Prius Envy? Chrysler Launches Advanced Tech Unit

Prius Envy? Chrysler Launches Advanced Tech Unit

The newly independent Chrysler said it is launching a separate engineering division to develop and build hybrid and electric cars and trucks.

The company, which had been part of DaimlerChrysler until it was sold to a private investment company last month, had been heavily invested in alternative transportation development until its 1998 merger with the German luxury-car maker.

Its new unit will be called ENVI and will be headed by veteran Chrysler engineer Lou Rhodes, formerly director of advanced vehicle concepts and innovation. The names isn't an acronym. "It's the first four letters of the word 'environment,'" said company spokesman Nick Cappa.

ENVI's  mission, according to Chrysler, will be to design and build new vehicles that use all-electric or hybrid powertrains.

The resulting cars and trucks, which will not be conversions of models that already exist in Chrysler’s lineup, will give the company a more fuel-efficient lineup to offer consumers, said Robert Nardelli, Chrysler chairman and chief executive.

The automaker has been more dependent on large pickups and SUVs than its competitors and has the worst fuel economy of the six major car companies selling vehicles in the U.S.

Cappa said the unit will be staffed with engineering, manufacturing and supply specialists from throughout Chrysler.  He said staffing levels have not yet been decided.

It “will operate as a startup with an entrepreneurial environment,” said Chrysler Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda.

Rhodes, who was a Boeing engineering manager and director of computer assisted design at advanced automotive design powerhouse MSX before joining Chrysler in 1993, was not available for comment.

His job will be to reestablish Chrysler’s in-house expertise in alternative vehicle development.

Prior to being acquired by Daimler, Chrysler was developing a variety of hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles. But work stopped in 2002 and responsibility for those technologies was taken over by Daimler’s engineering labs in Germany.

Chrysler is scheduled to launch its first two hybrids in 2009. But they are based on the existing Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen models and will use a two-mode gas-electric hybrid system co-developed with General Motors and BMW.

The company would not say when it expects the first ENVI-developed vehicles to hit the market.

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.