Now that Chrysler has heard that it's likely to get an extra shot of green from the Feds, development of its green Dodge EV can continue on as planned. Fortunately for us, spy shooters have managed to snag some shots of the new electric sports car out testing late at night. Although the ISO has been boosted through the roof in an effort to capture the cars in the dark sans head lamps, we can clearly see that Chrysler's been busy adding Dodge-specific styling elements to the Lotus Europa bodyshell that was used for the EV concept. The front-end of the car now looks like it rolled out of the Pentastar styling studios with the corporate crosshair grille present and accounted for, which makes the EV look more like the Demon concept from Geneva in '07. With the help of Lotus, which is donating its engineering expertise to Chrysler's project, and UQM Technologies, which is supplying the electric powertrain, Chrysler may actually be able to shock the world by bringing an electric sportscar to market in 2010.
As we learned this morning from Bob Nardelli's appearance on CNBC, Chrysler LLC is getting into the electric vehicle game and plans to have something on the market by the end of 2010 – the same time GM plans to start selling the 2011 Chevy Volt. The vehicle in question will be one of these three EVs, all of which are powered fully or in part by electrons.
The first and perhaps most exciting is the Dodge EV, which is an all-electric sports car like the Tesla Roadster. In fact, Chrysler seems to have taken a few pages from Tesla's playbook, which is evident by the fact that its EV is wearing the body of a Lotus Europa at the moment. Lotus also worked with Tesla on the development of its Roadster and is probably offering its expertise in electronics and lightweight vehicle design to any automaker willing to pay for it.
Chrysler says the Dodge EV uses a 200kW or 268 equivalent horsepower electric motor mated to an "advanced lithium-ion battery pack and an integrated power control module". Peak torque is 480 lb-ft, which helps propel the lightweight Europ... Dodge EV to 60 mph in less than five seconds and a 120 mph top speed. Its range is pegged at between 150 to 200 miles with recharge times of 8 hours for 110-volt outlets and four hours using a 220-volt.
CNBC'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.
