Chrysler PHEVs on the “Hot Streets” of Yuma
 

City of Yuma’s fuel consumption is about to fall a touch.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - April 22, 2012

3 Chrysler PHEV Town and Country Minivans (non PHEV shown) will be supplied to the City of Yuma, AZ as part of an electrified transportation demonstration project.

Chrysler and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) delivered three Chrysler Town & Country plug-in hybrid minivans to the City of Yuma, Ariz.

Temperatures exceeding 104 degrees are not uncommon during June, July and August. All the while it is 104 + there already today :eek:

Chrysler’s partnership with Yuma is one of several that will see a total of 25 PHEV minivans subjected to a range of driving cycles.

Each plug-in hybrid minivans is equipped with an E85-compatible (do we really even need to hear about that garbage fuel?) and the 3.6L Pentastar 6 engine mated to a front-wheel-drive, two-mode hybrid transmission.

Providing the electric propulsion is a liquid-cooled 12.1 kWh Li-Ion pack that together provide a total range of about 700-miles. Charge times are two-to-four hours at level 2 and eight-to-fifteen hours on 110 volts.

We know little about the PHEV minivan specs or its capabilities but hopefully someday we’ll have an opportunity to do just that. Finding a RAM PHEV to drive has turned out to be all but impossible according to Chrysler reps but there is always hope this one will make its way to a journalist team near you if it has not already been provided already?

Early Conclusions

At approximately $1 Million USD per copy with Chrysler chipping in 60% of the projects total cost, we will not see many of these on the road and doubtful we will see any in the hands of the consumer anytime soon.

In addition, the 3.6L mated to a Two-Mode is not going to provide anywhere near Prius family like fuel economy. While on the plug however, it should prove to be as energy efficient as anything else and with a lot more room to boot.