Leapmotor's range-extender (REx) technology for EVs could be used by other Stallantis brands in Europe as part of a move to increase "synergies" within the group.
The Stellantis-backed Chinese brand offers its B10 and C10 SUVs with the option of pure-electric power or a REx system in which a small petrol engine works as a generator to charge the battery on the move.
It claims the system allows the C10 Hybrid EV to travel up to 590 miles on a full battery and tank while emitting just 10g/km of CO2 in official testing.
With Mazda now having dropped the MX-30 R-EV, Leapmotor is the only brand to offer a REx option on its EVs. But the company's international CEO, Tianshu Xin, suggested the technology could also be used by its sibling firms, possibly including Vauxhall-Opel, Citroën, Peugeot, DS and Fiat.
He said Leapmotor and Stellantis are evaluating various opportunities to share technology from their respective line-ups, which are currently completely unrelated - and name-checked the REx system as one such possibility.
"Range-extender is a good technology, and, yes, we're also exploring the possibilities to use it in the other portfolios," Xin told Autocar.
He had previously hailed REx technology as a crucial step in Europe's path to electrification, calling it "a good interim solution" while EV uptake continues to lag earlier forecasts and charging infrastructure continues to develop.
Xin didn't name any prospective brands or models, but there is a high level of commonality between EVs from Stellantis's five European car brands (which all use either the ex-PSA CMP platform, the newer STLA Medium platform or the more value-focused Smart Car platform), so if the system can be worked into one of those, it could in theory be easily fitted to several different models.
He said that swapping technology in this way would be in line with the framework of the relationship between Leapmotor and Stellantis, which has a 51% stake in the Chinese firm's international operation.
"That's one part of the rationale we had when we did the deal between Stellantis and Leapmotor: finding synergies by using each other's technology," he explained.
Xin also said that "platform sharing is one of the opportunities we're exploring", suggesting there is scope for future European-market Leapmotor models to use one of the existing Stellantis platforms - which would be in keeping with the firm's strategy to better cater its European products to the local market.
The B10 is set to enter production in Spain later this year alongside the Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Lancia Ypsilon, for example, and any future models built in Europe would benefit significantly from being closely related to Stellantis cars.
Xin also said there are potential opportunities with regard to purchasing components, "because Leapmotor is a highly vertically integrated company: 65% of the value of the components in the car are developed in-house, so they have a lot of components".
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