Stellantis Group CEO Carlos Tavares said on Tuesday that “a bubble cannot be created” in the European market by taxing the import of electric vehicles, because there will be “inflation within the bubble.”

Speaking to reporters at the end of the event marking the start of production of fully electric vehicles at the Mangualde unit, Carlos Tavares said that, as a global company, Stellantis has “a global vision.”

We know very well that We will not be protected all over the world.. Therefore, whatever decisions Europe or the United States make, we will have to face Chinese competition in the rest of the world,” he said, considering that protection could cause a pause in “this hand-to-hand combat.”

The European Union taxes Chinese cars. BYD pays 17%, Geely 20% and SAIC 38%

According to the official, being protected in Europe does not allow you to win in the competition in Africa and Latin America.

“Therefore, from the point of view of the company, which is a global company, we only have one possibility, which we face with great enthusiasm and a great appetite: Let’s fight the Chinese“, Carlos Tavares highlighted.

The company has the necessary technology and is “working very hard on costs” to be able to offer middle classes, including those in Europe, “electric vehicles at prices they can afford,” he added.

The Stellantis leader also said that “trying to apply tariffs at the individual company level in itself is almost caricatured“.

Translate a Mental complexity that does not adapt to reality. of what we are experiencing. We are living a reality that is very simple: we have the technology, we are capable of making great electric vehicles and we have a cost problem that does not allow the middle classes to buy electric vehicles,” he said.

In his opinion, this is the problem that needs to be addressed “at the root” and not “try to protect it.”

Carlos Tavares asked: “If you put the European market inside a bubble, there will be inflation inside the bubble and how will inflation be treated inside the bubble? With subsidies. How will subsidies be created? Through taxes.

“It is clear that there are already too many taxes in Europe. We already have an excessive tax rate,” he added.

Stellantis boss wants further development of electric vehicle charging network

Carlos Tavares also advised the Portuguese government to use money from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to “accelerate the development of the charging network” for electric vehicle batteries.

President of the Republic challenges the Government to imitate Stellantis to execute the PRR

Asked about the package of measures to boost the economy that the Government is expected to announce on Thursday, Carlos Tavares called for “help for the end consumer” and that “promote the development of electric vehicles“.

There is two types of help: One is directly to the end consumer and the other is the battery charging infrastructure,” he explained.

According to the head of the automotive group, if the battery charging infrastructures “are visible and have a high level of density, they will allow cars to have smaller batteries with less autonomy.”

“Each of us will feel reassured by the visibility of charging stations and will therefore no longer have the anxiety of needing 600 kilometers of autonomy. It may have a smaller battery and if the battery is smaller, the car is cheaper”, he is stressed.

Stellantis’ CEO called on the government to help the middle classes buy electric vehicles, saying that “we have seen across Europe that aid ranges between five and seven thousand euros per car,” which “makes a huge hole in state budgets.”

“And as soon as these aids cease, the search disappears“, he added.

In this context, if I had to give a recommendation to the Government, it would be: “you can use the PRR to accelerate the development of the charging network and they can use the money they have for to foment and help the middle classes buy electric cars at a more affordable level.”

There is one cycle that is very positive“More charging network density means less range anxiety, smaller batteries mean smaller batteries, smaller batteries mean more affordable electric vehicles,” he added.

Carlos Tavares spoke again about the need for a railway connection from the Mangualde factory to the ports of Vigo and Leixões, “a project that is moving forward”.

“It is necessary from an environmental point of view, because there are fewer trucks on the roads, and from a cost point of view it is much cheaper than transporting cars with trucks,” he said.

The official also referred to the need to reduce the cost of energy to a competitive value, which would be “below 70 euros per megawatt/hour” and, then, “control the volatility of this energy cost.”

“There can’t always be ups and downs, because we can’t always change the selling price of cars just to compensate for energy,” he said.

The automotive group is betting that, next year, all the factories in the world will produce, “at least, 50% of the energy they consume.“, from renewable resources.