Stellantis has an impressive portfolio of compact car models across the brands in its corporate organogram. Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat are renowned for a legacy of distinctively designed and cleverly packaged compact cars.
Despite compelling compact car designs, Stellantis brands haven’t overwhelmed the UK EV market. And that’s important because with the looming ZEV mandates coming into effect next year, 22% of the Stellantis UK new vehicle sales must be zero-emissions vehicles.
> Read more: when does EV replace ICE in the UK?
Interesting changes could happen for affordable Stellantis EVs next year. One of the organisation’s most established brands, Citroen, and a new joint venture with China could deliver lower the pricing spectrum of its UK market EV offerings.
Stellantis recently announced an impactful joint venture with Leapmotor, after acquiring a 20% shareholding in the Chinese EV company. It gives Stellantis the exclusive rights to distribute and market Leapmotor EVs outside of China, and the most likely candidate is its T03.
> Read more: Citroen e-C4 review
With its city car dimensions, the T03 is light, agile, and has an impressive driving range. There are several motor specifications for Leapmotor’s T03, but the most modest and affordable configuration is a 55kW motor paired with a 36.5kWh battery pack. Leapmotor claims that its 55kW powered T03 is suitable for 174-miles of driving range.
The T03 isn’t designed for long-distance touring. This is very much a city car, and in China, its top speed is limited to 62mph. For European markets, the top speed limiter should be adjusted to national highway limits, with a slight margin increase, to account for overtaking acceleration.
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Bringing much cheaper BEVs to market
If cleverly marketed, T03 could become the cheapest EV in the UK, which is clearly part of the Stellantis strategy, to increase EV sales and attain that 22% zero-emissions target.
Citroen’s new ë-C3 is a similar bargain concept to T03, blending a compact city car EV package with sensible battery specification and reasonable starting prices. The ë-C3 features a 44kWh battery pack and 199-mile driving range, edging Leapmotor’s T03.
Indicative UK market pricing for the ë-C3 is £22,000, which will make it the cheapest EV when it goes on sale early next year. But it might not be the cheapest UK EV for long if Stellantis acts with purpose regarding its Leapmotor strategy for the EU and UK. If Stellantis could manage clever positioning of its T03, well below £20,000, it could enhance the organisation’s presence regarding EVs even more.
