Chrysler Group LLC Providing City of Auburn Hills with Test Fleet of PHEV Ram 1500 Pickup Trucks

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) will be supplied to City of Auburn Hills as part of a demonstration project by Chrysler Group LLC
• Real world city miles to be accumulated on demonstration vehicles over the next three years
• Fleet of vehicles developed in partnership with U.S. Department of Energy
• Ram 1500 plug-in electric hybrid test trucks will be used to evaluate city drive cycles, charging performance, fuel economy and real-world performance

Chrysler Group LLC, working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will deliver four demonstration fleet plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) Ram 1500 pickup trucks to the City of Auburn Hills, Mich.

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 Auburn Hills, seven other partners across the United States are slated to receive vehicles for demonstration and testing purposes.

"Cities have been carefully selected to help Chrysler Group LLC collect a wide range of data," explained Abdullah Bazzi, senior manager of Chrysler's advanced hybrid vehicle project. "Auburn Hills is in our backyard and offers a combination of suburban and rural driving that is ideal as a test cycle for these vehicles. The constant charging will allow us to measure the impact on battery life and charging efficiency."

Chrysler Group LLC has delivered Ram 1500 PHEV trucks to the city of Yuma, Ariz., to take full advantage of hot weather and conduct thermal testing in the desert southwest. Other cities that have received the demonstration PHEV Ram 1500 pickups include San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif., Charlotte, N.C., Boston, Mass., and Albany, N.Y.

"Auburn Hills has worked diligently to implement policies and procedures to create a municipal infrastructure that accommodates the growing use of hybrid electric vehicles," said Pete Auger, Auburn Hills city manager. "We have taken a leading role in smart planning for alternative energy options that will fuel tomorrow's vehicles."

Auburn Hills currently has seven charging stations. Three EV charging stations are located downtown and two each are located on the municipal campus and at the Department of Public Service.

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 PHEV Ram 1500 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 Chrysler Group LLC, 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 LLC also is 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.

SOURCE Chrysler Group LLC

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