Exclusive: First Peapod Photos and Update on Planned Model Launches

Exclusive: First Peapod Photos and Update on Planned Model Launches

By Dale Buss, Contributor

These first photos of the final production version of the Peapod neighborhood electric vehicle, to be launched on Earth Day (April 22)  are exclusive to Green Car Advisor.

They show a car completely in tune with designer Peter Arnell's vision of a radically new approach to the formerly dowdy, battery-powered NEV segment. Getting Peapod off the ground has been Arnell's main task for Chrysler LLC since last year when he became the company's chief innovation officer.

Peapod is meant to appeal to early-adopting city dwellers in search of stylish but limited automotive transportation. Initially, Peapod models will be classified as NEVs, which means their top speed can be only 25 mph, but Arnell has said that the company eventually wants to manufacture and market city electric vehicles, which can go faster.

The single version of the four-seat, all-electric Peapod will retail for a suggested $12,500. It soon will be available in seven colors. The first deliveries are scheduled for October.

"It's a pretty straightforward proposition for a consumer to get their arms around," said Arnell, lead director of the Peapod Mobility Group that has been created out of GEM, Chrysler's long-time NEV subsidiary. Fargo, N.D.-based GEM is manufacturing the Peapod.

"We believe anything that plays well in the efficiency and convenience and simplicity arena with great style, and a sincere attitude toward the ecosystem, is a proposition that's very appropriate for today," Arnell told Green Car Advisor. "And at that price, it's a quality badge that you can wear easily."

Like GEM's previous NEV models, Peapods will be delivered to customers' homes and businesses. Ordering will be mainly online. Later this year, Peapod will be launching a cross-country marketing tour that will include college campuses.

Responding to Popular Demand

Arnell also disclosed to Green Car Advisor that Peapod has switched the launch order for its next two planned vehicles. A utility vehicle will debut in several months, followed next year by a two-seater called the Twinpod; previously the company had planned to introduce them in reverse order.

"There's huge demand for the utility vehicle first," Arnell said. "A lot of small businesses have indicated they want a Peapod-type vehicle for their activities."

Peapod's most notable interior feature is the integration of an instrument panel and hook-ups for iPhones and iPods. Drivers must use an iPhone or iPod to start the car, and such measures as speed, mileage and battery-charge levels will be displayed on the companion iPhone or iPod, as well as on a digital instrument panel.
 
The car's integration with an iPhone or iPod also offers such applications as a per-trip "carbon-footprint analysis." A "green meter" will show how much money a Peapod trip is saving compared to the projected "cost" of the same trip in other vehicles at a given gasoline price.

Friendly Appearance

Externally, the design is dominated by huge "smiles" at the front and rear, a high roof, extreme circularity in the styling, and a notable lack of the utilitarian look of most existing NEVs.

"There are a lot of good, warm, friendly lines to this vehicle," said Arnell, whose initials - for Peter Eric Arnell - inspired the vehicle's name.  "By expressing a certain level of friendliness, you get a whole different type of relationship between the vehicle and the consumer."

(Arnell, his New York-based design and marketing firm, is behind such notable designs as the new Pepsi logo.)

The front of the Peapod has a single windshield wiper, recessed headlights and amber-colored signal lamps that are much higher on the Peapod than they would be, in relative terms, on a conventional vehicle. But, of course, they must be visible to drivers through the windows of their conventional vehicles.

Besides the smile, the rear features a hatch that opens up to what Arnell maintained is "a lot of room inside."

On each side, creases run from nearly the front to the rear of Peapod just under the door handles. Another crease follows the line of the bottom of the door on each side.

"We pleated the door in a couple of spots to create nice little contrast lines that drive the eye to the front of the car," Arnell explained. "They also break up the scale so, visually, the car has nice proportions on the sides."

Photos courtesy of Arnell.

Greg Johnson: