Photo: Stellantis
Stellantis will start building its own EV charging network under the Free2move Charge brand and hinted that it would make an announcement regarding NACS support soon. The Free2move Charge will create a complete charging ecosystem for its customers.
While everyone is betting on who's the next carmaker to adopt the NACS connector, Stellantis announced its own charging network Free2move Charge. It's more than public EV charging, as Stellantis aims to offer a complete ecosystem around EV charging and energy management. This is similar to Tesla's Energy business, which provides anything from solar and Powerwalls to charging hardware.
Customers will be able to create a personalized package covering all their charging needs, from home charging installation to other energy hardware and services. These can be AC charging cables, wall boxes supporting Vehicle-to-Home and Vehicle-to-Grid, and complete energy management systems. Free2move Charge Business aims to offer a 360 solution for businesses, including right-sizing of charging infrastructure installation, maintenance, and public charging access.
Finally, Free2move Charge GO is Stellantis's rival to the Tesla Supercharger network, although Jeep's parent doesn't want to build them itself. The carmaker speaks of a "curated network" of public charging spots operated by its partners. Stellantis will later expand the offering to regions outside Europe and North America. It also intends to offer Plug and Charge, loyalty programs, subscriptions, and prepaid packages. An interesting feature is that Free2move Charge GO will be able to deliver a charge to a requested location when needed.
After the announcement, Ricardo Stamatti, Stellantis senior vice president of charging and energy, attended a media roundtable to discuss the new business unit. Naturally, the questions about the NACS connector were fired left and right, as Stellantis said earlier that it is evaluating NACS. Stamatti did not answer directly but said Stellantis would address this question soon. On the other hand, Detroit Free Press wrote about a "pending NACS announcement."
Stellantis is the last of the Detroit Three to announce support for Tesla's NACS connector after Ford started the trend in May, and GM followed suit two weeks later. Rivian and Volvo also announced support for the Tesla connector. One of the factors that could impede NACS adoption is the lack of support for 800-volt charging with Supercharger V3 and earlier. The Supercharger V4 chargers will support 900-volt charging, but Tesla only recently started installing them.
Stellantis doesn't sell electric vehicles in North America yet, but the ones announced will use an 800-volt architecture. This is certain for the Ram 1500 REV and possible for the Jeep Recon and Jeep Wagoneer S, thanks to their use of the STLA Large platform. It could be an impediment, as charging at a 400-volt station requires a powerful DC-DC converter.
Most 800-volt EVs, including those from Hyundai-Kia and Lucid, only have a 50-kW DC-DC converter, which is a severe limitation. Still, Porsche Taycan can be ordered with a 150-kW onboard converter, showing that it can be done. Others, such as the GMC Hummer EV, have the battery divided into two 400-volt banks, allowing it to charge natively regardless of the charging voltage.
Customers will be able to create a personalized package covering all their charging needs, from home charging installation to other energy hardware and services. These can be AC charging cables, wall boxes supporting Vehicle-to-Home and Vehicle-to-Grid, and complete energy management systems. Free2move Charge Business aims to offer a 360 solution for businesses, including right-sizing of charging infrastructure installation, maintenance, and public charging access.
Finally, Free2move Charge GO is Stellantis's rival to the Tesla Supercharger network, although Jeep's parent doesn't want to build them itself. The carmaker speaks of a "curated network" of public charging spots operated by its partners. Stellantis will later expand the offering to regions outside Europe and North America. It also intends to offer Plug and Charge, loyalty programs, subscriptions, and prepaid packages. An interesting feature is that Free2move Charge GO will be able to deliver a charge to a requested location when needed.
After the announcement, Ricardo Stamatti, Stellantis senior vice president of charging and energy, attended a media roundtable to discuss the new business unit. Naturally, the questions about the NACS connector were fired left and right, as Stellantis said earlier that it is evaluating NACS. Stamatti did not answer directly but said Stellantis would address this question soon. On the other hand, Detroit Free Press wrote about a "pending NACS announcement."
Stellantis is the last of the Detroit Three to announce support for Tesla's NACS connector after Ford started the trend in May, and GM followed suit two weeks later. Rivian and Volvo also announced support for the Tesla connector. One of the factors that could impede NACS adoption is the lack of support for 800-volt charging with Supercharger V3 and earlier. The Supercharger V4 chargers will support 900-volt charging, but Tesla only recently started installing them.
Stellantis doesn't sell electric vehicles in North America yet, but the ones announced will use an 800-volt architecture. This is certain for the Ram 1500 REV and possible for the Jeep Recon and Jeep Wagoneer S, thanks to their use of the STLA Large platform. It could be an impediment, as charging at a 400-volt station requires a powerful DC-DC converter.
Most 800-volt EVs, including those from Hyundai-Kia and Lucid, only have a 50-kW DC-DC converter, which is a severe limitation. Still, Porsche Taycan can be ordered with a 150-kW onboard converter, showing that it can be done. Others, such as the GMC Hummer EV, have the battery divided into two 400-volt banks, allowing it to charge natively regardless of the charging voltage.
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