Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has signed two agreements for the development of new solutions dedicated to electric mobility to support the production and marketing of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery (BEV) models included in the Group's industrial plan for the 2018- 2022.
Through these agreements, FCA dealers will offer recharging solutions and innovative services dedicated to private and business customers. The initiative also includes the study and testing of new technologies aimed at reducing the total cost of ownership of electric vehicles for the benefit of the end customer. "These partnerships - said Mike Manley, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles - complement the e-mobility strategy announced last year in the context of the Group's five-year plan. We are creating an ecosystem of partners, products and services in different markets in order to meet and exceed the rapidly evolving expectations of our customers in terms of electrified vehicles ".
The two partners, Enel X and ENGIE, are both global leaders in the energy sector. The partnership with ENGIE includes the subsidiaries ENGIE Eps, a company specializing in energy storage solutions with which FCA has been working for over two years, and EVBox, a reference company in the production of charging stations. The partners will work with FCA in all the main European markets to make the most of the technologies developed over the last few years and will be committed to developing innovative solutions for private and business customers. Enel X will work with FCA in Italy, Spain and Portugal, while ENGIE will support FCA in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The main objective of the two partnerships is to offer recharging solutions in the private and public sectors to support the sale of the future range of FCA electric vehicles, including the Fiat 500 BEV and the Jeep Renegade PHEV.
Thanks to the collaboration with the two partners, FCA will offer its customers the possibility of installing a specific personalized point in their home (the so-called wallbox) for the optimization and intelligent management of charging based on actual needs. The partners will take care with FCA the preliminary phase, aimed at feasibility and installation checks, as well as the management and maintenance phase of the wallbox. The customer will therefore be accompanied and assisted during the entire life cycle of the vehicle and its wallbox.
In addition to charging electric cars in private, customers will also be offered cost-effective and easily accessible charging solutions in the public sphere. FCA will work with partners to develop the applications needed to locate the top-up points, to book and to top-up payments. And all this by taking advantage of the integrated vehicle connectivity solutions.
Furthermore, through the support of the partners, FCA will continue the training and electrification activities of its entire dealer network which has already been launched throughout Europe. Dedicated training programs were designed for the sales force and all staff working at the Group's dealers. Specific recharging infrastructures have also been designed for them to equip yards, customer car parks, test drive areas and workshops. Over the next two years, FCA will install approximately 700 Enel X charging points at plants, research centers and car parks for employees in Italy, who will be able to use these infrastructures to recharge their vehicles during working hours. . In this context, FCA and Enel X will launch an experimental program for the development of new charging services and solutions.