The Stellantis group is currently in the process of transforming its French plants in Trémery-Metz, which specialized respectively in the production of diesel engines and manual gearboxes. After their reconversion, they will go on to manufacture powertrains for the electrified vehicles of the French-Italian-American multinational.
Thus, Trémery will begin to produce this year a new family of electric motors developed jointly with Nidec. The joint venture plans to reach a capacity of over 1 million engines per year from 2024, an extremely ambitious figure considering that Stellantis sold less than 400,000 plug-in vehicles globally last year.
The first engine produced at Trémery, called the M3, has been developed to run at 400 volts and will deliver an output of 154 hp (115 kW). It is confirmed that this unit will arrive next year in the Peugeot e-308, whose technical specifications, which were announced a few months ago, coincide with those of the new engine.
Given the expected volume of production for the M3 engine, it is most likely to be used both in electrics based on the EMP2 platform (DS 4 E-TENSE, Opel Astra-e, Peugeot e-308, e-3008, and e- 408…) as well as those using the second generation eCMP (Alfa Romeo Brennero, FIAT Panda, Jeep Jeepster, Lancia Ypsilon…).
The M3 engine will be used in many different electric models
In addition, it is expected that between 2023 and 2024 the models based on the first generation eCMP (Citroën ë-C4 and ë-C4 X, DS 3 E-TENSE, Opel Corsa-e, and Mokka-e, Peugeot e-208 and e -2008) are updated to the latest version of the platform. Therefore, the new Nidec engine will replace the current 136 hp (100 kW) Vitesco (Continental) unit, providing extra power and lower consumption.
Possibly the commercial vehicles of Stellantis also adopt this configuration, both the small vans (Citroën ë-Berlingo, FIAT E-Doblò, Opel Combo-e, Peugeot e-Rifter/e-Partner) and the medium ones (Citroën ë-SpaceTourer/ë -Jumpy, FIAT E-Ulysee/E-Scudo, Opel Zafira-e/Vivaro-e, Peugeot e-Traveller/e-Expert).
Stellantis has also established a joint venture with Punch Powertrain, which will be responsible for manufacturing electrified dual-clutch gearboxes (eDCT) in Metz. This transmission will be available in 48 ( mild-hybrid ) and 320-volt (PHEV) versions. The annual production capacity for the year 2024 will be 600,000 transmissions, which will be used in the group’s hybrid range.
