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by glitchc 808 days ago
Using an ICE base platform for EVs doesn't make sense, and there is no EV base platform for sale/license. Companies building the EVs are holding their cards tightly to their chests for competitive advantage.
3 comments

> Using an ICE base platform for EVs doesn't make sense,

Kind of. Renault's small sized EVs share parts of the platform as some ICE models (e.g. Clio/Renault 5 E-Tech) which allows them to reduce costs of the EV model. Considering their target audience and market segment (small city-focused EV with city-scale range) the tradeoff is perfectly acceptable.

> and there is no EV base platform for sale/license

How do you know this? Renault for instance are in a pretty specific spot, market wise, and they were trying to merge with Fiat-Chrysler before the latter ended up with PSA (Peugeot, Citroen, Opel) in Stellantis. They have some EV tech, especially on the cheap city-focused side (Dacia Spring, Renault Zoe, Renault 5 E-tech), and would probably be open to collaborating / sharing risks. This is purely conjecture of course.

Also, Subaru managed to license Toyota's EV tech.

There are EV base platforms for sale and license. For example Nio licensees it's platform. 60% of EVs are made/sold in China so that's where you should look for a platform.
Isn't the Subaru Solterra based on the same platform as the Toyota bz4x?