The program will initially be focused in France, taking advantage of the government incentives
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Stellantis only recently revealed its updated light commercial vehicle (LCV) range in Europe, but it doesn’t neglect the pre-facelifted versions. The automotive group plans to offer he option of converting diesel-powered midsize vans to fully electric, giving them a second chance in life starting in 2024.
The vans in question are the Peugeot Expert, Citroen Jumpy, and Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro, although it is safe to assume that the identical Fiat Scudo and Toyota PoAce will also be included in the program. Judging from the shared mechanical components, the diesel-to-EV conversion could also be expanded to the passenger versions of the midsize vans.
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Xavier Peugeot, head of Stellantis’ vans business unit told Autonews Europe that the goal of the EV conversion project is to make zero-emission vans more affordable to small business owners who are not keen to invest in a brand-new model.
According to Peugeot, the conversion will cost less than €20,000 ($21,871) per van and will take place in Stellantis manufacturing facilities. The program will be initially focused on France, taking advantage of the government incentives. These can cover up to 40% of the conversion cost to a maximum of €10,000 ($10,938), as long as the owner keeps the electric van for more than a year or drives it for at least 6,000 km (3,728 miles) before selling their vehicle
The vans will trade the 2.0-liter BlueHDi four-cylinder diesel engine for a cleaner fully electric powertrain. Xavier Peugeot said that the converted examples will offer a “credible” range, but admitted it will be lower than the 224-350 km (139-218 miles) figures offered by the factory-spec electric vans. Those come with 50 kWh and 75 kWh battery pack options and a single electric motor producing 134 hp (100 kW / 136 PS) and 192 lb-ft (260 Nm) of torque although it is not clear if those will also be used for the conversion.
The K0 generation of LCVs was introduced in 2016 in diesel-powered form, with the fully electric versions following 2019-2020. All of the EMP2-based vans received facelifts in late 2023, mostly limited to visual and technological updates since the EV powertrains are largely carried over with small improvements in efficiency.
Besides Stellantis, Renault has also announced a similar program converting the diesel-powered Master to electric power in collaboration with a French company called Poenix. This program is focused on large vans produced over five years ago, with the conversion taking place in Renault’s “Refactory” facilities in Flins, France.
Both Stellantis and Renault hope to capitalize on the EV-conversion, refurbishment, recycling, and “second-life” battery trends, targeting annual revenues of €2 ($2.2 billion) and €1 billion ($1.1 billion) respectively from such activities by 2030.
