5379 Chrysler Group, working in partnership with the 5275 US Department of Energy (DOE), will deliver 10 demonstration fleet Ram 1500 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) pickup trucks to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The vehicles are part of a national demonstration fleet of 140 vehicles that will be used during the next three years to evaluate customer usage, drive cycles, charging, thermal management, fuel economy, emissions and impact on the region's electric grid. In addition to MBTA, eight other partners across the United States are slated to receive vehicles for demonstration and testing purposes."Cities have been carefully selected to help the Chrysler Group collect a wide range of data," explained Abdullah Bazzi, senior manager of Chrysler's advanced hybrid vehicle project. "Boston offers heavy traffic and urban driving that are ideal city test cycles. The constant charging will allow us to measure the impact on battery life and charging efficiency."Chrysler has delivered Ram PHEV trucks to the city of Yuma, Arizona, to take full advantage of hot weather and conduct thermal testing in the desert southwest. Other cities that have received the demonstration pickups include San Francisco and Sacramento in California, Albany, New York and Charlotte, North Carolina.Strictly a demonstration programme, Chryselr says there are no current plans for a production version of the PHEV Ram 1500 truck.
