2008 Los Angeles Auto Show: Chrysler Town and Country EV

What is it?
Chrysler Town and Country EV

What's special about it?
Chrysler LLC, suffering from the same death spiral of shrinking sales and vanishing cash as the other two domestic automakers, is hoping to generate a buzz at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show with a trio of electric vehicle concepts from its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.

Of the three, the "range-extended EV" version of the Chrysler Town and Country minivan is thought to be the most likely to make it into production if the automaker survives the present economic crunch.

The show concept features a 22-kilowatt, rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack good for up to 40 miles of all-electric drive. A turbocharged 1.0-liter, two-cylinder flex-fuel engine also serves as a generator to keep juice flowing to the 190-kilowatt (255-horsepower) electric motor once the battery charge is depleted.

The batteries are installed under the floor pan, so this extended-range electric van gives up Chrysler's "Stow 'n Go" seats that fold flat into the floor. But it still offers three rows of seating, enough so you can haul the soccer team, cheerleading squad, the kids and their friends or whatever else you'd want to pack.

Chrysler says the Town and Country EV's power plant produces a hefty 258 pound-feet of torque and will propel the minivan from a standing start to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds while delivering a top speed in excess of 100 mph — perhaps in case one of the kids has really got to go and the next public restroom is 50 miles down the highway.

The 10-gallon fuel tank coupled with the 40 miles of battery power is sufficient to provide 400 miles of cruising range. And with an occasional fuel refill and a handy gas (or ethanol) pump, the van will keep going even if you can't find a plug and the time to recharge the batteries. Perfect for next summer's road trip — except it won't be available next summer.

Chrysler says it will be conducting real-world testing of the Town and Country EV (along with prototypes of its Dodge and Jeep EVs) over the next two years and that one of the three will be put into production in 2010. Company executives won't say which one is the leading candidate, but the Town and Country makes sense because there's still a sizable minivan market — in which Chrysler is king — and no one else would have a competing clean, green and fuel-efficient electric competitor.

Inside Line says: We hope they can get it to market, and in time to help stave off financial ruin. — John O'Dell, Senior Editor, Edmunds Green Car Advisor