Chrysler rumor wrap / upcoming cars and trucks

Chrysler’s Canadian plants are being upgraded for “electrification”—hybrids and BEVs. Brampton (Challenger/Charger/300) closes at the start of 2024 or the end of 2023 for renovation and in 2025, Brampton will produce “an all-new, flexible architecture.” Windsor, the minivan plant, will be renovated in 2024 for STLA Large, “a new multi-energy vehicle (MEV) architecture” that brings “battery-electric (BEV) capability for multiple models” (and also gasoline power). STLA Large will have at least eight vehicles. This suggests more vehicles than are shown below.

Chrysler

In 2022, Christine Feuell said that the first BEV (battery electric) is due in 2025 (or as a 2025), with two more showing up in 2026-27 and an all-BEV line by 2028. She promised at the 2022 New York shwo that the 300 will be updated and continue past 2025.

Pacifica: plant retooling runs October-January 2023; we’ve heard it may go 24 weeks beyond January. Electrified vehicles beyond Pacifica Hybrid were promised to Windsor in the 2020 union agreement, by the 2025 model year. A companion crossover is likely but not the previously predicted American version of the Grand Commander.

Airflow: BEV to start production in 2024 or 2025, sits on STLA Large. The name may or may not stay.

Dodge

2025 Challenger and Charger: A new Challenger was coded LB and was set to be produced with 4xe base engine, Hurricane optional, BEV version. In late July, Motor Authority quoted Dodge spokesperson Dave Elshoff as saying, “...the Charger/Challenger platform and its Hemi (V-8) power go away after 2023. The unnamed replacement will be BEV," he said. (FCA US has renewed its Cuda trademark for vehicle names again). Our information came from an impeccable source; the only conclusion we can draw is that plans changed, as they do. Stellpower suggested a hybrid using ZF’s 8HP transmission, which is designed for hybrids. They suggested it could be a Hurricane hybrid—the top Hurricane engine is currently rated at 510 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, which puts it in final-Viper turf. Indeed, it’s possible this powertrain will be shown without a car.

The amount of work put into the E85 Hellcat Demon 170 suggests that new technologies may go into the Hurricane engine for high performance as well. This is a 1,025 horsepower monster with up to 3,300 copies to be made.

Hornet—what everyone got wrong. Most sources’ insistence that the Hornet would be a 1.5 turbo hybrid or our own speculation that maybe it would have the 1.6 turbo was wrong. Everyone was right that it’s mainly a retuned, redone Alfa Romeo Tonale, which itself owes much to the Compass. We said it was “a plugin hybrid, but perhaps downtuned from Tonale a little, and perhaps even running on regular gas.” What we actually have are two powertrains, one 1.3T plus electric boost, and one 2.0T—for a pretty impressive new car, given the price and competition. (FWIW the 2.0 is apparently runnable on regular fuel with more power on premium, like the Mazda3 turbo.) See our Hornet page.

In other news, Belvidere, IL may get STLA Large-based vehicles including a possible Cherokee replacement. Full EVs are likely to be made in Brampton. The next generation is due for model-year 2024, and Belvidere is likely ending Cherokee production midyear in 2023. (Brampton cannot handle tall vehicles, Belvidere can, but this may change during the renovation.)

For the BEV large cars, Stellantis targeted a top 0-60 mph acceleration of under 2.0 seconds, with a 500 mile range. They may follow the Hyundai Ioniq 5 model, where one model has two driven wheels and a longer range, while the other is much faster and AWD, but with a shorter range (in Hyundai’s case, the difference is less than 50 miles).

A new Durango Hellcat is being produced for 2022-23, along with a factory-warranteed Challenger conversion (at $26,000 plus Challenger), and some special edition big cars as they get into their final year.

The future Durango is now expected to be based on the Wagoneer, focusing on towing. Similar basic body, stripped of the luxury. Unlikely to have the 392 V8; likely to have at least the standard output Hurricane.

