Chrysler News & Blogs

Battery and Auto Firms get $2.4 Billion for New EV/Hybrid Programs

President Obama today announced the award of $2.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to cover new development subsidies for 48 key U.S. battery producers and automakers. In making this largest-ever investment in advanced battery technology, the President noted: "If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future."As anticipated, the biggest beneficiary was the state of Michigan, where over half of that total funding will be heading to support operations that currently are located there -- or will soon be. Roughly $1.5 billion of this subsidy has been allocated to battery...
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California Mandates Cooler Cars to Fight Global Warming

It's not quite what you think. But the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has just passed the first legislation requiring solar-efficient glass to be used in all new cars sold in that state starting in 2012. Beyond literally keeping occupants cooler in the summer, the coincident reduction in the use of air conditioning will help improve average fuel economy and decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. This new regulation will be enacted using a two-stage roll. From 2012-2015, all vehicle glass must be capable of rejecting at least 45 percent of the sun's total heat-producing energy, except for the windshield which will have a 50 percent rejection requirement. Starting in 2016, the numbers will rise to 60 percent all around. CARB data...
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Alfa-Romeo MiTo Will be First to Feature Fiat's MultiAir Technology

Just how or when it may find its way into the Chrysler side of the family remains to be seen; but starting this September, Fiat's revolutionary MultiAir engine technology will be see its first production use on the Alfa Romeo MiTo with a 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine tuned to produce 105, 135 or 170 horsepower. An advance that Fiat likens to the introduction of common-rail injection to diesels, the MultiAir system employs a unique computer-controlled electro-hydraulic mechanism to vary timing and lift of each valve, individually and by each stroke in the cycle. The net result is that a MultiAir engine can see gains of up to 10 percent in its power and fuel economy and a 15 percent boost in peak torque while lowering its CO2 emissions,...
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Obama Plan Paves Way for Unified Mileage/Emissions Standards

President Obama today presented a landmark proposal aimed at moving the country ahead on the road to a clean energy economy. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden and flanked by members of his administration and key auto executives, Obama offered a comprehensive approach that will significantly boost fuel economy numbers and resolve the ongoing legal wrangling that has long set automakers and the state of California at odds over supplemental greenhouse gas emissions issues. The president, who characterized the existing rules governing fuel economy as "inadequate, uncertain and in flux," called for the adoption of a new single-standard formula that will accelerate the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirement to 35.5 mpg by 2016 -- four...
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Peapod Makes Earth Day Debut in Green Car Garden

As promised, Peapod Mobility used Earth Day to commence marketing its happy-faced variation on the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) theme. With a top speed of 25 mph, a range of 30 miles, seats for four, a payload in excess of 900 pounds and a price tag of $12,500, the diminutive, zero-emissions Peapod has the specs to serve as an alternative to a second car for those with relatively light-duty driving duties, whether they be traditional NEV owners in retirement communities or college students looking for clean, quiet and cool campus transport. The Peapod's 72-volt battery pack can be recharged from a standard 110V wall outlet in takes six to eight hours. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Chrysler LLC, Peapod Mobility was spawned from the same...
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