Tag Archives: Stellantis

News

Stellantis Gives Old EV Batteries a New Mission: Powering Mobility for All

Stellantis is proving that an electric vehicle battery’s life doesn’t end when the car does. Through its circular economy arm, SUSTAINera, the automaker is repurposing high-voltage packs for “second-life” duty—and one of the most compelling examples yet isn’t powering a car, but helping people move in an entirely different way.

Meet AVATHOR ONE, an electric mobility device designed for wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility. Instead of relying on freshly built batteries, AVATHOR ONE runs on modules reclaimed from Stellantis EVs. The packs are collected in Turin, tested, and re-engineered by INTENT S.r.l., a local system integrator. The result: compact 1.4- or 2.8-kWh units that drive the device’s electric heart, backed by a modern battery management system.

Think of it as recycling meets inclusivity. “A second life for batteries, a new freedom of mobility for people,” is more than a slogan here—it’s a practical example of how automakers can merge sustainability and social responsibility without compromising technology.

The project is a local ecosystem done right. Stellantis supplies the used EV batteries. INTENT breaks down, repacks, and reintegrates them. Avathor, a Turin-based startup, builds the device itself, while legendary design house Italdesign shapes the product from its 2019 concept (the WheeM-i) into the market-ready AVATHOR ONE. The collaboration officially launched in April and has already been showcased globally—first at Expo 2025 Osaka, and next at the upcoming Salone Auto Torino.

And AVATHOR ONE isn’t just a feel-good story. It’s part of a much bigger Stellantis strategy to wring maximum value out of its EV batteries. Beyond mobility aids, SUSTAINera has partnered with utilities and battery integrators on large-scale energy storage, including ENEL X’s PIONEER project at Rome Fiumicino Airport. That installation—the largest of its kind in Italy—stores renewable energy, cuts CO₂ emissions by an estimated 16,000 tons over a decade, and shows that repurposed car batteries can scale well beyond niche applications.

The goal is nothing less than a 360-degree approach to EV battery life: Reuse, Repurpose, Remanufacture, and Recycle. In other words, keep these high-voltage packs working as long as possible before they hit the shredder.

For Stellantis, that strategy is both a business model and a statement. The company has seen “second-life” battery demand surge over the last three years, and it’s investing heavily to keep the momentum. If AVATHOR ONE is any indication, the payoff won’t just be measured in carbon savings—but in freedom of movement for people who need it most.

Source: Stellantis

Design

Stellantis Design Studio Brings Automotive Boldness to the High Seas with Windelo Catamarans

Stellantis Design Studio has built its reputation sculpting sheet metal into icons for the road. Now, it’s turning its attention to the open sea. In collaboration with French builder Windelo Catamarans and the naval architects at Barreau-Neuman, the design house has reimagined Windelo’s latest flagships—the Windelo 62 and Windelo 58. The result? Two vessels that merge the muscular stance of a performance car with the sophistication of sustainable, long-range cruising.

At first glance, the design language is familiar: bold shoulders, sleek surfacing, and a dynamic silhouette that looks like it could cut through air just as well as it does water. The hulls of the new Windelo 62 and 58 aren’t simply functional—they’re styled with the same proportion-driven eye Stellantis brings to a performance coupe. That means a vessel that’s not just seaworthy, but striking, with living spaces folded seamlessly into its streamlined form.

The 360 Horizon Cabin: Redefining the View

The centerpiece of this collaboration is the 360 Horizon Cabin concept, a floating-roof design that all but erases boundaries between crew, vessel, and horizon. A hidden glass frame creates uninterrupted views in every direction, while the open cockpit and bridge layout pull passengers into the seascape. Below deck, cabins are infused with the same sense of light and openness, with wider sightlines and better integration between levels.

Out back, a “floating wing” rear deck widens the stance, boosts access to the upper cabin, and floods aft cabins with light. On the bridge, the wide, floating instrument panel isn’t just functional—it’s a sculptural centerpiece, angled toward the helm for ergonomics while cleverly concealing the window frame from outside view. It feels every bit as driver-focused as the cockpit of a modern grand tourer.

Performance Meets Sustainability

Windelo has built its reputation on balancing performance with eco-conscious construction, and this new design doubles down. From lightweight composites to energy-efficient systems, sustainability isn’t a buzzword here—it’s baked into the DNA. Stellantis’s design language amplifies this mission, pairing everyday liveability with performance-driven intent.

