Chrysler dismantles electric car plans under Fiat

[Texas]

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler has disbanded a team of engineers dedicated to rushing a range of electric vehicles to showrooms and dropped ambitious sales targets for battery-powered cars set as it was sliding toward bankruptcy and seeking government aid.
The move by Fiat SpA marks a major reversal for Chrysler, which had used its electric car program as part of the case for a $12.5 billion federal aid package.
As late as August, Chrysler took $70 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a test fleet of 220 hybrid pickup trucks and minivans, vehicles now scrapped in the sweeping turnaround plan for Chrysler announced this week by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.
Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa said on Friday that an in-house team of electric car development engineers had been disbanded in favor of a more traditional organization.

http://www.reuters.com/article/wtUSI...dChannel=11604

[misslexi]

I suppose as long as the public loans are repaid, there's not much anyone can do about it. Seems a little like cheating though.

[Jason M. Hendler]

That is tragic, but understandable, as Fiat's strength is small cars, not advanced alternative fuel / propulsion systems.

[omnimoeish]

Well since the bankruptcy, they are making money hand over fist while their market share goes into the trash can. They'll probably be ok for a while.

[Roger881]

I honestly wish I knew why the auto industry was so resistant to moving away from oil. The ONLY reason I supported gazillions in loans to the auto industry was to keep electric car production on schedule. This is disappointing. Recently I saw somewhere that GM said the Volt would only be possible if gas prices didn't fall below $2.00 a gallon, which is now exactly what I expect to happen.

I don't blame the oil industry for not wanting to go away without trying to hold n to their monopoly over personal transportation. I just don't see why the auto industry wants the same. I can only guess there is some golden egg laying goose they aren't telling us about that is at risk with electric cars. Could it be replacement parts would take a hard hit? They don't need to be replaced as often and have double the road life? The technology to build them is a lot more basic, which could open the flood gates for new car manufacturers? Once EVs are in the showrooms they wont be able to get rid of their ICE inventory? Or is it that they really don't think there's enough public demand or is too expensive for the public to afford and still make a profit? I'm only thinking out loud.

[misslexi]

Originally Posted by Roger881

I honestly wish I knew why the auto industry was so resistant to moving away from oil.

Building internal combustion engines and powertrains is a core competency for the auto industry, basically it's "what they do". They will only be dragged kicking and screaming into the Car 2.0 era.

[dagwood55]

"I honestly wish I knew why the auto industry was so resistant to moving away from oil."

Because there's a LOT of energy available in a kilogram of gas and there's far less energy available in a klogram of battery. And the battery takes either time or amazing kilowatts to recharge. And the combination of gas and standard ICE drivetrain is still very cheap.

You'd think the EREV would somehow break this mold but it's both a BEV and an ICV, so you've got enormous weight, cost and complexity penalties to manage a mere 40 miles electric (if that) and then perhaps as little as 35mpg in charge-sustaining mode (especially likely to be low out on the highway).

By way of comparison, the up-front cost of a Yaris is very low ($13K) and the operating cost is also relatively low.

If you want to break this pattern, you really need a big tax on oil. Of course, that won't just advance the cause of the EV, which will still be fairly expensive and still suffer the same drawbacks it does today. It will also draw people in from the exurbs and encourage them to use whatever mass transit is available (which could be improved if the population density of the area served was increased). An immediate effect would be people seriously looking for carpoolers and making compromises to work out carpools and opportunities to telecommute (although the exurbs still often suffer from crappy telecommunications).

[Jim Rowland]

I was anticipating the responce of the 4-wheel drive comunity with the Jeep. Looks like more waiting is in the mix. I didn't hear the fat lady sing yet, so I will try to be optimistic.

[HyperMiler]

The biggest loser of this announcement is A123, for whom Chrysler was the sole customer that signed on.

A123 doesn't have what it takes to survive amongst the battle of Asian titans. The dream of American electric car battery leadership is just that, a dream. The cold hard reality is that 99% of electric cars on American road would have Asian batteries in them.

[Texas]

Originally Posted by HyperMiler

The biggest loser of this announcement is A123, for whom Chrysler was the sole customer that signed on.

A123 doesn't have what it takes to survive amongst the battle of Asian titans. The dream of American electric car battery leadership is just that, a dream. The cold hard reality is that 99% of electric cars on American road would have Asian batteries in them.

Finally, HyperMiler acknowledges that Japan is going to have a huge presence in the market. Notice he now says, "Asian" and not just Korean.