there will be differentiators required other than charging time and range?

Putting Hydrogen On the Road

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California wants carbon neutrality by 2045. This could help. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Symbio is an interesting company that you’ve probably not heard of, interesting for two reasons:

  1. It is developing vehicles like hydrogen-powered trucks
  2. It is jointly owned by Forvia, Michelin and Stellantis. Forvia produces a number of products, from automotive interiors to containment cylinders for hydrogen. Michelin is heavily involved in developing green mobility solutions, such as low rolling-resistance tires. And Stellantis, of course, is in the business of vehicle manufacture.
Big rig. Zero emissions. (Image: Symbio)

Symbio has developed a Class 8 truck that is powered by hydrogen, a demonstrator vehicle called the “H2 Central Valley Express.”

The name of the vehicle relates to where the truck will operate in California: a route between the Inland Empire and Northern San Joaquin Valley in California.

The truck’s 400-kW StackPack fuel cell system is said to be comparable to a 15-liter diesel engine.

There is a 70-kg hydrogen tank onboard. It gives the truck a range of 450-miles.

And unlike a diesel, there are no emissions.

The truck will go into operation later this week on a 400-mile route. On the route there are four different operating conditions, such as urban, high-speed, and hill climb and descent. The demonstration period is to last 12 months.

This isn’t some sort of engineering undertaking: the truck will be in revenue service for Total Transportation Services.

Odds are that things like the Tesla Semi notwithstanding, when it comes to commercial freight operations hydrogen is going to be the way to go to zero emissions.

Good News on the Fuel Cell Front

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By Gary S. Vasilash

Although hydrogen fuel cell enthusiasts are probably saddened by Shell’s announcement that it is shutting off the valves at its hydrogen refueling stations in California, there was some good news this week—albeit not exactly for those who are driving Toyota Mirais or Honda Claritys in SoCal.

Extreme E, the off-road FIA-sanctioned racing series in which electric vehicles are run, is transitioning to Extreme H, which will swap out battery power for fuel cells next year.

So Extreme E becomes Extreme H.

Racing with hydrogen. (Image: Extreme E. Soon to be Extreme H)

But the good news is that the series and Symbio have announced that the latter will become the “Official Hydrogen Fuel Cell” provider to Extreme H.

Symbio?

It is a Europe-based company established by Michelin, Stellantis and Forvia (each company owns a third) that is dedicated to fuel cell systems.

In December 2023 Symbio opened SymphonHy, a gigafactory in France that currently has the production capacity to produce 16,000 fuel cells. It expects to expand that number to 50,000 by 2026.

Notably, Symbio partner company Stellantis has announced that it is developing hydrogen tech for Ram brand pickups. It already offers hydrogen versions of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel commercial vehicles in Europe.

Using hydrogen for Ram could be a proverbial game-changer.

And speaking of games (OK, a sport): If nothing else, the affiliation with the Extreme H racing series will provide attention to the tech.

Extreme E is having a race in Phoenix this year, so assuming that goes well, the U.S. will be part of the series.

Perhaps Extreme H will make more people in the U.S. interested in the possibility of fuel cells in place of battery electrics.

And maybe those Shell hydrogen stations will be reopened or replaced.

EVs and the Middle Class

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By Gary S. Vasilash

Electric vehicles aren’t cheap.

According to the most-recent figures from Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price for an EV in October was $51,762. (Silver lining? Down 7.4% compared to the price in October 2022.)

The average transaction price for a non-luxury vehicle—arguably the type of vehicle that the average person buys—was $44,331 in October.

That’s a difference of $7,431. Or to go from the non-lux vehicle to the EV a ~17% increase.

Non-trivial.

The big cost in an EV is the battery. It can represent 40% or more of the sticker.

So one thing vehicle manufacturers are working on is reducing the price of the battery.

One of the ways they’re doing this is by using batteries with less-costly materials.

Right now the (more or less) standard type of battery chemistry is NMC, or lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide. The key things to know are the nickel and the cobalt, as these are the pricey ones.

There is another chemistry, LFP, or lithium iron phosphate. Iron and phosphorus are a lot cheaper than nickel and cobalt.

What’s more, the manufacturing process to make LFP batteries is simpler, which also contributes to a lower price.

However, LFP batteries have less energy density than NMC batteries. Which means less range for the same-size battery.

Additionally, LFP batteries don’t charge as readily in cold environments.

But there’s a price difference of about 30%, so perhaps the downsides of LFP are not a concern for those who are looking for affordability.

Stellantis and CATL, the leading producer of batteries for EVs, have signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the supply of battery cells and modules to the vehicle manufacturer’s operations—in Europe.

For LFP battery cells and modules.

The interesting thing is this:

Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO, rationalized the arrangement by saying, “This MoU with CATL on LFP battery chemistry is another ingredient in our long-term strategy to protect freedom of mobility for the European middle class.”

Have you ever heard a U.S. automotive exec specifically say they’re developing EVs for the middle class?

Until that is the stated objective, odds are it’s not going to happen. And there will continue to be that double-digit percentage difference between the cost of an EV and a non-luxury car.

Yes, Ford, for example, is working with CATL on the now-reduced-scope battery plant that will be built in Marshall, Michigan, and yes, Ford has said that the LFP batteries that will be built there will be less expensive than the NMC batteries it offers, but the market is still waiting for a true middle class EV from Ford (i.e., the least-expensive F-150 Lightning that a consumer can buy right now is $54,995 and the median price for a Mustang Mach-E is $46,995).

