Chrysler LLC roared into the electric car race yesterday, underlining how seriously Detroit is treating the multibillion-dollar effort to develop alternatives to the gasoline engine.
The No. 3 Detroit auto maker joined its larger rival, General Motors Corp., in promising it would begin selling in 2010 a so-called plug-in electric vehicle that combines a battery-powered motor with a small gasoline engine for backup. Chrysler said it may pull ahead of GM and offer an entirely electric sports car that will travel between 240 and 320 kilometres on a single charge.
The Chrysler move comes amid intense lobbying by the Detroit Three for $25-billion (U.S.) in loan guarantees, which they say are crucial to help them develop new technology and retool their plants to assemble the vehicles as the U.S. government's requirements for fuel economy grow much more stringent early in the next decade.
Chrysler is confident the loan guarantees will be approved, but even if they aren't, the electric vehicles are necessary, vice-chairman Tom LaSorda said on a conference call.
"We have to proceed to meet the market needs," Mr. LaSorda said.
One of three vehicles Chrysler showed off yesterday is a plug-in hybrid version of its Town and Country minivan, which is assembled in Windsor, Ont.
If Canadian politicians are interested in landing production of electric vehicles at that plant, they should "look at what the U.S. is doing" with the loan guarantees to back the companies while they develop these vehicles, Mr. LaSorda said.
The production version of GM's four-seater Chevrolet Volt - also a plug-in hybrid or extended-range electric vehicle - was introduced last week on that auto maker's 100th birthday.
The Volt will travel about 65 km on a single electric charge and will be backstopped by a gasoline engine.
All the plug-ins fit a standard North American electrical socket.
The key question for all auto makers in bringing plug-ins or other electric vehicles to market is lowering the cost of the lithium-ion batteries so that the price for drivers is closer to current vehicle prices than the $40,000 estimate some observers are figuring for the Chevrolet Volt.
Chrysler officials would not reveal the price targets for their vehicles, but Mr. LaSorda acknowledged that it will be a key issue when they go on sale.
Customers will not pay $40,000 for vehicle that will only go 65 km on a single charge, even with a gasoline engine backup that extends that range, one U.S. industry source said yesterday.
Nonetheless, the Chrysler effort helps demonstrate that electric-powered vehicles are not a pipe dream, said Brett Smith, assistant director of the manufacturing, engineering and technology group at the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"The most important lesson is that all of these car companies are getting closer to delivering the technology we've been hearing about for some time," Mr. Smith said.
Chrysler, GM and Ford Motor Co. were beaten to the punch by Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. on the first generation of hybrids, which use mainly a gasoline engine backstopped by an electric motor.
But they are fully engaged in the electric battle as the first step toward meeting new fuel economy regulations that require a 40 per cent improvement by 2020 so that vehicles on U.S. roads average 35 miles per gallon.
© The Globe and Mail