Ram

The Hurricane Six almost certain for the Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500. A hydrogen version of the Cummins 6.7 liter diesel engine may be used on the Ram 2500-3500 and chassis cab series; it might be ready by 2024 or 2025. They may use fuel cells instead.

The ProMaster gets a BEV version in 2023 or 2024; ProMaster City likely too as well since it’s needed for Europe. ProMaster City will be redesigned for 2024 and that’s when the 2.4 engine is likely to gasp its last breath. 1.3T production has to go up first. There may be a hydrogen fuel cell version of the ProMaster eventually, using Peugeot’s swap-power technology.

A Mitsu L200/Ram 1200 replacement is being developed; this may be key to spreading Ram through the rest of the world. Whether the existing Peugeot compact truck goes further is an open question. FCA US trademarked “Dakota” and has been talking about a midsized pickup for a while—but allowed the Dakota trademark to lapse in October 2021, suggesting that a replacement, if sold in the US, won’t carry the same name.

Ram 1500 REV

Ram 2500-5500 “Low Carbon Fuels”

Cummins is reworking its B-engine family to adapt it to natural gas, propane, gasoline, or hydrogen; and Ram uses the 6.7 liter B-engine in its Ram 2500 to 5500 series trucks. This move could help end payments for fuel-economy credits to Tesla, because it makes hydrogen, propane, and natural gas powered trucks easier to produce and service. Cummins’ plan is to try to keep as many parts as possible the same below the head gasket, changing fuel delivery systems and such as needed; and Cummins plans to deliver full systems, including fuel storage, injection, and such, easing the investment demands on Ram itself. Ram is not guaranteed to buy the engines, which should start appearing in 2024; but they do have hydrogen as a solution for heavy duty pickups in their long-term plans. Of note, this is not a fuel cell system but a hydrogen internal combustion engine.

Jeep

Renegade is due to be replaced with a completely new vehicle going first to Fiat, around 2024. “The vehicle maybe to be known as Jeepster” will slot in underneath the Renegade in Europe and India; it’s around 16 inches shorter in length, runs a little Peugeot engine, the Peugeot BEV system, or a Peugeot hybrid powertrain, and may only have AWD in hybrid and/or BEV form. This vehicle will sit on Peugeot’s CMP, along with (we think) the future Fiat Panda and an Alfa Romeo whose name hasn’t been released yet.

KK Cherokee ended as we predicted, and will be replaced by the KM Cherokee. Compass is moving to a new platform. Either might share with the Dodge Dakota and be built in Mexico. Regardless, the 2023 Compass is getting the much hotter 2.0T engine with the nine-speed automatic.

Grand Cherokee: Jim Morrison, head of Jeep, said a 392 engine was unlikely to return, and Trackhawk badge might be dropped. Hurricane seems very likely. Full BEV seems likely. 4xe four cylinder hybrid is already here and seems to be a critical success.

Hurricane 510 (hp) is standard on Grand Wagoneer L and optional on other Wagoneers.

The Jeep Meridian (pictured above) is an upscale, extended-wheelbase version of the Compass for India and other countries—possibly not the US or Canada, though it might be sold there under a different badge (or even as a Jeep if it’s really as tough as Indian reviews suggest).

The Jeep Recon appears to be an addition to the Wrangler line, aimed closely at the Ford Bronco. Only available as a battery-electric, and larger than it looks (it’s the size of the Wagoneer S, on the STLA Large platform), the Recon has batteries low to the ground and no powertrain hump despite the AWD setup. The Recon looks smaller than it really is... (Note: the concept is shown below.)

The Recon will come with locking axles, skid plates, tow hooks, off-road tires, and removable doors and glass; it appears to have an independent suspension, which along with the larger size differentiates it from the Wrangler. It ran the Rubicon Trail on a single charge, with enough battery remaining to get from town and back. A BEV gets quite good range when going slowly, as one would on the trail.

