DETROIT — The next new model from Stellantis’s Chrysler brand will be a two-row electric crossover in 2025, Chrysler CEO Christine Fuell said Wednesday.
Fuell also said Chrysler expects to continue offering the popular hybrid gas-electric Pacifica minivan “through end of decade.” Chrysler has in the past suggested a battery electric crossover by 2025 and promised to be fully electrified by 2028.
Speaking at the Reuters Events Automotive USA 2023 conference in Detroit, Fuell said the design of the new crossover is inspired by the Chrysler Airflow concept unveiled at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (shown in the gallery above and the video below).
Chrysler has been showing the Airflow in one form or another since the 2020 CES, and the concept was refined in 2022 to something closer to production.
Yet based on comments from Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles earlier this year, the production vehicle may have “zero to do with anything” we’ve seen so far in the Airflow concept, and in fact it may not even be called Airflow, with Fuell saying of internal conversations at the time, “There is a group of people who love the Airflow name and just as many who beg us not to use it.”
Assuming much of anything from the concepts carry over, the new Chrysler crossover could have a relatively conservative outward appearance. Inside, the Airflow has a light, rounded aesthetic. Most of the dash consists of screens. The 2022 concept allowed each passenger to customize their screens, and information could be sent to other passengers’ screens at will. Each passenger position had a camera for video calling, too.
Autoblog has reported previously that Feuell is plotting a remake of the entire the Chrysler experience, from shopping its products online and at dealers to after-sales care. She’s said before she wants Chrysler to become Stellantis’ “startup brand,” offering “clean mobility, seamless technology,” and affordable pricing. Tesla buyers have been mentioned as one of Feuell’s targets.
The new crossover will share the STLA Large architecture with other Stellantis models, Fuell said. That platform could offer 400- and 800-volt electrical architectures, and pack batteries that power up to 400 miles of range.
Includes information from Reuters
Source: www.autoblog.com