Chrysler to offer alternative-fuel option on every model

Automotive fuel choices abound, with more new technologies arriving every year. Ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, electricity, liquid natural gas, and hybrid combinations of each are being experimented with around the world and now Chrysler has announced plans to join the mix by offering an alternative-fuel and/or hybrid option for every model in its lineup.

Chrysler’s new vice chairman Jim Press told The Detroit News that powertrain options would include plug-in hybrid, diesel hybrid, fuel-cell hybrid, or petrol-hybrid models. The move is part of Chrysler's larger capital investment plan to develop and improve its products and technologies. Chrysler's new "ENVI" division, announced last month to deal specifically with energy-efficient vehicles, is likely to head up the alternative-fuel expansion.

Since its divorce from Daimler this year, Chrysler has been scrambling to make up what has been perceived as lost ground in respect to quality, technology, and efficiency. The first petrol-hybrid electric vehicles from the maker are expected sometime in 2008 with the release of hybrid versions of the Durango and Aspen SUVs. No timeline has been announced for the hybrid-option expansion.