Chrysler says it bring an electric version of the upcoming Fiat 500 to market in the United States in 2012, and plans to conduct tests of a plug-in hybrid Ram over the next three years.
Toronto-area battery research firm Electrovaya was selected to provide the lithium-ion batteries for the plug-in hybrid Ram test, which will be funded by a $48-million (U.S.) U.S. Department of Energy grant as part of its massive $2.4-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Vehicle Electrification program.
These announcements make very good environmental smoke screens for the fact that Chrysler won't market a gas-electric version of its popular Ram 1500, a move confirmed along with the 500EV and Ram PHEV announcement this week.
The company had previously pledged to market the hybrid Ram pickup soon after the release of the Chrysler Aspen two-mode hybrid in Canada back in mid-2008, later pushing that back to 2011. "The Ram HEV is not a feasible business case at this time," a Chrysler Canada spokesperson said this week. Chrysler is the third-largest company by sales so far this year in Canada, and the only auto maker in the top five without a hybrid offering after Aspen Hybrid production ceased last year.
The spokesman would not confirm whether the 500EV would eventually make its way to Canada. "The initial offering will be in the U.S. only - we have not announced any other areas of distribution," nor would he confirm the planned range, sales or price, although the firm did say that it expected the 500EV to be competitive with other electric offerings planned to debut around the same time, which means the Nissan Leaf compact hatchback.
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