Jeep SUV is fourth model in Chrysler electric prototypes
Written by sanju singh
Monday, 12 January 2009
12 Jan 2009;business-standard.com:Detroit: Chrysler LLC, working to keep pace with General Motors Corp and Toyota Motor Corp, added the Jeep Patriot to its fleet of electric prototype vehicles, bringing the total to four.
The sport-utility vehicle gives the third-largest US automaker another development platform for its goal of producing at least one electric auto in 2010, when GM, Toyota and Nissan Motor Co plan to sell or lease electric models. Chrysler showed versions of a minivan, Jeep Wrangler and sports car on September 23.
Like the minivan and Wrangler, the new Patriot has an onboard gasoline engine to replenish the battery that will drive the wheels. The two-seat sports car, now named the Dodge Circuit, is all electric and will be recharged at an outlet.
“We are well on our way to bringing electric vehicles to our consumers’ garages,” Frank Klegon, Chrysler’s product development chief, said on Sunday in a statement released at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Chrysler said it will have four electric models in North America by 2013, though it hasn’t specified the timing for any specific vehicles.
That plan depends on Chrysler’s restructuring after getting a $4 billion federal loan to avert a cash crunch. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker is counting on new models after a 30 per cent plunge in US sales in 2008 and a first-half loss of at least $1.08 billion. The company is owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP.
The minivan, Wrangler and Patriot are almost identical to the gasoline-powered versions except for the drive system.
Those so-called range-extended electric vehicles will travel as far as 40 miles (64 kilometers) on an initial charge and have a range of 400 miles on a tank of gasoline, Chrysler said. Chrysler projects that the Dodge Circuit will go as far as 200 miles on a charge.
Nissan plans to sell a battery-powered car in 2010, when GM is targeting the introduction of the Chevrolet Volt. Toyota said on Saturday it plans to lease 150 plug-in Prius hybrids in the US this year and will have a battery-only model in 2012.
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