Chrysler Disbands ENVI Group, Scuttles Broad Electrification Plan

(Updated 11/8/09 to add confirmation and remarks from a Chrysler spokesman.)

Chrysler's ENVI Group, formed in 2007 to develop a line of electrified vehicles for the company's three brands, has been disbanded and the company's January pledge to have 500,000 conventional and plug-in hybrid-electric and all-electric vehicles on the road by 2013 has been junked under its new, Fiat-controlled leadership.

In an interview with Reuters news service Friday, Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa - who only a few days before had assured us that the ENVI team was still "quietly" moving along - said the special group has been disbanded and its work "absorbed into the normal vehicle development program."

Cappa since has confirmed to Green Car Advisor that the formal group no longer exists. He bridled, though, at use of the term "disbanded," saying that the group's members all are still working and that former ENVI chief Lou Rhodes is still  in charge of vehicle electrification programs - for both Chrysler and Fiat.

He confirmed, however, that the pre-bankruptcy timetable for putting hybrids and EVs into the Chrysler lineup has been replaced. By one that takes a much slower approach, it appears.

Prior to its bankruptcy and takeover by Fiat, Chrysler had showed a suite of five electric and PHEV vehicles and promised to have at least one in production by next year.

But last week, in delivering a day-long look at Chrysler's post-bankruptcy 5-year product and business plan, executives including Sergio Marchionne - CEO of both Fiat and Chrysler - made no mention of electric vehicles.

And Marchionne later told some reporters, according to Reuters, that electric cars would represent less than 2 percent of Chrysler's anticipated sales in 2015. That would be fewer than 60,000 - far from the 500,000 promised at the Detroit Auto Show in January, a few months before the car maker filed for bankruptcy.

Marchionne does plan to bring the Dodge Ram dual-mode hybrid to market next year and to introduce the fuel-efficient Fiat 500 and a lot of Fiat's fuel-efficient engine technology to the U.S. through Chrysler. He told reporters last week, Reuters reports, that he believes electric vehicles will struggle until battery reliability and range issues are resolved.

Chrysler reportedly still is talking about an all-electric commercial van to the market.

But Fiat got its 20 percent stake - and effective control - of Chrysler in a deal with the Obama Administration in which Chrysler promised to bring more fuel-efficient vehicles to market.

It's disappointing to see the company back-peddling on the electric front and will be interesting to see if Marchionne can do it without electrification.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor.

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John O'Dell November 7, 2009, 11:26 AM

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Chrysler Disbands EV Program