cars news 10: Report: Maserati Could Introduce Tesla-Fighting EV After 2018

Fiat Chrysler may finally be embracing the EV trend, as it’s mulling over two new battery electric vehicles for its lineup. The first model is an electric Maserati Alfieri sports car, which would compete against Tesla.

“I’ve always thought the economic model that supports Tesla is something that Fiat Chrysler could replicate as we have the brand and the vehicles to do it,” FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed to Bloomberg recently. “I think that to use one of our potential cars as an experiment in this area is interesting.”

An Alfieri model, which originally debuted at the 2014 Geneva auto show, was expected to hit the market as early as 2016. But it looks like we won’t see an electric Alfieri until after Marchionne retires in 2019.

Marchionne said his company will introduce more hybrid cars, including the Maserati Levante SUV. As we know, the company is also bringing out a plug-in version of the Pacifica. In North America, the automaker already sells an all-electric 500 hatchback, although in 2014, Marchionne said that the automaker was losing at least $10,000 on each one it sold.

Despite that unfortunate story, it looks like Fiat may receive another small electric car for its lineup. The model would be sold in Europe, and it’s unclear if it will be a 500 hatch or another vehicle.

Fiat has shied away from EVs in the past, and only time will tell if that will change. Marchionne told Bloomberg he’s “not as convinced as some others are about the fact that electrification is the solution for all of man’s ills,” although he says the company should experiment with the technology.

Source: Bloomberg