Report: Tata developing $5,000 EV for Chrysler

Posted Thu Jun 26 2008 11:29 AM by Alex Kaufmann

One of Chrysler’s key strategies is to take advantage of the global economy and fill gaps in its current lineup with vehicles sources from other manufacturers. We’ve already seen the Auburn Hills carmaker team up with Nissan over a model swap deal as well as China’s Chery Auto before that for a new compact vehicle, now Chrysler is reported to be in talks with India’s Tata over a deal to procure a small electric pickup to sell in North America.

Tata is the company behind the world’s cheapest car, the $2,500 Nano, and the maker of the Ace pickup truck (pictured). India's Economic Times is reporting that an electric version of the vehicle is in development and is headed to North America with an expected price tag of just $5,000.

The new model is to be sold under Chrysler's Global Electric Motorscars (GEM) division, although volumes, release dates and official pricing is yet to be finalized. The most likely outcome would see the vehicles shipped to North America without a powertrain, which would be fitted by GEM in the U.S. before sale.

Reader Comments

Thu Jun 26 2008 1:26 PM
chris says

yeah, realizing that this thing is a glorified fork-lift.

that being said.. the tech could easily be made into a city car with a little more appeal... I think the range on this thing is minimal,... something like 10 or 20 miles at best.

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