quoting few sentences would not be horrible idea! Chrysler to debut Fiat 500e, company's first electric car | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
these compliance cars will be good for EV industry . US should mandate 5% hybrids and 0.5% EVs for every manufacturer by 2015, double by 2020 and more after that... those are very small numbers, easily achieved but would bring big boost to supplier industry.
Interesting; That seems to fly in the face of what the Chrysler VP says in this read - Chrysler | ChargedEVs What ever their motive - and some what surprising, Chrysler seems more dedicated to 100% EV's than GM. GM only leases the Spark EV. It seems as though Chrysler is planning on selling the 500ev outright. I haven't heard how large the usable kWh part of the traction pack is. Maybe I'll have to mozie on up the the L.A. auto show after all - just to find that out. .
In a frank conversation with a sales manager I know at the top grossing Toyota dealership in San Diego he says his dealership is a little different than most, 6 out of every 10 cars sold in his dealership are Hybrid. In California the top selling car is a Hybrid a Prius. This is starting to take off. The Fiat may best serve it's clients by putting a EV in the mix.
I would have to say I believe the head of the company. Its a compliance car that will help fiat get experience in plug-in technology. They will likely lose $10K a pop, but since they aren't going to price it low, that won't be that costly for the experience. That part may be true. Fiat/Chysler may have more of a bet on bev than phev. The big companies that are all in on BEV are ofcourse Nissan/Renault and Tesla. While GM, Ford, Toyota, and Honda are betting on PHEV. All of those companies are big enough that they can switch if BEV takes off. If it starts selling well, they will raise the price I doubt fiat will be suprised, its going to be a tough sale versus a 2013 leaf, volt, or energi.
