At the Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler opened a big green bag from its new environmental program (ENVI) and pulled out three good, realistic concept projects, one for each division. First, an all-electric sport wagon called the Dodge ZEO (for "zero emissions operation"). It has a minimum range of 250 miles before it needs to be plugged in, and it accelerates from 0-60 in under six seconds. Second, the Chrysler ecoVoyager (show here) a four-door, four passenger vehicle designed to maximize "elegance, simplicity, and serenity." Like the ZEO, it's driven by an electric motor, but also has a hydrogen fuel cell to extend range. Third, a Jeep Renegade with an electric motor powering each axle, and a small diesel engine as a range-extender. That's the best of all possible worlds.
Two other bits of good Chrysler news: The Dodge Ram 1500 pickup will be available as a hybrid in 2010, and -- more important -- Dodge's light-duty pickups will be available with a Cummins turbodiesel within two years. As we've said before in New Energy Watch, there's been a big, untapped market for small- and mid-sized diesel pickups in this country for years. Detroit has been selling such trucks in Europe, in Australia, in Indonesia -- pretty much everywhere but the U.S. Here, they say, there hasn't been enough of a market. This is because Detroit has long taken its cues from the gas-guzzling V8 faithful who come to the car shows and shout for more power, more power, more power. Meanwhile, the rest of us have been forced to buy non-Detroit. Which is fine unless you need a mid-sized diesel pick-up.
Yes, all of these projects should have been started sooner. We should be driving them now. But late is far better than never. As soon as there's a mid-sized American pick-up with a turbodiesel out in the world, whether from Ford, GM, or Chrysler, we'll buy it and run it on B80 in the summer and B20 in the winter. Meanwhile, our Subaru Legacy wagon (made in Indiana), with a trailer hitch, a Thule rack, all-wheel drive, and 112,000 very hard miles on it, can hold out.
~ Doug Logan, New Energy Watch
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