Plug-In Chrysler Minivan Will Hit Market in '15

Looks like Chrysler is set to release a plug-in hybrid minivan? That would be ideal, thought I'm not sure Chrysler is committed enough to EVs to avoid screwing it up. My guess would be an ICE that spins up under pretty much all acceleration. Otherwise, for a car that large and heavy, it would have to be a very powerful motor.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20141006/OEM05/141009866/hybrid-chrysler-minivan-will-hit-market-in-15-a-year-early" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If this approximates the Chrysler Town and Country plug-in hybrid from the Chrysler ENVI development skunkworks, I'm in. Our 2013 Ford C-Max Energi's 20 mile AER has been adequate for us. It's the (lack of) cargo space that has not worked out so well.

Wonder what month they'll come in. Jul (or so) like normal new model year cars or December ?

Outlander PHEV is apparently out in "fall" - so if this comes in earlier, it can get some early sales.

evnow said:

Wonder what month they'll come in. Jul (or so) like normal new model year cars or December ?

Outlander PHEV is apparently out in "fall" - so if this comes in earlier, it can get some early sales.

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Even if the Outlander comes out first, this has a third row. If I buy a gigantic car, not having a third row somewhat of the worst of both worlds: it can cary as many people as my Leaf, but it's way harder to park and maneuver in a city.

On a number of levels this could be the ideal vehicle for electrification. Maximum versatility, in a form factor where you aren't competing against cars that already gets good mileage, the problem the volt and others face.

Sigh, why did it have to be Chrysler though? The perennial bottom of the heap in the automotive world.

LTLFTcomposite said:

Sigh, why did it have to be Chrysler though? The perennial bottom of the heap in the automotive world.

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Who even makes a minivan these days that we would consider competent with respect to EVs? The Nissan Quest seems to be about it, but as far as I can tell, Nissan doesn't do hybrids. A Quest EV would be awesome, but it would need a hell of a pack to make it any good at what minivans are good for: road trips.

I was hopeful Honda would get on the stick with a PHEV Odyssey. Forget road trips on electric, that's still a long ways off to be cost effective, just get me that 40 miles of daily AER.

pkulak said:

as far as I can tell, Nissan doesn't do hybrids.

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Actually, Nissan sells two hybrids in the USA right now: the Pathfinder Hybrid (with a supercharged ICE) and its twin the Infiniti QX60 Hybrid. They seem to have even less advertising than the Leaf.

RonDawg said:

pkulak said:

as far as I can tell, Nissan doesn't do hybrids.

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Actually, Nissan sells two hybrids in the USA right now: the Pathfinder Hybrid (with a supercharged ICE) and its twin the Infiniti QX60 Hybrid. They seem to have even less advertising than the Leaf.

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I was under the impression that they bought the powertrains for those from Toyota.

Kia would be another company that could possibly do it. They make an electric, a hybrid (the Sonata, though I don't know if it's 100% theirs) and the new Sedona is a damn-nice van. It even has an around-view monitor thingy, which I thought was patented to hell by Nissan.

pkulak said:

I was under the impression that they bought the powertrains for those from Toyota.

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None of the articles I can find mentions anything about Toyota having any sort of input, unlike with the Altima Hybrid. The Pathfinder Hybrid uses a "one motor, two clutch" system, I'm not sure if that is enough to differentiate it from Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive.

pkulak said:

Even if the Outlander comes out first, this has a third row. If I buy a gigantic car, not having a third row somewhat of the worst of both worlds: it can cary as many people as my Leaf, but it's way harder to park and maneuver in a city.

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Yes - but for some reason CUVs are a lot more popular than vans. Infact, the largest segment.

In sep :

CUVs : 290k
vans : 67k

evnow said:

pkulak said:

Even if the Outlander comes out first, this has a third row. If I buy a gigantic car, not having a third row somewhat of the worst of both worlds: it can cary as many people as my Leaf, but it's way harder to park and maneuver in a city.

Click to expand...

Yes - but for some reason CUVs are a lot more popular than vans. Infact, the largest segment.

In sep :

CUVs : 290k
vans : 67k

Click to expand...

Just proof that people shop for looks over functionality. Even with major purchases like cars.

RonDawg said:

pkulak said:

I was under the impression that they bought the powertrains for those from Toyota.

Click to expand...

None of the articles I can find mentions anything about Toyota having any sort of input, unlike with the Altima Hybrid. The Pathfinder Hybrid uses a "one motor, two clutch" system, I'm not sure if that is enough to differentiate it from Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Click to expand...

The Pathfinder Hybrid is very different to the Toyota system
Pathfinder Hybrid is about 15kW, kinda like gmeassist but capable of electric only use at high speed.

key feature is the miller cycle motor (ie supercharged atkinson cycle)
its basically a V6 replacement for premium cars.

Thank you ydnas7.