Chrysler is developing a minivan that will supposedly get 75mpg!!! The van will utilize plug-in hybrid technology and set to be released in 2016. Is this just another marketing ploy or is it for real this time???

 

75mpg. from a hybrid vehicle weighing over 2 tonsUK is, erm, shall we say, unlikely. Unlikely with all the stops pulled out like light body components, stop-start technology, and whatever.
The Toyota Prius can be good, but it has to be driven a particular way to be good on fuel.
The Prius fails miserably on economics with the ultra-expensive lithium-ion battery which has a limited service life and a reputed cost (without fitting) of £8,000; this is calculated with a cycle life of 500hours. It's therefore likely the car will be worth virtually nothing after 8 years. Its selling price new is much higher than comparable competing vehicles. The "Blue-Motion" technology from the germans seems a better bet economically. This could well apply to this new Chrysler.
In my humble opinion, Chrysler-Mercedes should apply themselves to making better, more reliable conventional vehicles rather than trying to compete in this direction. Chrysler have now a reputation for very expensive spare parts, indifferent dealers who don't seem to be properly trained if this website is anything to go by, and a very average reliability factor.
BTW, I still like mine!

Leedsman.

 

I agree, I wonder if they could use Dodge's connection with Cummins to create a diesel powered sedan like the cruze or something

 

Apart from Hydrogen I assumed something real and within the grasp on the next year or two would be the 'flybrid' not the hybrid. Selfish me [and many millions in town and city driving] with short duration use would make good use of the 'flybrid'.

I just stripped down two li-po's from a GYRO Bike - it was an amazing battery system but terrifyingly badly put together, add to that “thermal runaway” and no wonder it blows aircraft out of the sky. On Chrysler / Fiat the Oliver Gross opinion is here.

 

I think they should try to perfect this...

 

The problem with electric vehicles whether battery-powered alone or as hybrids remains the same as ever -- the battery. To get the range of petrodiesel propulsion would need a battery larger than the car and cost as much as ten cars.
Having said that, there are "glimmers" of hope on the horizon. A british invention from Manchester university is a new form of carbon called GRAPHENE. This stuff can be deposited on base material only a few molecules thick making it possible to have capacitors of unusually high capacitance, thousands of times higher than conventional capacitors. These capacitors may have the ability to store electricity as good as batteries without the cost of expensive light metals like lithium, or the weight of lead-acid. ATM however, the kilowatt-hour capacity of present supercapacitors is not good enough for car propulsion. (In practical terms, a kilowatt-hour will make you a bit more than a horse for an hour).
However, it's been found that by using a supercapacitor combined into a battery, such as the lead-carbon battery, the effectiveness and service life of the battery is improved by a quantum-leap. Supercapacitors should be perfect for stop-start technology and regenerative braking.
So.... ATM if you propose to spend your hard-earned on a car, the tech. is basically the same as it was a hundred years ago. Suck-squish-bang-push. Now if someone could work out a way of getting off-grid electricity to cars on ordinary roads....

Leedsman.