Groupe PSA offers an assortment of electric vehicles, but the company’s CEO and possibly future boss of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) once the merger goes through, Carlos Tavares, slammed them in a conference call with journalists.
According to Reuters, Tavares said current EVs don’t have broad appeal and are only bought by “green addicts.” As a result, there’s a limited market and “pragmatists” aren’t interested in electric vehicles.
Tavares suggested there are a number of reasons for this including a limited charging infrastructure, relatively short ranges and questions about the long-term price of electricity. The latter issue has raged in Europe where IONITY launched a new pricing structure on January 31st.
Also Read: BMW Says EVs Won’t Take Off Until There Are Enough Charging Stations
The company – which is a joint venture between BMW, Mercedes, Ford and the Volkswagen Group – moved to a kilowatt hour-based pricing scheme and this has been criticized as a 500% price increase. Of course, there are a number of factors that come into play.
Getting back to PSA, Tavares noted demand for electric vehicles typically collapses when subsidies are cut or phased out. This scenario has played out in multiple places including China where demand for New Energy Vehicles declined following a reduction in subsidies.
Despite the challenges, PSA isn’t going to abandon electric vehicles. Instead, the automaker is focused on making EVs affordable and they’re hedging their bets by using flexible platforms rather than a bespoke EV architecture.
In related news, Tavares suggested the future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant is largely dependent on what kind of trade deal the United Kingdom strikes with the European Union. Since a deal is still a ways off, the executive suggested a decision is unlikely to come before the of the year.