Perhaps the cooling in the EV market is explained by the simple fact that the vehicles available, for the most part, are simply too expensive for the middle class buyer.

Biden and Belvidere

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“Congratulations to Stellantis and the UAW for their dedication and focus in coming together to reach a hard-won tentative agreement. The significance of this historic achievement coming just days after the UAW and Ford reached an agreement cannot be overstated.

 “This tentative agreement includes a number of important provisions including a commitment to reopen the Belvidere plant in Illinois, which will bring good, union jobs back that community. The parties are also charting a future of good middle-class jobs in battery manufacturing, consistent with the President’s vision for a just transition where building a clean economy and creating good union jobs go hand-in-hand.

 “Today’s agreement demonstrates what is possible when workers have a voice and a seat at the table. On behalf of the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history, we applaud the parties on what they have achieved.”—Julie A. Su, U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor

A couple of considerations.

  1. What does it matter that there is the self-proclaimed “pro-worker, pro-union administration in history”? Wasn’t this contract worked out by the UAW and Stellantis? How was the Biden Administration involved? One of the points that the UAW used in bargaining was that the Administration is shoveling money into battery plants and while the OEMs can take advantage of that, there was no certainty that the workers would benefit from it, as that wasn’t written into the language of the Fed’s largess, only geography and material sourcing, not worker representation. Pro-labor?
  2. That plant in northern Illinois had been closed earlier this year because the Jeep Cherokee that was built there wasn’t selling. Obviously, making something that someone doesn’t want to buy is not a good idea. (OK: that only a few people want to buy.) According to UAW vice president Rich Boyer, the plant will build a midsize pickup and there will also be jobs at a battery plant in Belvidere. Should that midsize pickup be an electric pickup, given what’s happening in the market right now, that may put the workers back in the situation that had occurred with the Cherokee. EVs are not selling at the rate that had been anticipated, which is causing Ford to cut a shift from its F-150 Lightning production and GM to push back the construction of an EV assembly plant. Seems like more EVs isn’t what’s required at present. However, UAW president Shawn Fain pointed out: “We not only won the right to strike over plant closure, we won the right to strike over product and investment. That means if the company goes back on their word over any of these plans, we can strike the hell out of them.” Stellantis better hope its product planning is on target for Belvidere as well as its other U.S. plants.

The EV Situation (European Edition)

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By Gary S. Vasilash

At present, Stellantis has 33 electrified vehicles on offer to consumers. In the next 18 months it will be rolling out eight full battery electric vehicles.

By 2024 Abarth and DS will be all electric. Then Maserati in 25, Lancia in 26 and Alfa in 27. Opel and Chrysler go all electric in 28. Fiat and Peugeot in 2030.

Yet CEO Carlos Tavares was recently quoted as saying related to the European Union, “What is clear is that electrification is a technology chosen by politicians, not by industry.”

On the one hand, politicians are pretty much the last ones who ought to be making technical decisions.

On the other hand, given a choice between keeping the status quo and making a change, industry would opt for the former.

Were it not for the massive success of Tesla, what is the likelihood that either politicians or industry would be talking about electric vehicles?

Not very.

Life Behind the Wheel

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Why drive when you can shop and vice versa?

By Gary S. Vasilash

Stellantis, the company best known in the U.S. for the products that used to be under the Chrysler umbrella, then under the DaimlerChrysler umbrella, then the FCA umbrella, and now under a company with 14 brands—make that “14 iconic brands”—had announced in July that it was planning to electrify its vehicles in a big way (with more than 70% of the cars and trucks and utes in Europe and more than 40% of same in the U.S. being “low emission vehicles,” which is not quite fully electric, but a start).

Now it has announced that it is going to be focusing a lot of attention on vehicular software. Stellantis anticipates there will be approximately €4 billion in annual revenues by 2026 and ~€20 billion by 2030 generated by software-enabled product offerings and subscriptions.

And there you have it.

Or to be a bit more specific: 34 million “monetizable connected cars” by 2030.

Yes, they’ll likely be capable of “over-the-air” updates. Which simply means that you’ll be able to buy more stuff while stuck in traffic.

Here’s a somewhat frightening fact:

Stellantis is developing what it calls the “STLA SmartCockpit,” which it describes as something that “will seamlessly integrate with the digital lives of vehicle occupants to create a customizable third living space.”

Remember when Starbucks positioned itself as the “third space”?

Soon it will be your Jeep.

The importance of this—this is the scary part—is that Stellantis says a customer spends four years of their lives, on average, in their vehicles—and this is increasing.

Somehow makes walking more appealing.

Auto Numbers: Something to Consider

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The math is. . .surprising

By Gary S. Vasilash

A few numbers.

In the first three quarters of 2021, these are the U.S. sales numbers of the leading luxury brands:

  • 259,237 BMW
  • 245,864 Lexus
  • 230,855 Tesla
  • 213,708 Mercedes

That’s right: Tesla outsold Mercedes.

And then there is this, the market capitalization (on 11/11/21) of the three companies that were once known as the “Big Three”:

  • GM: $89.14 billion
  • Ford: $77.5 billion
  • Stellantis: $64.21 billion

(It is worth noting that in addition to Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mopar and Ram, Stellantis includes Abarth, Maserati, Open, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Lancia, Peugeot, and Vauxhall. Meaning it is a much larger company back when it was part of the Big Three.)

Here’s the kicker:

  • Tesla: $1.068 trillion

Tesla could buy all three.

But then what would become of its value?