Stellantis has confirmed plans to begin production of a new line of "small and affordable" electric city cars in Italy from 2028.
The company has announced the launch of a new programme develop A-segment EVs for the European market, in accordance with the European Commission's new 'e-car' framework - which aims to make the production of such vehicles more viable for car manufacturers.
Working similarly to Japan's kei car rules, the Commission's new E-car rules will create a new category for sub-4.2m, European-built EVs dubbed 'M1E', which will be eligible for 'super-credits' against manufacturers' CO2 targets in the region.
Precise requirements for the M1E category have yet to be officially detailed, but the Commission previously said it aimed to freeze regulation in the class for 10 years to give car makers certainty and limit the amount of ongoing investment needed.
Confirming its plans to participate in the category today, Stellantis called it a "high-potential segment" that will play "a vital role in supporting the wider adoption of full-electric vehicles for convenient, everyday, city-centric mobility".
Stellantis said: "The E-car is a small, innovative, affordable and fully electric vehicle that is being developed in the true tradition of European 'people's mobility' - addressing the unprecedented contraction of the small affordable car segment in Europe in recent years."
Company boss Antonio Filosa last week cited the lack of affordable cars on the market today as "one of the major causes of the automotive industry in Europe - just because cars below €15,000 don't exist".
Speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit in London, he said: "Affordability is possible, the project of E-Car is possible [...] and there is an acknowledgement that electric small cars pollute less, so they deserve special framework."
The cars are expected to be begin production in 2028 at Stellantis's Pomigliano plant in the south of Italy, which currently produces the Fiat Panda – now no longer on sale in the UK, having been replaced by the Grande Panda – and the Alfa Romeo Tonale.
The company says it chose the factory – capable of building nearly 300,000 cars per year currently – on the basis of the "potential of significant production volumes" with the new E-Car programme.
It also highlights the site's "long history of producing some of Europe’s most iconic and affordable cars, including the much-loved Fiat Panda" - an EV revival of which is tipped to be one of the company's new M1E models, alongside a similarly conceived Citroën.
Autocar previously reported that Fiat was planning to launch a new entry-level Panda model (imagined below) – to sit underneath the high-riding Grande Panda – riding on the 'STLA City' platform that underpins the Fiat 500, and built at Pomigliano.
