STLA Medium revealed on same day as 2024 Hornet R/T

Stepping on its own press releases, Stellantis today released the STLA Medium platform, which will host cars and crossovers from just about every STLA brand—most likely including Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler, and possibly even Ram.

STLA Medium is, in short, a global platform; it can handle compact and midsize cars and crossovers (C and D segments), potentially replacing everything from the Renegade to the Cherokee, or from Neon to Stratus/Sebring. Stellantis has 26 nameplates that could be covered by STLA Medium, and has the factory capacity to make two million vehicles per year on the platform this year.

The first STLA Medium vehicles are launching this year, and will likely be BEVs; STLA Medium is one of four global BEV platforms announced in July 2021 (suggesting that it is, as many have already speculated, essentially a modified Peugeot platform). Propulsion will be FWD or AWD—the latter using a second electric drive unit in the rear.

Vehicles built on this platform will deliver 310 miles of range on the standard battery, and up to 435 miles with the Performance Pack (500 and 700 km) using the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure. Batteries will go up to 98 kWh; the power architecture is set at 400 volts. Consumption can be less than 14 kWh/100 km, best in class efficiency; while charging can go from 20% to 80% in 27 minutes (2.4 kWh/minute).

The platforms will have different “top hats,” like body-on-frame cars, to allow for similar chassis in sedan, hatch, and crossover formats.

Power output will be 160-285 kW (215 to 382 hp, using Stellpower calculations). The wheelbase will range from 2.7 to 2.9 meters (around 108 inches), with length from 4.3 to 4.9 meters (around 170 to 193 inches). Ground clearance will peak at over 220 mm (8.7 inches) for off-road capability. Wheels can be up to 750 mm (30 inches).

The battery pack is a modular single-layer unit which is designed to maximize interior space, ride, and handling, with a low center of gravity. All aspects of the vehicle, from air conditioning to steering, were designed to reduce energy use; the actual vehicles will have lightweight and rigid materials. The dimensions of the battery pack are the same regardless of Standard or Performance options, with common tray and cooling designs. The company plans to share three scalable electric drive modules among its front-drive, rear-drive, AWD, and hybrid vehicles.

STLA Medium has provisions for future battery chemistries, including nickel- and cobalt-free varieties, and solid-state batteries such as Factorial’s, for future-proofing.

Ironically, Stellantis chose to reveal STLA Medium on the same day as the 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T, which is one of the cars it will eventually replace. The start date for North American production has not yet been announced, but it is likely to be at least a year after the European debut.

