Chrysler Says Batteries Not Ready for Electric Cars
By Ron Cogan
Like all major automakers in the early to mid-1990s, Chrysler struggled with the correct pathway to meeting California’s impending 1998 Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. This regulation, which would require that 2 percent of all Chrysler models offered for sale in the State be zero emission by 1998, was pushing the limits of technology by requiring the commercialization of vehicles that were not yet viable. Ultimately, Chrysler decided to meet the mandate with electric powered minivans, although the choice of battery technology to achieve the job was less clear. This article is reprinted verbatim from Green Car Journal’s March 1995 issue to illustrate the moves that Chrysler was undertaking to meet the requirements of the ZEV mandate at the time.
ELECTRIC MINIVAN MAKES SENSE TO CHRYSLER
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 1995 Chrysler's answer to the 1998 zero-emission vehicle mandate, the NS-Electric based on the automaker's all-new 1996 minivan, recently took form at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich. Here, the internal combustion minivan variant debuted for the first time to an enthusiastic audience. While the automaker's internal combustion variants will be built in St. Louis (Missouri), Windsor (Canada), and Graz (Austria), the EV will be built only at a single facility.
"It will be manufactured in our Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant on the same assembly line as the gasoline-powered minivans," says Thomas S. Moore, general manager of Liberty and Technical Affairs at Chrysler Corp. "This will allow us to keep the costs as low as possible and ensure a high-quality vehicle."
Slated for sale in second quarter 1995 in internal combustion trim but not until 1997 as an electric, the all-new minivan is distinguished with standard dual front airbags and ABS, an optional driver's side sliding door, and a slightly wider and more rounded appearance. It also offers 25% more usable cargo area than its predecessor. This is an important consideration since Chrysler sees the commercial market as critical to the sale of its electric vehicles in the early years as EVs first come to market.
"Commercialization is a topic of discussion that Chrysler can speak quite effectively about, since it has been building and selling electric vehicles for about two years now and has made many significant strides," says Moore.
Chrysler carefully weighed the two obvious paths to bringing an EV to market – developing a ground-up vehicle or re-engineering an existing or future platform for electric propulsion - and then settled on the latter.
"We developed concurrent programs to evaluate which path would be the most viable for meeting a mass-market application," shares Moore. "In a program code named 'Destiny,' we developed a four-door mid-size electric vehicle from the ground-up utilizing lightweight materials and an AC induction motor powertrain." In the end, the automaker deemed that Destiny didn't prove a logical option for the near-term, while a re-engineered platform seemed to make sense "until the company had a better view of long-term battery technology."
"Looking at the California market and the technology issues we were facing, we determined the Caravan and Voyager minivans would be our best vehicles for re-engineering to electric power," says Moore. The reason: Chrysler's minivan is this automaker's strongest product in California, home of the ZEV mandate. Importantly, it also offers ample room for packaging batteries and the flexibility to change battery configurations as new and improved battery technologies become available.
The result of this thinking was the TEVan program. Moore points out that TEVan development began in 1986 with the automaker's electronics subsidiary, Pentastar Electronics, and ultimately evolved in 1991 into a development program with the Electric Power Research Institute. The TEVan was initially motivated via a General Electric DC powertrain and controller with nickel-iron batteries, then later with a nickel-cadmium battery pack.
"We learned early on in developing the TEVan that this was not simply a matter of dropping a motor and a controller into an existing vehicle," says Moore. "Many components and systems needed to be re-thought and re-engineered. Heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, brakes, power steering systems, instrumentation, safety features, and crashworthiness are just some of what we had to develop during the move toward manufacturing the vehicle for sale."
Along the way Chrysler also developed manufacturing techniques to expedite mass-production of electric vehicles. It also refined its test procedures for the lab and proving grounds, a necessary move since all previous test procedures were geared toward internal combustion engines. And it developed training for technicians on EV troubleshooting and customer service. Moore also points out that Chrysler worked to develop relationships with an array of non-traditional suppliers that would prove key to the company's electric vehicle efforts.
"In a program running concurrently with the TEVan project, we worked with Westinghouse, Baltimore Gas & Electric, and the state of Maryland in the Chesapeake Consortium, which became our development program for AC powertrains. We have now used the results of the Chesapeake and TEVan programs to develop the NS-Electric."
The result? According to Moore: "While we have made many advancements in reducing the costs associated with low-volume electric vehicle production, it appears our initial costs for the NS-Electric are going to be higher than we had hoped. However, we still have several final production decisions to make before we can fully assess the vehicle cost situation." While the automaker is said to be acclimating to the challenge of building the electric vehicle itself, there remains that nagging EV issue: the battery.
"This is an area we are very concerned about since it directly relates to the vehicle's performance for the consumer," Moore points out. "No matter how refined and powerful we are able to make the vehicle, range and utility are what the consumer is ultimately willing to pay for."
It's evident from the TEVan project that nickel-iron and nickel-cadmium batteries are not on tap for the NS-Electric. So how will it be powered?
"As members of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium, we know that the long-term battery we need for commercially acceptable EVs is many years away," says Moore. "While we are encouraged by the progress of the USABC in developing a mid-term battery, we know volume production is at least three years beyond the 1998 mandate, and cost remains a major issue."
He adds: "Since approving our electric vehicle production plans earlier this year, Chrysler has been open to securing any battery that was close to meeting the USABC's mid-term goals for cost and range."
He points out that despite the considerable efforts of the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the nation's national laboratories, and many efforts worldwide, "no battery supplier has been able to sign up for production of a battery that meets our production timing." And the advanced lead-acid batteries being tested at Chrysler are reportedly providing the minivan an average 60 mile range "under optimal weather conditions."
"We've awarded a contract to a supplier to begin tooling operations to fit the batteries to our new minivan," shares Moore, adding that they're "well short of the mid-term range targets." In comparison, nickel-metal-hydride powered NS minivans are demonstrating a city driving range of up to 90 miles.
Chrysler's upshot: "Of all the other less attractive options we have looked at, advanced lead-acid batteries will be the most likely to meet timing targets in the required quantities." Still, Chrysler says it's hopeful for new battery developments and is "ready to fit the NS with those batteries whenever they become available."
Moore sums up that "Chrysler will bring the best electric vehicle it can make, in the most cost-effective and marketable package possible, in time to meet the mandates in 1998." Indeed, this is the same challenge faced by every major automaker on the planet that finds itself subject to the approaching mandates in California and other states in the northeastern U.S.
Want to know more about electric car development in the 1990s? Be sure to check out these articles on GreenCar.com:
Ramping Up the Electric Car Battery
Toyota RAV4 EV in Field Trials
Honda to Lease EV Plus Electric Car
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