Jeep and RAM owner, Stellantis, launched a new EV charging and energy business, “Free2Move Charge,” on Tuesday to maximize the benefits of owning an electric car. Meanwhile, the automaker has yet to commit to adopting Tesla’s NACS as North America moves closer to making it the standard connector.
Stellantis launches Free2Move EV charging business
Free2Move Charge will be managed by Stellantis’s new Charging & Energy Business Unit and is designed to “address all EV customer needs, anywhere and in any way.”
The business will provide charging solutions for homes, businesses, and while on the go with options, including wall boxes, Vehicle-2-Home (V2H), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), public charging access, and complete energy solutions with touch-free solutions, like inductive robot charging, for future releases.
Ricardo Stamattim, senior VP of Stellantis’s Charging & Energy Business, explained:
As the pace of mainstream EV adoption accelerates, our customers need us to be more than just a mobility provider.
According to the press release, the first products and services are launching now in North America and expanding into Europe.
Although Stellantis says it will work with industry leaders to bring more EV charging solutions for customers, the automaker is still not committing to adopting Tesla’s NACS connector.
First, Ford announced it would integrate NACS with GM following shortly after. Since then, nearly every EV charging company and operator have announced they will support NACS.
Despite it becoming evident that the connector will likely be the standard connector in North America, Stellantis continues to lag behind its peers.
City Dwellers’s Take
If Stellantis wants to make the charging experience as easy as possible for EV owners, as it says, adopting Tesla NACS is the way.
Ford and GM both already have EV charging programs in North America and are still going with Tesla because it’s the most convenient.
Stellantis continues falling further behind in North America, with its first EVs launching later this year. The automaker is launching its first RAM electric pickup, the 2025 RAM 1500 REV, which will compete head-on with Ford’s F-150 Lightning. Meanwhile, Jeep, also under the Stellantis umbrella of brands, is releasing its first electric cars in the US, the Recon and Wagoneer S, later this year.
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