Ok so anyone who has ever seen any of my articles and posts already knows I’m big on Mopar Performance. When I read this article about the STLA: Medium platform and saw the segment breakdown, one of my first thoughts was the return of the small Mopar performance vehicles. While the article mentioned vehicles like the Neon, Stratus and Sebring, my mind went straight to the return of the Dodge Dart. To me, the last Dodge Dart was a car that had so much untapped potential is was actually sad to me what Dodge left on the table with it. To me, the STLA: Medium platform could actually revise the Dart and make it something awesome. A midsize performance sedan that could actually rival a car like the Acura TLX Type S while being a complete BEV performance sedan would actually be quite an awesome vehicle. Another thing to think about with that is EV performance. Granted the estimated max numbers in this article say 382hp, but nothing about torque. While that might not sound super impressive to some, the current 5.7L Hemi in the Challenger and Charger put out 370hp and 395lb-ft of torque, which isn’t exactly slow by any means. We know that EVs have instant and other performance advantage standpoints over ICE vehicles so even at 382hp, what kind of torque would a dual motor setup be able to provide. To put that HP number into perspective, Think of the Kia Stinger GT AWD with the 3.3L Twin turbo engine. The Stinger produces 365hp and 376lb-ft of torque and yet it can beat a 460hp Mustang GT in a drag race and other performance figures as well. Not to mention there have been videos of single motor Tesla Model-3 cars besting Mustang GT’s and they have only 283hp/302tq. To take a STLA: Medium platform car, give it over 380hp with 400+ lb-ft of torque (I’m thinking more like 426hp/420lb-ft to be honest, because it’s Dodge and ironically, if Dodge were to utilize a 318Kw total output dual EDM setup, which pays homage to the Iconic 318cu V8 small block, that roughly translates to 426hp which I don’t have to explain what the numbers 426 means to ANY Mopar fan out there), AWD, an “E-RUPT” powertrain, performance tuned chassis and suspension, throw in some SRT/ Direct Connection goodies, a Fratzonic “exhaust” system and all of the other things Dodge is known to do, a few appearance packages, even bring the Demon back to the Dart name (remember, the Demon was a small-block 340 car, not a Hemi car) maybe a GT and GTS package and even a Dart Swinger package and Dodge could have another performance entry in the EV segment. Not to mention 426hp/420lb-ft of torque would have the EV producing almost identical numbers to the 6.1L Hemi V8 that started the SRT8 segment back in the early 2000’s, besting the 6.1L V8 beasts by 1hp. However, I may be thinking small on the torque numbers and the reason I say that is this. Currently the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT performance edition runs on a 93kWh battery pack, and the STLA: Medium platform is said to run on a 98kWh battery pack. Granted I’m not truly knowledgeable on how all this Kw to hp stuff is calculated or converted with battery packs and all of that but the Mach-E GT performance pack produces an amazing 634lb-ft of torque from it’s 358Kw dual motor electric powertrain so I don’t even know if saying a 318Kw dual motor setup producing even 600lb-ft of torque would be out of the question, but if not, that is truly modern muscle car levels of performance and if they do the chassis tuning to give an AWD vehicle more of a sporty RWD-biased feel, then that’s definitely a win and it would still have plenty of room between itself and the electric Charger Daytona-340 so they wouldn’t be stepping on each other’s toes. While I understand that alot of the publications for the STLA: Medium platform all say power output will be between 160-285kW, we know the Dodge brand always pushes the envelope and a 318kW system truly would not be a far stretch for the Dodge brand. Also looking back from when Stellantis made their EV day presentation, there is a slide that clearly shows a diagram with the SLTA: Medium EDM range to be from 125kW to 180Kw. Letting the google calculator do the math for me, 180kw is equal to 241hp, that’s just from a single motor. With a Dual motor setup, that number should double to 360kW or roughly 482hp. While anything over 340kW would be intruding into the Charger Daytona 340’s territory, we can clearly see that a 318kW setup is completely doable for the STLA: Medium platform. Even if it’s only available as a Direct Connection “Demon” package specifically for the Dodge Dart. I could also see the brand having a Direct Connection “Demon T/A” package (like they had for the Challenger) with this 318kW system as a more Track focused variant of the Dart Demon, which would be amazing as well. a Louder Fratzonic system, lightweight wheels, a bit more carbon fiber, including a carbon fiber bucket like what’s on the Charger Daytona concept, the 2+2 seating arrangement, improved aerodynamics, bigger brakes with carbon ceramic rotors, wider, stickier tires and all of that kind of stuff. Everything that would make the Dart even more competitive on the track while still being street legal.
I could truly see this car being a baby “Charger Daytona” in a lot of ways and by that I mean using alot of the same design language and equipment that we see on the Daytona concept car. Think about the ’71 Dart Demon for a moment. It was a sleek design, not too far off of what the Charger Daytona concept is now and that is supposed to be coming in four doors, not two so it’s just a big gran-coupe (like the BMW 8-Series). The R-wing design gives the Daytona concept that big square grille look of a ’69 Charger, which could easily be used to mimic the front end of a ’71 Dart Demon including the center post where the illuminated Fratzonic emblem sits. Acura just recently did something similar with the TLX and the newly redesigned Acura Integra. The Charger Daytona and Dart would really be no different. A liftback hatch hidden in the sweeping fastback body lines leading to an Iconic taillamp design with a black spoiler on the trunk would definitely give a new Dart a compelling appearance and pay homage to the muscle car of old in a completely modern way. Giving the quad coupe “Dart” a series of drive modes such as drift mode, burnout mode, donut mode and all of those things would definitely help the car feel a bit more like an American performance vehicle and could actually challenge the Current Mustang and become a part of a next generation “Electric Pony Car” segment, one that has really been dominated by the Mustang and Camaro for so many years. (Challenger is more muscle car than pony car as it’s bigger and usually has a bigger v8 engine than the Mustang and also more focused on genuine straight line performance). Also with a 106-114″ wheel base, the STLA: Medium platform would actually set a performance oriented vehicle squarely in the size frame of an actual Pony Car (110″ or less). To me, that’s what I could see for a Dodge STLA: Medium four-door car. Something that would still be 100% Dodge and still 100% EV. it would be practical and performance leading in it’s segment all while helping the performance brand stay completely relevant.

