Catching up with Chrysler's EV catch-up plan
Tue, Sep 16 2014
The US automaker, long a laggard in electric-powertrain development, is working on an wireless, inductive charging system with Qualcomm and which could spur sales of plug-in vehicles for personal use. A wireless system would allow for hands-free charging for vehicles like the Fiat 500e, the company's only plug-in vehicle being sold to the public in the US as well as a plug-in hybrid minivan that's in the works for 2016.
On the business front, Chrysler is working with nonprofit NextEnergy on developing a reverse-power-flow system. That would allow for fleet-owning businesses to draw power from their plug-in vehicles' batteries during mid-day peak-energy times, when electricity rates are highest. Chrysler and NextEnergy ran a one-month test of a reverse-power-flow system with four Fiat 500e vehicles last year, and the companies found that they could cut power usage enough to save $1,200. Chrysler extrapolated those numbers to estimate that such a system with just a dozen plug-in vehicles could save a company as much as $27,000 a year. Get more details over at Wards Auto.
- News Source: Wards Auto
- Green
- Chrysler
- Fiat
- Technology
- Emerging Technologies
- Electric
- wireless charging
- inductive charging
- inductive
By Danny King
See also: Are you the 2015 Chrysler 300?, Fiat gives outgoing Ferrari chairman $35M severance package, Chrysler minivans under investigation for stalling after fuel refill.