Comments on: Chrysler to Unveil New Extended-Range Electric Car Next Tuesday

By: Roger

Roger — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:39:51 +0000

It’s great to see GM and Chrysler duking it out for the electric car. However, let’s not forget about the Tesla. They came out first and really have a nice electric car. Ok, cost is high but that can turn around in the next couple of years. The Volt is a nice looking car but only good for 40 miles and not those long drives you normally take on vacation. Chrysler on the other hand will go 400 miles (I hope). The Tesla roadster can go 244 miles on a charge. Doesn’t use gasoline!. Only takes 10 minutes to recharge the batteries while the volt will take 24 hours. Why can’t GM and Chrysler do the same?

By: P Schager

P Schager — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:26:22 +0000

Unless GE is moving fast I suspect that Chrysler’s confidence that they can get suitable batteries from this comes from the fact that GM has been working with two vendor groups, one of which is going to be turned down and then will be free to sell their batteries to others. Which leads to why I think GM has reportedly decided which vendor they are going to go with but are keeping it secret a few months. That much more delay before the losing team gets to get down to business with competitors such as Chrysler.

By: jefro

jefro — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:11:08 +0000

I still don’t need the ICE.

Can I yank it out with a simple mod??

By: Geordon

Geordon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:49:20 +0000

Since GM couldn’t deliver on the Volt concept, I won’t hold my breath on the Chrysler, either. But, it does look pretty sweet, compared to the official Chevy Volt.

By: paul

paul — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:51:55 +0000

This is a very good news.

Whoever comes out 1st.

Whoever is selling for $25k.

Whoever makes more than 10k the 1st year (10k is about 2 per dealer).

By: D Lo

D Lo — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:05:42 +0000

Nothing attracts a crowd, like a crowd.

Chrysler is a total disaster so it would be nice to see them get back on solid footing. Like GM, though, many of the recent steps are in the right direction. For example, eliminating all of the redundancy in the dealerships is a good place to start. Reducing total number of models and using similar components to maximize mass production are a few others. I have never considered a Chrysler, but an E-REV would change that.

Maybe Chrysler will have the courage to come up with something like the concept version of the Volt for around 30k?

By: Jackson

Jackson — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:38:52 +0000

I’ve had time to reflect upon my Chrysler misgivings, and must now concede that all of the US manufacturers had a contributing role to the success of the Japanese.

I find the Tesla tie-in intriguing, if they truly follow that model, it means that they are planning to use existing, off the shelf ‘cells’ in their battery. This can only mean a completely different philosophy from GM’s: GM has attempted to make a car & battery with a service life similar to that of an ICE-only car; using advanced, leading edge battery technology (and severely limiting how it is used).

Chrysler/Tesla, on the other hand, may have no plan whatever to extend the life of it’s battery; making it a dealer replacement item every 3 – 4 years. This sounds rugged on the poor car owner, but what if they build in the cost of replacement batteries into the purchase price (as GM has reportedly done simply to hedge it’s bets)? The Chrysler/Tesla battery would be much cheaper than the Volt’s, not only because of off-the-shelf components going into it, but because there’s less incentive to reduce it’s usable capacity for longevity: smaller case, fewer cells = lower cost.

Now what happens four years on from rollout? The state of the art in off-the-shelf lithium-ion cells will have advanced (partly because of the Volt program), accellarating cost-savings for anyone on the four-year replacement/Tesla model: Maybe the third replacement would be unnecessary.

So, if you’re GM, you’re hoping not to “lose” by replacing a Volt battery halfway through the car’s life. If you’re Chrysler/Tesla, you’re hoping to “win” by cutting back on an otherwise-needed third or fourth replacement.

It’s an interesting scenario, and it would be interesting to see how the market responds to this philosophy.

By: Right-Winger

Right-Winger — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:23:32 +0000

Whoever comes out with a “stand-out” car like the volt wins my money. The volt is just a car now, with a high sticker price. If this thing comes out in a very stand-out way, i’ll buy this instead

By: OzoneLevel

OzoneLevel — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:56:58 +0000

If it’s an electric Jeep might be a winner.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:24:15 +0000

Another ugly concept car. Oh well, it fits in real well with Volt and Prius – small, short and dumpy looking with barely any room to carry anything. I’m not impressed.