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Dodge EV sports car, range-extended Town & Country, Wrangler previewedCNBC's Phil Lebeau got a sneak peek at the new EVs Chrysler is developing, and it looks like Auburn Hills is pulling a Tesla, among other things. The yellow Dodge EV you see here is basically an electrified Lotus Europa. Presumably equipped with lithium ion battery power, the Dodge EV has a reported operating range of 150 - 200 miles and can be plugged in to household 110 or 220 outlets. Figure a four-hour charge on the latter, and 8 or so on the former. Zero-to-sixty is said to be under 5 seconds. Like we said, this is basically Chrysler's Tesla, right down to the Lotus-sourced donor vehicle. We'll see the Dodge EV introduced formally later this afternoon, along with range-extended EV versions of the Chrysler Town & Country (can you say, "killer app"?) and Jeep Wrangler. With regard to timing, Chrysler says it would like to have "at least one" of these vehicles on the market by the end of 2010, the unofficial official year of the electric/plug-in car. Look for all three prototypes to head to D.C., where they'll be showcased for Congressional leaders who have a say in whether or not Washington will show Detroit the money they've been asking for.
posted : 10/2/2008 @4:31:23 PM
Chrysler ekes out additional 2 mpg on 2009 minivans

With moms now actually reading EPA fuel economy figures on the window sticker before trying out the dozen cup holders found in most modern minivans, Chrysler went back to the engineering lab and knocked out a few more miles per gallon for its 2009 minivan offerings. Bragging that no other minivan offers better fuel economy than the 2009 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan, the automaker is boasting EPA figures of 17 city / 25 highway for the minivans when equipped with the automaker's 4.0L six-cylinder engine and minivan-first 6-speed automatic. Considering that the original 1984 Chrysler Town and Country achieved 18 city / 21 highway with a 2.6L four-cylinder and three-speed transmission, we've clearly come a long way. To squeeze out the extra miles per gallon, Chrysler tweaked the large 4.0L V6 engine and then changed the ratios on the transmission. With a higher ratio first gear, and smaller steps between the new ratios, the minivans are quicker off the line and the engine doesn't loose as much speed between shifts. The result is a fuel economy improvement of about 8 percent or about 2 mpg. Now, if the engineers could just do something about that minivan stigma...
posted : 9/23/2008 @10:24:39 PM

Chrysler plans to idle minivan plant in St. Louis

Now that General Motors and Ford have completely abandoned the minivan market for good, the American originator of the species faces only Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Kia and soon Volkswagen as manufacturers that also offer competitive choices. Perhaps you'd think that Chrysler would be benefiting as the only domestic automaker currently playing in the segment, but it seems that sales are down this year by 13 percent for the Chrysler Town and Country while the Dodge Grand Caravan is down an alarming 35 percent. High gas prices are the obvious reason why the minivan market is seeing such a harsh downward trend, and likely the culprit behind Chrysler's impending move to idle its St. Louis South minivan plant as early as December, which would leave some 1,500 employees jobless.

Utility vehicles have been the biggest gas-price casualties, and slow sales are said to be forcing the Jefferson Avenue assembly plant in Detroit where the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander are assembled and the Toledo, Ohio North assembly plant which builds the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro into extended shut-downs, as well.

posted : 7/1/2008 @3:42:26 PM
Detroit 2008: Road and Travel names 2008 International Car Of The Year winners

Car Of The Year at 12th annual NAIAS-eve ceremony last night. Honda's newly-ginormous Accord took the coronation on the car side, while Chrysler's revamped Town and Country used its slick new features to win the truck category. RTM's judges are a veritable who's who of heavy-hitting auto journos, including Ann Job, David E. Davis, Jr., Denise McCluggage and Autoblog's own John McElroy. The pundit firepower lends real credence to the selections, even if you don't agree 100%. Results were sorted by JD Power and Associates, and General Motors had the most vehicles named to the overall list. GM was also presented with the first Earth Angel award, honoring the environmentally-friendly efforts of the automaker. The full list of winners is included in RTM's press release, posted after the jump.
posted : 1/15/2008 @4:00:45 PM
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