Chrysler Announces Three EVs, Electric Neighborhood Vehicles

Chrysler has announced plans to produce several electric vehicles in the coming model years. The company says that it will have vehicle programs for its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep lines, and the vehicles will be available to consumers by the end of 2010, in time to go head-to-head with GM's Volt.

The Dodge EV is an all-electric roadster and uses a 200kW electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. According to company reports, the car will do 0-60 in less than 5 seconds, has a top speed of 120 mph and can go 150-200 miles between charges. The car will recharge on either 220 or 110, and will have a recharge time of 4 hours and 8 hours respectively.

The Jeep and Chrysler models are both series gas-electric hybrids with an all-electric range of 40 mph. Like the Dodge EV, the Jeep and Chrysler products will run on a lithium-ion battery pack. The company says that both hybrid vehicles will have a range of about 400 mile between refueling, The Chrysler hybrid will be a minivan, and according to the company, the vehicles have been in development for about a year.

In a separate announcement, Chrysler subsidiary GEM will begin production of a "neighborhood electric vehicle" capable of a 30-mile all-electric drive with a top speed of just 25 mph. The four-seat "Peapod" is expected to be on the road (in at least 40 states) by the end of 2009.

Source: Chrysler
Photo: Chrysler