Yahoo Finance Cost of electric cars to tumble without subsidies, says Vauxhall owner
Electric cars will soon cost the same to run and buy as vehicles with petrol or diesel engines even without government subsidies, the owner of Vauxhall has claimed.
The prediction from Stellantis, which also owns Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, came as it outlined a €30bn (£26bn) plan for electrify its vehicle range.
The plan includes developing cars able to drive 500 miles on a single charge and building five “gigafactories” in Europe and the US by 2030.
It also wants to speed up charging times to hasten drivers' switch to electric cars, predicting charging rates of 20 miles of range per minute.
Better battery technology is set to make this goal a reality. Stellantis plans to offer two battery chemistries by 2024 - a high energy-density option and a nickel cobalt-free alternative.
It aims to introduce the first “competitive” solid state battery technology two years after that.
Sales of its electric vehicles are forecast to rise from 14pc in Europe and 4pc in the US to more than 70pc and 40pc respectively by 2030.
Stellantis said first-half profits would be higher than expected despite the shortage of computer chips that is hampering production and prompting manufacturers to use the supplies they can secure into more profitable models.
Meanwhile, Volvo announced plans to offload its internal combustion engine manufacturing arm after revealing a move to only sell electric vehicles after 2030. They will be put into a new joint venture with Geely, its Chinese owner.
Separately, VW Group and BMW have been jointly fined €875m (£750m) by the European Commission for operating a cartel to hold back development of pollution-reducing engine technology.
Mercedes Benz owner Daimler, which was also involved but informed the EU about the collusion, was not fined.
The Commission said the car manufacturers had technology that could reduce emissions but agreed not to implement any more than the minimum required to meet EU standards.
Both VW and BMW said no customers were harmed and that the talks were interpreted by the Commission as collusion but did not lead to them working together.
VW said it would consider an appeal.