The Wagoneer S and Recon, again, will both be sold entirely as BEVs. The Wagoneer S target range is 400 miles, with target power of 600 hp, and a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds. Production versions of both vehicles will be shown next year and production will start in 2024, probably in Canada.

Wrangler has a few years left till its planned 2027 redesign in spite of a great deal of new competition—both real (Bronco) and planned (VW’s new Scout brand). A Gladiator 392 is unlikely because Gladiator sales aren’t high enough to merit it. The Hurricane might be possible as a 392 replacement in the Wrangler and later as an option in Gladiator. If nothing else, Bronco and Scout may push Jeep to be more capable off-road—and perhaps to have an independent front suspension on all but one or two trim lines. (Jeep had an optional IFS on the original Wagoneer.)

A 2024 Wrangler/Gladiator update has been rumored at stellpower.com with 10.25 inch screens, upgrades to other electronics, and such, but no word is official yet.

Platforms and engines

Platforms: STLA Small, Medium, Large, and Frame. Frame is for pickups, Wagoneers, and possibly Durangos. Alfa Romeo is moving the Giulia and Stelvio to Medium around 2025-2027. A large number of new Larges is expected around 2024-25.

Engines: 1.3T GSE in Renegade, with hybrid in Hornet; 2.0 GME with or without hybrid; Hurricane Six. Tigershark 2.4 and 3.2 dying in mid-2023. Hellcat will be dropped in calendar year 2023. The other Hemis have unclear futures given the Wagoneer, Ram, Grand Cherokee, and ramp-up time for Hurricane and new types of powertrain.

A 1.6 liter turbocharged engine for hybrid powerplants was announced in August 2022; it will be based on the Peugeot EP6 series. The existing EP6CDTX has 201 hp and 203 lb-ft with a twin-scroll turbo and direct injection; a hybrid version pumps out 296 hp. A new version, likely to have even more letters in the name, will include an updated hybrid-electric system and transmission. As you can see in the chart below, the 2.0 4xe system is a fine replacement for the Hemi V8, while the plain 2.0T can replace the Pentastar. (2.0H and 1.3H are hybrids, but both are also turbocharged.)

The chart above shows the best power from each outgoing engine (the 3.6, 3.0 diesel, and 5.7 Hemi are all taken from the Ram 1500; the Hemi was rated at 375 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque in the Challenger with manual transmission and 372/400 in the Challenger automatic, for example). The Hellcat (6.2S) comes in 707 and 797 horsepower flavors, but an extra-high-power final version is expected to beat even the Demon.

The peak torque range of the new turbocharged engines is usually higher than in the models they replace. As an example, replacing the Pentastar with the 2.0T looks foolish on paper, but the usable torque of the 2.0T is stronger, and the engine is much quicker, in the same vehicle, than the V6 was.

Both the 4xe setup, which is a plug-in hybrid, and the 3.0 liter Hurricane straight-six clobber the old Hemi in torque; with the 4xe, electric assist is strongest where gasoline engines are weakest. The 4xe is more responsive, and in the Wrangler, it comes close to the 6.4 Hemi in acceleration.

The Hellcat is the toughest act to beat. The Hurricane currently tops out at 510 hp, 500 lb-ft, though a higher performance model was teased. Still, topping the Hellcat might require electric motors. Dodge is unlikely to settle for lower acceleration.

All of the newer engines increase the gas mileage of the vehicles they are in by a good margin, saving money for both the driver and for Stellantis, which has to pay hefty sums for fuel-economy credits each year.

More current / future cars and factories

Old	HP	Torque	New	HP	Torque
2.4	184	177	1.3T	177	200
3.6	305	269	1.3H	288	383
			2.0T	268-270	295
2.4+3.6	↑	↑	1.6T	180-300?	TBD
5.7	395	410	2.0H	375	470
			3.0T	420	468
3.0D	240	420	2.0H	375	470
6.4	485	475	3.0T	510	500
6.2S	797	707		TBD	TBD