CHRYSLER aims to produce electric drive cars across its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep ranges by 2010. The US based car producer aims to have test vehicles on US roads in specific duties for 2009 followed by wider scale production for consumer use the following year.

Chrysler said that it is well into the development of advanced, production-intent electric vehicles, and that it will apply electric-drive technology to its front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and body-on-frame four-wheel drive platforms in the next several years.

At its headquarters in Detroit, Chrysler revealed its electric-drive prototypes, Dodge EV, Jeep EV and Chrysler EV and has demonstrated the driving performance and capability of each.

The development of Chrysler’s Electric Vehicles and Range-extended Electric Vehicles is led by the company’s in-house organisation that was formed to focus on electric-drive production vehicles and related advanced technologies. The company said that the development of electric-drive systems for future Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles is maturing quickly.

Chrysler’s Electric Vehicles use just three primary components. These include an electric motor to drive the wheels, an advanced lithium-ion battery system to power the electric-drive motor and a controller that manages energy flow. The electric-drive system is being developed for front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and body-on-frame four-wheel drive vehicle applications.

This technology provides customers with a vehicle that has zero exhaust emissions and a 240km to 320km (150 to 200 mile) driving range far exceeding most daily commuting distances. Chrysler claims that their electric vehicles deliver performance and utility.

The range-extended electric vehicle combines the electric-drive components of the electric vehicle with a small petrol engine and integrated electric generator to produce additional energy to power the electric-drive system when needed. Chrysler claims that this provides the positive attributes of an Electric Vehicle with the driving range equivalent to today’s petrol -powered vehicles, with no compromises in performance.

The vehicles being used in the project include the Dodge EV, a two-passenger rear-wheel drive sports car that marries high performance with zero exhaust emissions. The other two models are a Jeep EV based on the Jeep Wrangler and the Chrysler EV based on the Chrysler Voyager Grand Tourer.

Caption: Chrysler will be carrying out further development on its Electric Vehicle models during 2009 with the intention of making them commercially available in 2010.

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