Fiat declined to give a sales target, but large fleet operators are expected to be the biggest customers, said Domenico Gostoli, the head of electrification programs at Fiat Professional. The E-Ducato has been developed over five years in cooperation with logistics giant DHL, which has a fleet of 14,500 vehicles in Europe, the majority of which are medium vans.
Alberto Nobis, head of DHL Express Europe, said the company has committed to having 60 percent full-electric vehicles by 2030.
The E-Ducato is assembled without a drivetrain in the Atessa factory, then shipped north to Stellantis’ Mirafiori plant in Turin, where the batteries and electrical powertrain components are installed. Those components are provided by the Italian subsidiary of SolarEdge, an Israeli company. Marengo said the electric assembly facility at Mirafiori has a potential output of close to 1,000 E-Ducatos per month.
Citroen and Peugeot medium vans are electrified in a different process, with components supplied by the Turkish company BD Auto. They offer 37 or 70 kWh batteries, with a range of up to 340 km.
Laforge said it would take “some years” for the three Stellantis van brands to converge on a joint solution, although the partnership at Atessa, also known as Sevel Sud, dates back more than a decade.
The E-Ducato is so far the only full-electric LCV in the Fiat Professional lineup. Laforge said the smaller Doblo and Talento vans will only be electrified with the next model generation. Citroen, Peugeot and Opel already have full-electric versions of car-derived and small vans.