Stellantis is reportedly close to signing an investment agreement with Chinese electric car manufacturer Leapmotor. According to a media report, in addition to the financial participation, it is also about access to an electric car platform.

As the portal CarNewsChina reports concerning three sources familiar with the matter, Stellantis wants to invest in Leapmotor and license its Leap 3.0 platform for BEV and EREV (extended range electric) vehicles. However, no amount of the possible investment or the shares in Leapmotor that Stellantis wants to secure are mentioned.

Leap 3.0 platform

Leapmotor presented the C10, the first model based on the Leap 3.0 platform, at the IAA in September. The C10 is the brand’s first global model launched in Europe. As in China, Leapmotor will also rely on the EREV concept for the upcoming European models and the purely electric BEV drive.

A small combustion engine is then installed in the vehicle, which acts as a generator for the battery but never drives the wheels directly. It is a concept similar to the BMW i3 with a range extender once available as the i3 REX.

For the battery, the Leap 3.0 relies on a cell-to-chassis concept, where the battery cells are installed directly into the battery pack, and the battery pack itself is structurally loaded. According to Leapmotor, this should improve the battery’s range, performance, and safety.

The oil-cooled electric drive has an output of 170 kW to 250 kW and is suitable for both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive. There are also silicon carbide semiconductors.

Chinese headache

This recent news does not come as a surprise: in August, Bloomberg reported that Stellantis was looking into collaborating with a Chinese electric car manufacturer to strengthen its presence in the world’s largest car market. So, with the new information, things could become concrete soon.

Stellantis is currently struggling in China. Last year, the group closed its only China plant in a joint venture with GAC after an attempted take-over by Stellantis failed. The company blamed this on the increasing interference of Chinese politicians in the economy.

Looking for partners

At the premiere of the Leap 3.0 platform, the Chinese start-up Leapmotor had already emphasized that it was open to cooperation agreements. The company wants to build cars and become “a provider of core technologies for electric vehicles,” said Zhu Jiangming, CEO of Leapmotor.

Earlier on, there had already been talk of two interested parties. In addition to Stellantis, Volkswagen is reportedly negotiating with Leapmotor about a possible electric car cooperation in China – probably for the (exclusive) China brand Jetta.

“Leapmotor is enjoying they have two applicants and push to sign the deal quickly,” a source familiar with the talks told CarNewsChina. “The Chinese market is over-competitive, and without a significant win, they can quickly become one of the dozens of EV makers that won’t make it,” the insider added and concluded that partnering with a global automaker can be such a win.

Global automakers licensing Chinese EV makers E/E architectures has recently become pretty popular. In July, Volkswagen acquired 5% of Xpeng and licensed their EV platform to build two EVs for the Chinese market.

In July, VW’s daughter Audi also announced that it teamed with SAIC’s brand IM to license their iO Origin platform and will launch EVs in China based on it rather than their own PPE architecture.