Peapod NEV Opens for Orders Beginning Today - Earth Day
By Michelle Krebs April 22, 2009By Dale Buss
At least for today, Chrysler will be able to hold its new keepers in the Obama administration at bay. Because on Earth Day in New York City, Chrysler's Peapod unit has begun taking orders for the company's new Peapod Neighborhood Electric Vehicle
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There's nothing more "green" -- especially for a company that has notably lacked in environmental orientation -- than an all-electric vehicle that operates at low speeds with no emissions. Peapod is designed to jump-start interest in an NEV segment that always has been the dowdy province of true Earth Firsters; residents of planned communities such as Celebration, Florida; and older folks who live around golf courses.
At the same time, Peapod is at least a partial answer to Big Three critics who charge that American automakers haven't done enough to provide environmentally friendly vehicles.
This morning, The Today Show featured the Peapod and its mastermind, Peter Arnell, Chrysler's chief acting innovation officer. Sitting in a Peapod with Arnell on the street outside the NBC studios in New York, host Matt Lauer proclaimed the car "revolutionary." Arnell explained highlights such as Peapod's range (30 miles on a charge), operating cost (about 2 cents a mile), convenience (plug it into a standard 110-volt outlet to recharge) and cool factor (its integration with iPods or iPhones and a "green meter" to tell you the carbon footprint you've left on a trip).
Arnell also commented on Peapod's "smiley" styling. "It's a happy vehicle," he told Lauer. "It's smiling at the planet. [And] we thought it might be important for the image of the car to be happy all the time."
Then Arnell drove Lauer a few hundred feet in the Peapod, to the cheers of an audience on the side. Then he reversed the far back to where it was. "We are 'Peapoding,'" Lauer concluded, "in New York City."
Easily Understood
For Chrysler, there may be no one better to lead the charge than Arnell, who has been re-affiliated with the troubled company since last spring; he did a stint with Chrysler as a high-profile marketing consultant a few years ago. Designing and launching Peapod has been the primary new Chrysler-related mission for Arnell, CEO of his New York-based branding and design group.
And while Arnell is peripatetic -- he's also been busy lately redesigning the logo for Pepsi, for example -- he is sure to get some attention for Chrysler's new product. A few weeks ago, Arnell was on his pal Martha Stewart's nationally syndicated TV show with a Peapod.
"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 Chrysler's longtime NEV subsidiary, GEM. Fargo, North Dakota-based GEM is manufacturing Peapod.
Peapod is meant to appeal to early-adopting city dwellers in search of stylish but limited automotive transportation. And there's nothing more vogue than a vehicle whose functions are integrated with those of the owner's iPod or iPhone.
Initially, Peapod models will be classified as NEVs, which means they can only go up to 25 mph legally, but Arnell has said that the company eventually wants to manufacturer and market City Electric Vehicles, which can go faster.
The single version of the four-seat Peapod will retail for a suggested $12,500. It will be available soon in seven colors. The first deliveries will be in October.
"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 AutoObserver and Edmunds.com's GreenCar 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. Peapod will be launching a cross-country marketing tour, including college campuses, later this year.
Smiles All Around
Peapod also plans to launch a utility vehicle in several months, then a two-seater called the Twinpod, next year; previously the company had planned to introduce them in reverse order.
"There's huge demand for the utility vehicle first," Arnell said, in part because "a lot of small businesses have indicated they want a Peapod-type vehicle for their activities."
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."
Peapod's most notable interior feature is the integration of its instrument panel and controls with iPhones and iPods. Only an iPhone or iPod will start the car, and the measures such 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 applications including a per-trip "carbon-footprint analysis" and a "green meter" that will show the driver how much money the trip in a Peapod is saving, versus the projected "cost" of the same trip in other vehicles and at given gasoline prices.
Photo by Peapod
The Peapod was featured on NBC's Today Show Wednesday -- Earth Day.
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