Peugeot moves forward its plans to go fully electric

It’s no secret that in the years to come, electric vehicles will be playing a bigger and bigger role in the lives of everyday people. Many major manufacturers are beginning to implement their own electrification plans. Volkswagen is one such prominent name, but Peugeot is working to close the gap by bringing forward its plans to go fully electric by 2030.

Having recently become a part of the new Stellantis group, the French company now has access to a much wider range of funding and resources, which has allowed it to increase its progress in the electric vehicle market. As a result, Peugeot now plans to stop its production of combustion engine vehicles by the end of 2023.

With all this progress being made, it might not be long before you see some electric vehicles amongst our vast fleet here at Intack Self Drive - we offer some fantastic deals on minibus hire as well as car hire. Plus, our brilliant Flexi-hire scheme gives you the freedom to hire a vehicle for a period that suits you.

So what’s the latest on Peugeot’s all-electric plans?

What was the original plan?

The initial plans were laid out back in 2018, when Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson stated that every new Peugeot model launched in Europe by 2030 would be fully-electric, but that the company would still continue to release internal-combustion based models for its international buyers. On top of this, Jackson added that Peugeot would be offering different variations with electric or hybrid drives for all 40 models of its brand by 2025.

These plans would’ve led Peugeot to an impressive electrification rate of 80% by 2023, a grand achievement by any company’s standard, but what caused Peugeot to change its strategy?

A change in financial fortunes

As of now, Peugeot is set to reach a vehicle electrification rate of 100% by 2023 if all goes well. Why? Well there’s a long and complex explanation for this, but we’ll spare you the details and give you the short version.

Essentially, until quite recently Peugeot was part of the PSA Group, a multinational company that also encompassed the Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands. However, in 2021, the PSA Group merged with Fiat-Chrysler to form the new Stellantis group. This was a huge move for all the companies involved, and afforded Peugeot a larger pool of resources from which it could dramatically increase its progress in the elective vehicle market.

Even though the company has come out and said that it will no longer offer pure petrol or diesel new cars from 2023, Peugeot is yet to specify what level of electrification it’s aiming for. To put this into context, a 48-volt mild-hybrid is considered electrified, but can’t cover significant distances while operating purely from its battery, making it it more like a combustion engine vehicle to drive anyway.

In response to this, Peugeot has said that the “Power of Choice” is one of the pillars of the brand’s “technological push”, and is keen to offer its customers choice as to the type of energy they use to power their vehicles. These plans will encompass Peugeot’s full range of electric vehicles, including bikes, mopeds and scooters, as well as its most prominent products like cars and vans.

So why the urgency from Peugeot to get a foothold on the electric vehicle market? Well the company has said that “By 2040, almost 5 billion men and women will live in cities. Making the urban space sustainable is one of the main challenges of the 21st century, and the aspiration of creating sustainable cities ‘is shared among all city dwellers.” In other words, we want to get ahead of the game in terms of electric vehicles.

Many other Stellantis brands are now following suit - DS are aiming to be be fully electric by 2026, Alfa Romeo by 2027 and Opel / Vauxhall by 2028.

So, it would seem that there are some big changes on the horizon when it comes to electric cars! Regardless of what happens with the technology though, you can always be certain of a couple of constants here at Intack Self Drive - such as our commitment to providing you with the best service, as well as a huge variety of cars, minibuses and vans for hire. Whatever your rental needs, you can be sure we’ve got them covered here at Intack Self Drive.