The Chrysler Group is taking its first baby steps in the plug-in hybrid arena with the launch of an evaluation program that will see around 140 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) being supplied to selected cities and states across the USA.
On Tuesday, August 2, Chrysler will deliver 14 Ram 1500 PHEV prototypes to the City of San Francisco as part of a three-year assessment program.
“The city [San Francisco] will evaluate the vehicles in real-world driving conditions and report regularly to Chrysler Group LLC all driving and charging experiences with the demonstration vehicles,” the Detroit automaker said in a statement.
The Ram 1500 PHEV combines a liquid-cooled 12.9kWhr lithium ion battery pack and a 6.6 kilowatt (kW) on-board charger with a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine featuring a Multiple Displacement System (MDS) and a two-mode hybrid transmission.
Chrysler says that the vehicles are part of a pure demonstration program and that there are no plans for a production version of the PHEV Ram 1500 truck at this time.
Aside from the Ram pickup truck, the Detroit automaker is also developing a similar fleet of 25 Town & Country minivans with plug-in hybrid technology for demonstration and evaluation purposes.
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