“Translating automotive proportion into the marine environment was an inspiring challenge,” said Hugo Nightingale, creative director at Stellantis Design Studio. “The Windelo 62 and 58 capture the perfect synergy between our expertise in pushing design boundaries and Windelo’s commitment to performance and sustainability.”

Fast-Tracked by AI and Holographics

If the design feels cutting-edge, that’s because the process behind it was just as futuristic. Stellantis designers leaned on AI to churn through iterations, then used immersive holographic review tools to refine surfaces and spaces in real time. This accelerated workflow meant that not only the Windelo 62 and 58 took shape quickly, but two more siblings—the Windelo 63 and 59—were designed simultaneously to ensure a cohesive design language across the fleet.

“Working with Stellantis Design Studio has opened new perspectives and challenged the status quo,” said Christophe Barreau of Barreau-Neuman. “Their approach brought a fresh perspective to naval architecture.”

What happens when a global automotive design powerhouse steps off the tarmac and onto the deck? You get a catamaran that looks as bold slicing through the waves as any Stellantis concept car does pulling up to Pebble Beach. The Windelo 62 and 58 aren’t just sailboats—they’re a manifesto on how design can elevate every corner of mobility, whether it rolls on asphalt or rides the wind.

Source: Stellantis

News

Stellantis Opens Brazil’s First Car Dismantling Wonderland — And It’s Surprisingly Cool

Some car stories involve fire-breathing V12s. Others involve Nürburgring lap times, questionable hairstyles, and Hammond falling off something.
This one… involves taking cars apart. And before you nod off, stay with me — because Stellantis has just done something in Brazil that’s both clever and, dare I say, rather brilliant.

In Osasco, São Paulo, Stellantis has opened its very first Vehicle Dismantling Center. On the face of it, that sounds like a glorified scrapyard. The sort of place where your old hatchback goes to die alongside a mountain of twisted bumpers, faded hubcaps, and a smell that says “never open that barrel”.

But this isn’t your average breaker’s yard. Oh no. This is the automotive equivalent of a Michelin-starred kitchen — except instead of julienning carrots, they’re stripping down dead cars with surgical precision, reusing every last bolt, and making the planet a little happier in the process.

The scale is impressive: R$13 million invested, 150 jobs on the way, and the ability to strip down 8,000 vehicles a year. Cars come in as total write-offs or tired old veterans, get decontaminated (goodbye, dodgy fluids), and then pass along a dismantling line where technicians play mechanical triage. Healthy parts are cleaned with biodegradable products, tagged, and given a shiny new life — either sold in-store from a funky reused sales container, or online via Mercado Livre and Stellantis’ upcoming e-commerce platform.

Everything is logged, tracked, and made completely legal via Brazil’s vehicle authority, so you’re not buying a dodgy alternator from a bloke in a shed who swears it “came off a low-mileage Corolla.” Stellantis even issues dismantling certificates, listing up to 49 traceable parts per car.

And nothing is wasted. Oils, fuels, steel, copper, aluminium — all get recycled. Stellantis claims 100% of the materials are “correctly processed.” That’s not just marketing fluff; in a country where 2 million vehicles reach the end of their lives every year but only 1.5% are disposed of responsibly, this is an overdue gear change.

It’s part of their wider Circular Economy plan — a sort of automotive reincarnation cycle. There’s also a Vehicle Reconditioning Center in Betim, which breathes life back into used cars until they’re shiny, roadworthy, and fit to be sold like certified pre-owned gems. Plus, there’s the parts remanufacturing side of things, all wrapped up in Stellantis’ “4R” strategy: Remanufacture, Repair, Reuse, Recycle.

Yes, it’s not a new hypercar launch. But in a world running low on resources and running high on landfill, turning an old wreck into a source of usable, affordable parts makes a lot more sense than sending it off to rust quietly behind a fence.

So next time you total your car (hopefully not by trying to drift a Fiat Toro in a supermarket car park), it might just end up here — cleaned, catalogued, and reborn as someone else’s perfectly working spare part.

It’s car culture, just not as we usually celebrate it. Less smoke and noise, more brains and purpose. Clarkson might call it “worthy,” Hammond would probably want to buy a gearbox from it, and May… well, he’d probably want to work there.

Source: Stellantis