Chrysler Corporation announced this week that production of electric passenger and cargo vans will begin in October at the company's Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. EPIC (Electric Powered Intraurban Commuter), an electric version of the 1999 Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Voyager, will be made available to fleet owners in California or New York.

"With EPIC, we're Combining our latest ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) technology with the utility of our vans," said Craig Love, Chrysler Corporation's Executive Engineer for Electric Vehicles. "The result is an electric vehicle which offers unsurpassed passenger/cargo carrying flexibility and the clean, quiet power of electric drive."

For the 1999 model year, Chrysler will manufacture approximately 2,000 electric vans and make them available for fleet leasing at $US450 per month for a three-year period in New York and California.

At the Windsor plant, EPIC production will take place on the same production line where petrol.-powered Voyagers are manufactured. The only noticeable difference in the production process is that an electric motor and battery pack are installed as opposed to a petrol engine.

The Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager EPIC models are powered by an AC traction motor. "Fuel" for the EPIC is provided by a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack, which is conveniently located under the floor. Top speed for EPIC is 130 km/h and range on a full charge is projected to be between 130 and 145 kilometres in moderate conditions.

To maximise vehicle range and reduce road friction, EPIC uses P205/75R15 low-rolling resistance tyres. In addition, a regenerative braking system is activated when the brakes are applied and works to charge the battery during vehicle deceleration.

Chrysler was the first major car maker to begin manufacturing electric vans. From 1993-1995, Chrysler sold the first-generation TEV electric vehicles to fleets across the country. The real world experience and valuable customer feedback gained from these initial sales a!lowed Chrysler engineers to work toward improved performance and reduced costs for the EPIC family of electric vehicles.

"At Chrysler, we're constantly exploring alternative fuel technologies and the energy conversion systems that use these fuels to provide environmentally-friendly automotive transportation," said Love. "The EPIC project is our state-of-the-art entry into the electric vehicle segment. While there's still a gap in cost and operating range between electric- and petrol-powered vehicles, we're working hard to close that gap."

Since 1983, Chrysler Corporation has sold nearly seven million vans and people movers. The company sells approximately 700,000 vans worldwide every year and has a 45 per cent market share of the North American 'minivan' market.

Industry-wide, minivans account for eight per cent of all new vehicles sold in the United States. Chrysler Corporation minivans, which include the Chrysler Voyager, Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, are manufactured in St. Louis, Missouri, Windsor, Canada, and Graz, Austria.