Chrysler announces electric vehicles

Today, Chrysler announced three electric vehicles, one of which is set to debut at the end of 2010, about the same time as the Chevy Volt. So what vehicles are they offering and how will they go about getting to that extremely ambitious goal?

The first vehicle is the Dodge EV – the car is 100% electric like the Tesla Roadster. And similar to Tesla, it appears that Chrysler is using a Lotus basis to form their EV (the powertrain for the Dodge EV was in the Lotus-made body). The Telsa Roaster is based on the Elise, while the Dodge EV looks like its based off of the Lotus Europa model. The vehicle gets approximately 150-200 miles, and has a top speed of over 120 miles per hour.

Following that was the introduction of the Jeep EV, based off the Wrangler, and the Town and Country EV Minivan. Both models are range extended electric vehicles (RE-EVs), and get 40 miles from battery power, and the rest of the 360 mile range from the electric generator that runs on gasoline.

Two conspicuous details that were missing from today’s unveiling was price of the three models, as well as the battery pack details. Pricing can expect to be high – because Chrysler has taken two existing models and thrown in batteries and an electric drivetrain, the aerodynamic performance that the Volt was tuned for will not be there, and larger, heavier batteries will be required when compared to the 16kW battery pack the Volt is using.

Chrysler specified the battery pack for the EV Minivan at 22kWh of which, 11kWh is usable if they use the same techniques as GM to extend the cycle life of the battery, which provides for an average consumption of 275Wh/mi, compared to the Volt’s 200Wh. Granted, the Minivan can carry 7 people to the Volt’s 4, but its important to note that regardless of how the cars are configured, the batteries will cost more than what GM has to put in the Volt. I would estimate this battery pack to cost around $15,000 (given the Volt’s estimated cost of $10,000 for 16kWh). This would probably have a starting price of $45,000 before any government rebates or incentives, and before any crazy dealer markup.

For the Jeep, Chrysler’s goal is to have in-wheel electric motors, however those appear to be a bit further out, when the first generation has standard mechanical linkage from the electric motor to the wheels. Likewise, as the heavier duty vehicle in the EV lineup, the Jeep Wrangler is rated at 27kWh for the battery (closer to $17,500 based on the Volt’s battery price), and doesn’t quite hit the 100mph top speed – the brochure says “more than 90MPH”. It will also hit 400 miles total range, with an estimated 10 gallon fuel tank.

GM and now Chrysler have announced EVs, and Ford looks lonely over there in the corner. What will they counter with? Do they bring us the RE-EV Escape? (YES PLEASE) The small SUV and crossover categories seem to be the only workable niches that are not covered by the four electric vehicles unveiled so far (I wouldn’t expect a large SUV or luxury sedan models out until the battery costs are more managable).

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