I do believe the STLA: Medium platform is going to be huge as far as the volume selling platform across the entire STLA portfolio. The EV auto industry is introducing alot of new segments such as these “Crossover sedans” such as the Toyota Crown and even performance electric crossovers such as the Kia EV6 GT or even the Mustang Mach E GT Performance crossover. The EV6 GT has a 114.2″ wheelbase and the Mach-E has a 117.5″ Wheelbase. While a dual 180KW setup wouldn’t be enough to best the 571hp of the Kia EV6 GT as it only produces 482hp, it would out-muscle the Mach E GT performance edition’s 460hp by a considerable margin and if it could out muscle the 630lb-ft of torque the Mach-E has, a low-riding hot rod Dodge STLA; Medium crossover with the Magnum name could be an awesome competitor to the Mach E GT Performance Edition, but riding lower more like the EV6 GT. Seeing that the next-gen STLA:Large crossover is slated to wear the Stealth name and take over the current Durango’s spot as the Durango is rumored to move to the STLA:Frame platform, The Magnum would be perfectly at home on the Medium platform with a generous 114″ wheelbase. Obviously, I’m truly just focused on what could be of this platform under the Dodge umbrella as none of this would work for the Chrysler or Jeep brands. For those brands, a Chrysler Lebaron that would rival the likes of the Genesis G70 sedan would be fitting, although for the Jeep Brand a new Jeep Compass Rallye would actually be quite cool as a sporty, hot handling fast Jeep performance crossover with the 318kW performance setup. But those are just my thoughts.

1 thought on “STLA Medium revealed on same day as 2024 Hornet R/T”

Van Bond, Jr.

July 5, 2023 at 4:42 pm

Ok so anyone who has ever seen any of my articles and posts already knows I’m big on Mopar Performance. When I read this article about the STLA: Medium platform and saw the segment breakdown, one of my first thoughts was the return of the small Mopar performance vehicles. While the article mentioned vehicles like the Neon, Stratus and Sebring, my mind went straight to the return of the Dodge Dart. To me, the last Dodge Dart was a car that had so much untapped potential is was actually sad to me what Dodge left on the table with it. To me, the STLA: Medium platform could actually revise the Dart and make it something awesome. A midsize performance sedan that could actually rival a car like the Acura TLX Type S while being a complete BEV performance sedan would actually be quite an awesome vehicle. Another thing to think about with that is EV performance. Granted the estimated max numbers in this article say 382hp, but nothing about torque. While that might not sound super impressive to some, the current 5.7L Hemi in the Challenger and Charger put out 370hp and 395lb-ft of torque, which isn’t exactly slow by any means. We know that EVs have instant and other performance advantage standpoints over ICE vehicles so even at 382hp, what kind of torque would a dual motor setup be able to provide. To put that HP number into perspective, Think of the Kia Stinger GT AWD with the 3.3L Twin turbo engine. The Stinger produces 365hp and 376lb-ft of torque and yet it can beat a 460hp Mustang GT in a drag race and other performance figures as well. Not to mention there have been videos of single motor Tesla Model-3 cars besting Mustang GT’s and they have only 283hp/302tq. To take a STLA: Medium platform car, give it over 380hp with 400+ lb-ft of torque (I’m thinking more like 426hp/420lb-ft to be honest, because it’s Dodge and ironically, if Dodge were to utilize a 318Kw total output dual EDM setup, which pays homage to the Iconic 318cu V8 small block, that roughly translates to 426hp which I don’t have to explain what the numbers 426 means to ANY Mopar fan out there), AWD, an “E-RUPT” powertrain, performance tuned chassis and suspension, throw in some SRT/ Direct Connection goodies, a Fratzonic “exhaust” system and all of the other things Dodge is known to do, a few appearance packages, even bring the Demon back to the Dart name (remember, the Demon was a small-block 340 car, not a Hemi car) maybe a GT and GTS package and even a Dart Swinger package and Dodge could have another performance entry in the EV segment. Not to mention 426hp/420lb-ft of torque would have the EV producing almost identical numbers to the 6.1L Hemi V8 that started the SRT8 segment back in the early 2000’s, besting the 6.1L V8 beasts by 1hp. However, I may be thinking small on the torque numbers and the reason I say that is this. Currently the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT performance edition runs on a 93kWh battery pack, and the STLA: Medium platform is said to run on a 98kWh battery pack. Granted I’m not truly knowledgeable on how all this Kw to hp stuff is calculated or converted with battery packs and all of that but the Mach-E GT performance pack produces an amazing 634lb-ft of torque from it’s 358Kw dual motor electric powertrain so I don’t even know if saying a 318Kw dual motor setup producing even 600lb-ft of torque would be out of the question, but if not, that is truly modern muscle car levels of performance and if they do the chassis tuning to give an AWD vehicle more of a sporty RWD-biased feel, then that’s definitely a win and it would still have plenty of room between itself and the electric Charger Daytona-340 so they wouldn’t be stepping on each other’s toes. While I understand that alot of the publications for the STLA: Medium platform all say power output will be between 160-285kW, we know the Dodge brand always pushes the envelope and a 318kW system truly would not be a far stretch for the Dodge brand. Also looking back from when Stellantis made their EV day presentation, there is a slide that clearly shows a diagram with the SLTA: Medium EDM range to be from 125kW to 180Kw. Letting the google calculator do the math for me, 180kw is equal to 241hp, that’s just from a single motor. With a Dual motor setup, that number should double to 360kW or roughly 482hp. While anything over 340kW would be intruding into the Charger Daytona 340’s territory, we can clearly see that a 318kW setup is completely doable for the STLA: Medium platform. Even if it’s only available as a Direct Connection “Demon” package specifically for the Dodge Dart. I could also see the brand having a Direct Connection “Demon T/A” package (like they had for the Challenger) with this 318kW system as a more Track focused variant of the Dart Demon, which would be amazing as well. a Louder Fratzonic system, lightweight wheels, a bit more carbon fiber, including a carbon fiber bucket like what’s on the Charger Daytona concept, the 2+2 seating arrangement, improved aerodynamics, bigger brakes with carbon ceramic rotors, wider, stickier tires and all of that kind of stuff. Everything that would make the Dart even more competitive on the track while still being street legal.
I could truly see this car being a baby “Charger Daytona” in a lot of ways and by that I mean using alot of the same design language and equipment that we see on the Daytona concept car. Think about the ’71 Dart Demon for a moment. It was a sleek design, not too far off of what the Charger Daytona concept is now and that is supposed to be coming in four doors, not two so it’s just a big gran-coupe (like the BMW 8-Series). The R-wing design gives the Daytona concept that big square grille look of a ’69 Charger, which could easily be used to mimic the front end of a ’71 Dart Demon including the center post where the illuminated Fratzonic emblem sits. Acura just recently did something similar with the TLX and the newly redesigned Acura Integra. The Charger Daytona and Dart would really be no different. A liftback hatch hidden in the sweeping fastback body lines leading to an Iconic taillamp design with a black spoiler on the trunk would definitely give a new Dart a compelling appearance and pay homage to the muscle car of old in a completely modern way. Giving the quad coupe “Dart” a series of drive modes such as drift mode, burnout mode, donut mode and all of those things would definitely help the car feel a bit more like an American performance vehicle and could actually challenge the Current Mustang and become a part of a next generation “Electric Pony Car” segment, one that has really been dominated by the Mustang and Camaro for so many years. (Challenger is more muscle car than pony car as it’s bigger and usually has a bigger v8 engine than the Mustang and also more focused on genuine straight line performance). Also with a 106-114″ wheel base, the STLA: Medium platform would actually set a performance oriented vehicle squarely in the size frame of an actual Pony Car (110″ or less). To me, that’s what I could see for a Dodge STLA: Medium four-door car. Something that would still be 100% Dodge and still 100% EV. it would be practical and performance leading in it’s segment all while helping the performance brand stay completely relevant.

