The floundering Chrysler Group received $70 million from the federal government earlier this year to develop plug-in hybrid pickups and minivans. Chrysler provided $2.5 million apiece to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Kettering University to develop academic programs for green vehicle jobs. The automaker has also extended $3.1 million to Professor Christopher Mi, associate professor of electrical and chemical engineering at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Professor Mi will use the $3.1 million grant to research and develop a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) based on the Dodge Ram Crew 1500.
Mi’s project, entitled “Ram Pickup Truck PHEV Development and Demonstration Project,” goes beyond the development of a plug-in version of the popular pickup truck. The professor will use the university’s engineering labs and research facilities to develop an electric motor, battery packs and a PHEV power converter. Mi will use a portion of the $3.1 million grant to create prototypes of charging technology that would work well with the Dodge Ram PHEV. As these components are available for testing, Mi and his research assistants will develop evaluation criteria to determine when the vehicle is ready for the road.
Chrysler wants the Dodge Ram PHEV to be the only plug-in hybrid pickup truck as well as the only full-sized truck with partial emissions reduction on the market. The Dodge Ram PHEV will use a lithium-ion battery pack capable of recharging within four hours using a 220-volt outlet and six hours using a 110-volt outlet. The regenerative braking system proposed by Professor Mi would be useful during frequent stops and starts on job sites and urban areas. Chrysler projects the Dodge Ram PHEV to get 655 miles using both gasoline and electrical power.
The mixture of “clean vehicle” and “Chrysler” in the same sentence may seem incongruous to most readers. Chrysler is still emerging from its financial failings of the past two years and needs help from universities to develop its next generation of vehicles. Researchers like Professor Mi have the credibility, technical knowledge and access to facilities to develop prototypes for major automakers. If successful, the Dodge Ram PHEV would put Chrysler back on track as a major player in the global auto market. At the very least, American taxpayers will find out if Chrysler has the foresight to turn $70 million into the types of affordable green vehicles wanted by consumers.
