Chrysler's ENVI Group, formed in 2007 to develop a line of electrified vehicles for the company's three brands, has been disbanded and its January pledge to have 500,000 conventional and plug-in hybrid-electric and all-electric vehicles on the road by 2013 has been junked under its new, Fiat-controlled leadership. In an i nterview with Reuters news service Friday, Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa – who only a few days before had assured us that the ENVI team was still “quietly” moving along – said the special group has been disbanded and its work “absorbed into the normal vehicle development program.” Prior to its bankruptcy and takeover by Fiat, Chrysler had showed a suite of five electric and PHEV vehicles and promised to have at least one in production by next year. But last week, in delivering a day-long look at Chrysler's post-bankruptcy 5-year product and business plan, executives including Sergio Marchionne – CEO of both Fiat and Chrysler – made no mention of electric vehicles . And Marchionne later told some reporters, according to Reuters, that electric cars would represent less than 2 percent of Chrysler's anticipated sales in 2015. That would be fewer than 60,000 – far from the 500,000 promised at the Detroit Auto Show in January, a few months before the car maker filed for bankruptcy. Marchionne does plan to bring the Dodge Ram dual-mode hybrid to market next year and to introduce the fuel-efficient Fiat 500 and a lot of Fiat&#…
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BREAKING: Chrysler Disbands EV Group, Scuttles Broad Electrification Plan