A family-size sedan that gets about 30 m.p.g. more than the smallest coupe on the road?
A car to dream about, but a vehicle Chrysler hopes to transform into reality very soon, based on a concept called the Dodge Intrepid ESX2, a plastic-body machine capable of getting 80 miles per gallon while holding the family and its vacation luggage.
The ESX2 is a concept car sporting injection-molded plastic body panels as a substitute for steel in an attempt to reduce weight, boost mileage, simplify production and reduce cost so the 80-m.p.g. family sedan of tomorrow would sell for the same price as the 20-m.p.g. family sedan of today without a penalty for new technology.
The ESX2 is Chrysler’s third experiment using composite plastic to assemble a car body.
The subcompact CCV for Third World countries was unveiled last year. CCV is a small, no-frills, basic-transportation vehicle with a target price of $3,000.
The Plymouth Pronto Spyder was displayed here at the Detroit Auto Show. It is a more stylish two-seat roadster used to determine whether those who focus on design and performance would accept a machine built from recycled plastic pop bottles (Cartalk, Jan. 4).
Now comes the Intrepid ESX2, the largest member of the trio, a family-size sedan with basically the same dimensions as the metal-body Intrepid. The ESX2 combines plastic-body technology with hybrid-engine technology–a diesel engine with batteries–to eventually obtain 80 m.p.g. in a lightweight family sedan.
Spyder and the ESX2 will be featured in Chrysler’s display at the Chicago Auto Show Feb. 7 through 15 in McCormick Place South.
With injection-molded plastic, Chrysler hopes to build a car using only 1,100 parts versus more than 4,000 today; assemble that car in 6.5 hours, versus 19 hours to build a Neon; and produce all body panels with color molded in to eliminate the plant’s paint shop and save $350 million; produce plastic-body cars using discarded pop and juice bottles; and recycle automotive plastic to produce other cars or to make such items as wheelbarrows, benches or fences.
With Spyder and ESX2, Chrysler is interested in seeing whether consumers would buy into plastic and whether they’d accept the injection-molded process to produce body panels because it results in a non-gloss, non-shiny, very non-traditional matte finish.
Chrysler is using the auto-show circuit to measure consumer reaction to the finish of its plastic cars, from the dull matte finish of the Spyder to the more shiny finish of the ESX2.
Spyder, like the CCV, is dull because color was added as the plastic was being molded. ESX2 is shiny because once the plastic was molded, a color film coating similar to shrink wrap was applied and heated to adhere to the body.
So one function of the show circuit is to determine whether consumers will accept the Spyder finish or insist on the ESX2 treatment, which would require another step in assembly and add considerable cost to production.
Keep in mind, the reason for experimenting with injection molding is to eliminate the need for a paint shop at the assembly plant and its $350 million price tag. And to bring out an 80-m.p.g. family sedan without that cost premium means savings for the consumer, too.
In an interview, Peter Rosenfeld, director of advance technology planning for Chrysler Corp., said he’s encouraged that “response to matte finish was favorable” at the Detroit Auto Show. Now it’s up to consumers in a non-industry town such as Chicago to judge.
We can attest to the matte finish’s appeal. When Spyder was driven on stage here for the media to see, we found ourselves checking out the shape, size, design, engine and exhaust sounds, comfort and convenience features, and finally, almost as an afterthought, the finish.
To more fairly judge gloss versus non-gloss, we wish ESX2 would be shown in dull and shiny finish to determine what, if any, difference matte made in that car’s appeal.
Lehman Brothers analyst Joe Phillippi came up with an idea that might solve the finish problem for Chrysler.
“Why can’t they do both, dull and shiny, and make shiny an extra-cost option? People pay $500 extra for metallic paint on a Mercedes or BMW,” he told us, so why not pay extra for a shiny surface on a Chrysler?
Plastic is used because the purpose of ESX2 is to come up with a family sedan with the same room, comfort and performance of today’s Intrepid that’s more than 1,000 pounds lighter, gets three times the mileage and doesn’t sacrifice the safety of its occupants.
“The main body consists of only six injection-molded plastic panels that weigh 50 percent less than the 80 steel pieces on a conventional car. We can make a (composite plastic) car just as safe as today’s car that weighs only 2,250 pounds compared with 3,450 pounds,” Rosenfeld said.
But for the goal to be realized, Rosenfeld said, the ESX2 would have to come in at the same price as the current metal-body car, which is in the mid-20s.
