Chrysler to go all-EV by 2028

The future of the Chrysler brand was murky when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merged with PSA Group in 2021 to form Stellantis.

One year later, the vision is much sharper: The product-starved brand plans to debut its first battery-electric model by 2025 and will eliminate internal-combustion engines by 2028.

Stellantis is providing a glimpse of the road ahead with an electric crossover concept called the Chrysler Airflow being revealed Wednesday at CES in Las Vegas.

The company projects that the tech-laden crossover, which allows passengers to participate in video meetings and serves as an extension of their digital lifestyles, will have 350 miles (563 km) to 400 miles (645) of electric range.

The Airflow has Level 3 autonomous capabilities through the STLA AutoDrive system, developed in partnership with BMW, that can be upgraded wirelessly.

The Airflow concept sets the stage for what consumers can expect from the Chrysler brand as it revamps in the Stellantis era.

"It's definitely going in the direction that we want our future designs to represent," Christine Feuell, the brand's CEO, told Automotive News. "Something very sleek and dynamic, which is important. Battery-electric vehicles, in order to achieve your range targets, need to be aerodynamic. But we want to be able to do that in a very beautiful way, in an interesting way."

Chrysler was given a lifeline when Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in May that brand CEOs would get 10 years to execute a business plan.

The brand has been trudging along with just two minivan nameplates — the Pacifica and fleet-focused Voyager — and the 300 sedan.

While the 300 has received few updates in recent years, the Pacifica has been a hub for innovation. It's the only plug-in hybrid minivan on the market, and Waymo has been using it to test self-driving technology.

The forward-looking approach with the Pacifica will carry on with the next generation of Chrysler products.

The Airflow highlights the advancements coming to Stellantis through three new tech platforms — STLA Brain, STLA SmartCockpit and STLA AutoDrive — it is rolling out in 2024.

The concept is based on the STLA Brain software architecture, a system the automaker says will use over-the-air updates to "break today's bond between hardware and software generations, enabling software developers to create and update features and services quickly without waiting for a new hardware launch."

STLA SmartCockpit, the product of a joint venture between Stellantis and Foxconn, delivers artificial intelligence-based applications including navigation, voice assistance, e-commerce marketplace and payment services.

The Airflow has two 150-kilowatt electric drive motors, one in the front and one in the rear. The automaker said the concept is designed to handle larger motors if necessary, opening up the possibility for "future high-performance applications."

"The future of the Chrysler brand is really going to be rooted in transformation," Feuell said. "Transforming the brand to be focused on delivering clean mobility and seamlessly connected solutions that really improve the driver experience, but also transform how they think what's possible from a traditional automaker."