 |
|
Chrysler Group, working in partnership with
the U.S. Department of Energy, will deliver
a further 10 demonstration fleet Ram 1500
plug-in hybrid electric pickup trucks, this
batch going to Duke Energy of Charlotte,
North Carolina, this week. |
|
|
|
Chrysler Group, working in partnership with the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE), will deliver 10
demonstration fleet Ram 1500 plug-in hybrid electric
vehicle (PHEV) pickup trucks to Duke Energy of
Charlotte, North Carolina, this week.
The PHEV Ram 1500 pickups, delivered by Abdullah Bazzi,
senior manager of the Chrysler Group’s advanced hybrid
vehicle project, are part of a national demonstration
fleet of 140 vehicles that will be used during the next
three years to evaluate customer usage, drive cycles,
charging, thermal management, fuel economy, emissions
and impact on the region’s electric grid. In addition to
Duke Energy, nine other partners across the United
States are slated to receive vehicles for demonstration
and testing purposes.
“Cities have been carefully selected to help the
Chrysler Group collect a wide range of data,” explained
Abdullah Bazzi, senior manager of Chrysler’s advanced
hybrid vehicle project. “Charlotte offers heavy traffic
and urban driving that are ideal city test cycles along
and rural areas that include inclines on mountain
grades. The constant charging will allow us to measure
the impact on battery life and charging efficiency.”
Earlier this year, Chrysler Group delivered 10 Ram 1500
PHEV trucks to the city of Yuma, Arizona, to take full
advantage of hot weather and conduct thermal testing in
the desert southwest. Other cities that have received
the demonstration Ram 1500 pickups include San Francisco
and Sacramento, California.
“Duke Energy is pleased to have the opportunity to take
part in this demonstration program with Chrysler LLC and
the U.S. Department of Energy,” said Jim Stanley, Duke
Energy’s senior vice president of power delivery. “The
information from Duke Energy provided to both Chrysler
and the Department of Energy will help shape product
development within the automotive industry and electric
utility programs and infrastructure that could lead to
more of these vehicles in the future.”
Strictly a demonstration program, there are no plans for
a production version of the PHEV Ram 1500 truck at this
time. Cities and states were selected to evaluate
temperature extremes, urban traffic cycles and diverse
climates and geographies.
The Ram 1500 PHEV includes a liquid-cooled 12.9kWhr
lithium ion battery pack and a 6.6 kilowatt (kW)
on-board charger. Additional features include AC power
generation of up to 6.6kW; directional charging; reverse
power flow and full regenerative braking used to capture
more energy. For fuel economy improvements, the front
axle of the four-wheel-drive automatic transmission can
be disconnected when not needed. The powertrain also
includes a 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine and a two-mode
hybrid transmission. The 5.7-liter Hemi is equipped with
a Fuel Saver technology that improves fuel efficiency at
highway speeds by shutting down fuel delivery to up to
four cylinders.
The battery pack is located under the second-row seat of
the pickup and is liquid cooled to help maintain a
consistent battery temperature. For on-the-job
electrical power tools, a 240 volt/30 amp four-prong
outlet and 120volt/20amp duplex outlet power strip is
located in the rear box.
Urban use will be tracked to measure battery performance
and overall hybrid efficiency with the demonstration
fleet of pickups. Other uses include military bases
where vehicles will be able to provide power back to the
electric grid in what is termed “reverse power flow” of
up to 6.6kW.
Funding for the program in part is provided by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through
the Transportation Electrification Initiative sponsored
by the DOE. The grant, totaling $48 million from DOE and
$49.4 million from the Chrysler Group, was designed to
develop vehicles that will be cost efficient for
consumers, satisfy safety concerns of daily travel
without recharging and help reduce dependence on foreign
oil. The Chrysler Group is also developing a similar
fleet of 25 Chrysler Town & Country minivans with
plug-in hybrid technology for demonstration and
evaluation that will be allocated to select cities later
this year.
|
|
|
