Autonomous Vehicle News
Stellantis plans to start producing its first flex-hybrid vehicles powered by ethanol and electricity in Brazil by 2024, in an effort to come out ahead in the competition for the EV market in Latin America’s largest economy. Stellantis has three prototypes combining electric with ethanol engines and one purely electric, according to Antonio Filosa, the group's president in South America. Volkswagen plans to introduce a total of 15 electric and flex-fuel vehicles by 2025, with hybrid models due to follow later. The EV technologies will have to compete with flexible-fuel cars — powered by a mix of gasoline and ethanol — which are very popular in Brazil. Sales of hybrid or pure electric vehicles in Brazil accounted for only 2.5 percent of the total vehicle sales last year, according to the sector's lobby group Anfavea.