I do believe the STLA: Medium platform is going to be huge as far as the volume selling platform across the entire STLA portfolio. The EV auto industry is introducing alot of new segments such as these “Crossover sedans” such as the Toyota Crown and even performance electric crossovers such as the Kia EV6 GT or even the Mustang Mach E GT Performance crossover. The EV6 GT has a 114.2″ wheelbase and the Mach-E has a 117.5″ Wheelbase. While a dual 180KW setup wouldn’t be enough to best the 571hp of the Kia EV6 GT as it only produces 482hp, it would out-muscle the Mach E GT performance edition’s 460hp by a considerable margin and if it could out muscle the 630lb-ft of torque the Mach-E has, a low-riding hot rod Dodge STLA; Medium crossover with the Magnum name could be an awesome competitor to the Mach E GT Performance Edition, but riding lower more like the EV6 GT. Seeing that the next-gen STLA:Large crossover is slated to wear the Stealth name and take over the current Durango’s spot as the Durango is rumored to move to the STLA:Frame platform, The Magnum would be perfectly at home on the Medium platform with a generous 114″ wheelbase. Obviously, I’m truly just focused on what could be of this platform under the Dodge umbrella as none of this would work for the Chrysler or Jeep brands. For those brands, a Chrysler Lebaron that would rival the likes of the Genesis G70 sedan would be fitting, although for the Jeep Brand a new Jeep Compass Rallye would actually be quite cool as a sporty, hot handling fast Jeep performance crossover with the 318kW performance setup. But those are just my thoughts.

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