Stellantis will manufacture electric drives at its Hungarian plant in Szentgotthárd. The car manufacturing group will also use Tesla’s fast-charging system NACS in North America.

The Stellantis Group will invest some 100 million euros in equipping its Hungarian factory accordingly. The first Electric Drive Modules made in Hungary will roll off the production line at the end of 2026.

Stellantis’s switch to NACS means that all of the ‘Big Three’ in the US car industry will now use NACS. All partners of the operating company of the new Ionna fast-charging network are now also using the charging standard developed by Tesla. However, Stellantis will not be using Tesla’s Supercharger.

€ 103 million investment

Stellantis currently builds combustion engines in Szentgotthárd, specifically 1.2-litre turbo three-cylinder and 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines. In less than three years, it will also produce electric drives for several Stellantis models there. To this end, the manufacturer will invest € 103 million, including Stellantis capital and subsidies from the Hungarian government.

The electric drive modules will be for the upcoming STLA platform. The new platform will be capable of ranges of at least 500 kilometers for passenger cars in the A, B, and C segments (STLA Small).

There is also ‘STLA Medium’ for passenger cars in segments C and D and ‘STLA Large’ for passenger cars in segments D and EV, with ranges of up to 700 and 800 kilometers, respectively. From 2024, the fourth Stellantis platform will be the ‘STLA Frame’ for large electric SUVs and pickup trucks with ranges of at least 500 kilometers.

“Bringing production of electric drive modules to Szentgotthard to support our transformation towards electrification is another important part of our goal to provide customers with clean, safe, and affordable mobility,” said Arnaud Deboeuf, Stellantis’s chief manufacturing officer.

The investment in Hungary is the latest example of Stellantis’ strategy to manufacture EV components in existing plants. The Group already utilizes its production facilities in Tremery-Metz, France, for electric motor production (in cooperation with Nidec).

SAE J3400 standard is NACS

The case of Stellantis is a little different from the approach of the other car manufacturers in North America. The company says that Stellantis-branded BEVs will use the SAE J3400 standard “starting with select models in 2025.” SAE J3400 is in fact Tesla’s NACS system.

Car manufacturers such as GM and Ford had already announced last year that all their electric models offered in North America would be equipped with the Tesla charging port starting in 2025. Stellantis does not specify which model series fall under the ‘select models’.

It is possible that the Group will initially only switch to the NACS for new Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, or Ram models but will continue to install the CCS1 in existing model series. The company has not announced the usual deal that Stellantis customers will also have access to Tesla’s Superchargers.

After more and more car manufacturers announced the switch to NACS last year to gain access to the 12,000 Supercharger charging points in North America, numerous hardware providers and charging point operators followed suit, adding NACS cables to existing and new charging points in many places, which means that the system will also quickly become widespread outside of Tesla’s charging station network in North America.

In its press release Stellantis simply writes: “During the transition period, Stellantis will also make adapters available for vehicles fitted with the Combined Charging System (CCS) port, enabling drivers to access a growing private and public J3400 infrastructure to meet J3400/1 requirements still being developed this year.”

The entire press release does not mention Tesla or NACS. However, it should also be mentioned that Tesla has removed the disclosed documents on NACS from its website and instead simply refers to the documents on SAE J3400.

Ionna

But the Stellantis announcement is also interesting against another background: the car manufacturer is also one of the seven companies behind Ionna, a charging infrastructure joint venture launched by Stellantis together with BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Mercedes-Benz. Ionna’s fast-charging hubs will support both CCS1 and SAE J3400.