Holy shit, I kinda want a minivan now.

"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr) 01/15/2017 at 17:28 • Filed to: pacifica, minivan, chrysler, van, hybrid, smug alert, phev, electric

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So, yesterday, I went to the Detroit Auto Show, and... now I kinda want a minivan. I don’t even have a use for one, and I doubt I’d like the driving dynamics, but I still kinda want one. Well, a specific one, anyway.

I went to the auto show with a group of TDI friends, and a few of us decided to focus on some of the electrified vehicles that were on display. Eventually, we made it back to the Pacifica Hybrid, possibly the least likely vehicle to exist, that was on the show floor. I mean, we’re talking about a product from FCA, one of the automakers most resistant to electrification... yet they beat everyone, including Toyota of all companies, to the American hybrid minivan market, and they did it with what appears to be a well thought-out plug-in product. And, I mean, Toyota’s been selling hybrid minivans since 2001 in Japan, and most of their minivans there are available in hybrid form, with two exceptions.

But, holy shit, the Pacifica is so damn nice inside. You can legitimately fit four people in total comfort (and I think it was a Platinum that we sat in, so it had the nicer leather - I don’t usually like leather, but that felt quite nice), and then another two can fit with plenty of room (but not comfort, thanks to Stow ‘n Go), or another three can fit depending on how big they are. (I mean, a 6'4" friend got in the front passenger seat, set it to be comfortable for him, then got into the second row right hand seat, set that to be comfortable for him as well, then got into the third row successfully.) Or, a crapton of luggage could fit once you collapse the third row (and a decent amount would fit even with it in place), the sheer amount of space is impressive, I forgot how big and useful minivans are. This blows away all the three-row crossovers for space, and I really wonder why people avoid minivans so much...

And, then, when you consider that the damn thing is rated for 33 miles of electric range, and once that runs out, 32 MPG city, 33 MPG highway, on regular... and the $7500 tax credit (16 kWh battery) gets you shit-tons of equipment for basically under $40k... yeah, I think I get why using high-end minivans as luxury cars is a thing in Japan and some other east Asian countries...

The biggest nitpick I had with it? The mirror was way too low on the windshield, and I could tell it’d obstruct forward vision. (And, of course, there’s the concern about how well FCA will support this thing, given Marchionne’s attitude towards electrification, and FCA’s financial situation...) Oh, and you can’t get the nice brown interior on a hybrid. Still, if I needed to haul a bunch of people and/or a bunch of relatively clean cargo... yeah, I’d consider it just based on how nice it is inside, and how efficient it is. (And, being an e-CVT of some sort, it’d avoid all the problems that I have with conventional automatics.)

lone_liberal > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 17:43

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I had a winter beater/ utility hauler minivan when I was single. It was objectively a piece of crap but it did the jobs it was bought to do and I can respect that. After I got married I eventually got rid of it because my wife had a burning hatred of all things minivan.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 17:46

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The other thing to consider is that the Hybrid doesn’t come with 2nd row stow-n-go, only third row stow-n-go. As for performance, figure a zero to 60 time of around 8.2 seconds.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 18:10

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Chrysler invented the minivan...

I am shocked that there aren’t any other hybrids, though. Toyota? Honda? Ford? Nissan? Someone must have made one.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 18:23

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Hnnng, minivans.

bhtooefr > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 01/15/2017 at 18:23

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I’m not actually in the market for anything new, this is just a declaration of “kinda want”.

And, having sat in a couple of them at the auto show... I consider second row Stow ‘n Go to be a bad thing.

hike > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 18:24

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This Pacifica really is a fantastic car. It’s not fun or cool or any of the things we generally like on Oppo, but it just works so well as a mode of transportation. I should know, I’ve got almost 6k miles on mine. Not a hybrid though.

SonorousSpeedJoe > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 18:24

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As G_Body_Man already noted, the Pacifica PHEV doesn’t get 2nd-row Stow ‘n Go because that’s where the battery is located. It also has different 2nd-row seats that are apparently much more comfortable than the ones in the gas-only Pacifica, since there’s no need to focus on making them stowable.

I’m hoping that Honda incorporates the MDX Sport Hybrid’s hybrid system into the new Odyssey soon, and I hope that Toyota makes a hybrid Sienna.

bhtooefr > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2017 at 18:36

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Toyota has a bunch, just not sold here - the Sienta (Yaris-based minivan), Noah/Voxy/Esquire (Corolla-based minivan), Estima (aka Previa in some markets, but it’s front engine, not the old Previa’s mid engine setup, in the generations with hybrid systems), and Alphard/Vellfire (large luxury minivan) are all available with hybrid systems.

Honda just released a hybrid version of the JDM (smaller) Odyssey, based on the US Accord hybrid’s system, last year.

Ford is a bunch of idiots for not doing a Transit Connect hybrid - they even have a powertrain on the shelf that would work - but then, being Ford, they’d probably utterly fuck up the battery packaging, just like they did on the Focus Electric, Fusion Energi, and C-Max Energi.

Nissan doesn’t seem to be very good at hybrids, so...

bhtooefr > SonorousSpeedJoe 01/15/2017 at 18:39

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I can confirm that, with about 30 seconds in a gas-only Pacifica’s second row, and a couple minutes in a Hybrid’s, the Hybrid’s second row is far more comfortable.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 22:23

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Fair enough. I usually wouldn’t have anyone back there, so I see 2nd row stow-and-go as an awesome thing.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > bhtooefr 01/15/2017 at 22:28

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We picked one up this past summer and love it, but the stow and go is the most useless feature and compromises the second row seat functionality for not much gain. I’d prefer the odyssey second row, and the Pacifica everything else. We’ve hauled 8 people around many times now, and it’s a great highway cruiser. A little softly sprung for my tastes, but makes it comfy. Needs awd too, a bit too much front wheel slip when punching the throttle.

bhtooefr > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 01/16/2017 at 03:55

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That’s the thing, I wouldn’t have anyone back there often either (which is why I won’t actually buy one, I rarely use the back seat in my Prius, let alone the third row in a van), but if I had a reason to buy one...

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > bhtooefr 01/16/2017 at 18:09

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I know what you’re saying.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/16/2017 at 20:00

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VW begs to differ...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 01/16/2017 at 20:10

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I’m not sure I’d call them minivans by modern standards. What we think of as minivans have always been FF layout on an extended car chassis.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 01/16/2017 at 20:25

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Well, the original VW Type 2 was based on a car chassis; like the Chrysler, it was a low-cost derivative of an existing passenger car. It was RR because that’s how the car it was based on was configured.

The best minivans have always been a little different (Vanagon, Previa, Mazda5, etc.) They may not always be based on passenger car chassis or have been the best sellers, but they always brought something interesting to the table.