That’s a major problem.
“The target is to make the car as affordable as today’s car. We’ve taken $45,000 of the cost out in just two years of work, but it still would be priced $15,000 higher than a current Intrepid,” Rosenfeld said.
“We want to offer new technology that’s beyond consumer expectations but without sacrifice to the consumer,” he said.
“The car holds five to six people, same as the traditional Intrepid, it has three extra cubic feet of luggage space, it does zero to 60 m.p.h. in about 12 seconds, roughly the same as today’s car, but we still have some hurdles to cross, and one of those is cost.
“Our vision is for the consumer to walk into a showroom and have two identical cars sitting next to each other, one traditional steel, the other composite plastic, and the only distinction between the two would be that the plastic car gets higher mileage and puts out lower emissions than the traditional car.
“Everything else would have to identical, including the price, because most people are unwilling to spend extra money for better fuel economy and lower emissions,” Rosenfeld said.
The ESX2 is a hybrid using two sources of power. Rosenfeld likes to call it a mybrid (mild hybrid) that employs a 1.5-liter, 74-horsepower 3-cylinder direct-injected diesel engine and a lead-acid-battery pack.
Why not a more exotic fuel such as methanol or a cheaper fuel such as natural gas or why not a fuel cell that converts hydrogen to electricity?
“We don’t want to offer a vehicle in which you have to hunt for the fuel,” he replied.
“We reject non-friendly technology,” noting that while stations with diesel pumps aren’t on every street corner, diesel fuel is far more readily available today that other proposed alternative fuels that have no infrastructure to give consumers easy access.
Makers of exotic fuels, of course, insist that if an infrastructure were in place, consumers would turn to alternative power. Rosenfeld points out, however, that building the infrastructure has been estimated at $700 billion to $1 trillion.
The lead-acid-batteries in the ESX2 would provide a quick jolt of power to assist the diesel engine when passing or climbing a hill; to power the accessories to save the energy from the diesel; and to move the car when in reverse gear, again to save diesel energy and reduce transmission complexity and, therefore, cost and weight.
The battery pack would recharge while the car is driven, eliminating the need for a time-consuming pause to recharge. That would solve the biggest complaint with battery-powered electric cars: driving range of only 50 to 100 miles before the need to find an electrical socket to plug into for several hours.
“We have electrics on the market today that offer 50 to 70 miles before a recharge. That’s not what the consumer expects,” Rosenfeld said.
The lead-acid-batteries could be replaced with stronger nickel-metal-hydride batteries to give the car even more power, but at roughly twice the cost of lead acid, if not more.
With its diesel/battery tandem, ESX2 can get 70 m.p.g., or 10 m.p.g. short of Chrysler’s 80-m.p.g. target.
In today’s gasoline-engine powered cars, about 2 percent of the available energy is used to power accessories such as the heater, air conditioner and lights. In a hybrid such as the ESX2, the accessory power drain is as high as 40 percent. Chrysler said it must reduce ESX2’s accessory drain 75 percent to reach its 80-m.p.g. target.
“We’re looking into ways to reduce the drain to boost mileage, but I can’t share those ideas with you now,” Rosenfeld said.
One method in place to conserve on fuel is to equip ESX2 with front and side facia and air dam that lowers by 2 inches at speeds of 30 m.p.h. or higher and a windscreen that drops into place behind the grille to bring the body to within three inches of the road to eliminate wind turbulence and reduce air drag.
Chrysler also is looking at a new 5-speed “manual” transmission to conserve fuel. It has five forward gears and a clutch, but a computer and electric motors automatically engage the clutch and shift into the proper gear to conserve fuel.
It is highly possible this transmission will appear on a production car before a plastic-body vehicle is ever built.
The fact Chrysler has unveiled three plastic-body cars in one year makes it clear that the automaker is committed to that technology and is making progress in developing it.
“First came the CCV, then Spyder and now ESX2. With the ESX2, the pieces of the puzzle have come together. It is our midterm report card on plastic cars. It’s a dynamite package with both composite plastic and hybrid power,” Rosenfeld said.
And when might the concept become reality?
“If we hit all home runs on safety, fuel economy, emissions and affordability, it could be on road by 2003,” he said. “If we don’t hit all home runs, it might be 2007.”
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Thursday in Cars: Pontiac converts its mini-van into the Thunder sport-utility vehicle.
Friday in Business: The winners and losers from the Detroit Auto Show are making their way to Chicago.
