Chrysler LLC’s First Production Hybrid Vehicles
- Hybrid fuel efficiency combined with full-size SUV performance, capability and utility
- HEMI® Hybrid delivers more than 25-percent overall fuel economy improvement
- Full-size SUVs boast nearly 40-percent fuel economy improvement in city
- HEMI Hybrid features Chrysler’s Multi-displacement System (MDS)
Chrysler and Dodge are bursting onto the hybrid scene in a big way.
With the introduction of the new 2009 Chrysler Aspen HEMI® Hybrid and 2009 Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid, Chrysler LLC delivers two hybrid-electric vehicles that combine fuel-efficient advanced-hybrid technology with full-size sport-utility vehicle (SUV) performance and capability.
“The new 2009 Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid vehicles will offer our customers the sought-after blend of performance, utility, capability and vastly improved fuel economy — all in one package,” said Frank Klegon, Executive Vice President – Product Development, Chrysler LLC. “Combined with Chrysler’s Multi-displacement System (MDS), our advanced, two-mode hybrid technology immediately delivers a more than 25-percent fuel economy improvement to our full-size SUVs — and up to a 40-percent improvement in the city.”
The 2009 Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid vehicles are Chrysler’s first entries in the hybrid market.
Capable of towing 6,000 lbs., the 2009 Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid vehicles deliver 385 horsepower — seamless, dependable power and performance on demand, in an efficient package. With an electrically variable transmission (featuring the best characteristics of an automatic transmission and hybrid drive) and two different hybrid modes of operation, the drive system dramatically improves fuel economy around town and at highway speeds.
The new 5.7-liter HEMI Hybrid is expected to deliver an overall fuel economy improvement of more than 25 percent, including an improvement of nearly 40 percent in the city. For customers who desire the performance and capability of a large SUV, the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango Hybrid vehicles will reduce fuel consumption by several hundreds of gallons of gas per year.
The renowned HEMI powerplant, in hybrid form, will continue to feature Chrysler’s MDS, which allows the engine to seamlessly alternate between four-cylinder mode when less power is needed and V-8 mode when more power is in demand. The two-mode hybrid system provides assistance from electric motors allowing the HEMI V-8 to remain in four-cylinder mode more often than without a hybrid powertrain, improving overall fuel economy.
Built at the Newark Assembly Plant in Delaware, the new 2009 Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid vehicles arrive in showrooms in mid-2008.
