Stellantis ponders vehicle software options

Easing range anxiety for electric vehicle owners could be as simple as letting them buy more miles wirelessly.

That's a possibility for future Stellantis buyers as the automaker adds more zero-emission options to its portfolio over the next decade.

Tweaking range figures illustrates the automaker's thinking as it looks to generate billions of dollars in the coming years through software-based products and subscriptions. In a world where consumers have grown accustomed to paying for services such as satellite radio, Stellantis is upping its creativity in hopes of generating even more revenue from vehicles.

Upgrading EVs on the fly is one thing consumers would see value in, said Yves Bonnefont, chief software officer for Stellantis. He believes owners would pay extra for autonomous technology enhancements as well.

"You can improve the range of the vehicle by continuously improving the algorithms to manage both regenerative braking and the management of the powertrain overall, the battery or the inverter," he told Automotive News. "Then we can [over-the-air] those things, and I think this has a value for the customer. There will be a number of customers willing to pay to increase the range of their vehicle as the technology advances, and we can tune our algorithms, which we will do on a continuous basis."

Stellantis aims to bring in $23 billion in revenue from software-based offerings by 2030. The company said it has 12 million "monetizable connected cars" globally right now and expects to more than double that to 26 million by 2026 before reaching 34 million by 2030.

Boasting an evolving suite of what Bonnefont calls on-demand features would give used-vehicle buyers a quick way to add capabilities. "We can better support the relationship with the customer during the ownership of the vehicle," he said, and "increase their loyalty in terms of vehicle maintenance."

The traditional view of vehicle model years could change as Stellantis and other companies make more features available through wireless updates, Bonnefont said.

The upcoming STLA Brain software architecture, a system Stellantis says will use over-the-air updates to "break today's bond between hardware and software generations, will enable software developers to create and update features and services quickly without waiting for a new hardware launch."

Stellantis says it will collaborate with Amazon to deliver software. The STLA Cockpit platform will offer artificial intelligence-based applications including navigation, Alexa-enabled voice assistance, an e-commerce marketplace and payment services.

"I think that's going to fade a little bit, the notion of model year, because the whole idea is to make sure that the vehicle gets continuously updated and upgraded," Bonnefont said. "Our vision is that we should upgrade the vehicle every quarter, so you would get regular updates made available to the whole fleet."