Turning Opel Grandland Into BEV

Stellantis commits to a large investment at its Eisenach, Germany plant to build the all-electric successor to its popular Opel Grandland compact CUV.

The automaker says it will pump in more than €130 million ($140 million) into the production facility to add production of the Grandland’s BEV successor that will be built on the new STLA Medium BEV platform. Production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2024.

The move is part of Stellantis’ strategy to transition the Opel brand previously owned by GM into a fully electric product lineup in Europe by 2028. Currently, the Opel Grandland range includes internal-combustion and plug-in hybrid variants.

The Eisenach Assembly Plant opened in September 1992 with production of the Opel Astra. In 2022, the plant celebrated its 30th anniversary commemorating production of 3.7 million vehicles.

Arnaud Deboeuf, Stellantis chief manufacturing officer, says in a statement: “Eisenach, our most compact plant in Germany, has demonstrated a strong drive in quality improvements. With this allocation of Stellantis’ new fully BEV platform, STLA Medium, Eisenach plant’s highly skilled workforce will continue to improve the cost and the quality of the vehicles they produce to delight our customers.”

By 2025, Stellantis says 98% of models in Europe and 96% of models in the U.S. would be available with electrified powertrain options; either BEVs, PHEVs, or HEVs. By the end of the decade, all Stellantis models in Europe and the U.S. would have battery-electric alternatives.

The STLA Medium platform will also be used for premium Alfa Romeo vehicles, the company has stated, as well as other C- and D-segment vehicles throughout the group.

The standards for STLA platforms include: 500 miles (805 km) of maximum range; best-in-class efficiency per kilometer of under 4.3 miles/kWh (less than 12 kWh/100 km); 0-62 mph (100 km) acceleration times as low as 2 seconds; class-leading fast-charging of 20 miles/minute (200 miles/10 minutes[322 km/10 minutes]).

– with David Kiley in Detroit