Minivans are kinda like sweatpants. Every mom secretly loves them, but most never, ever want to be seen in them. No matter how practical, easy, or economical it is, a minivan, like sweatpants, feels like you’ve given up. The husband says “no, it’s cool”, “it’s kinda sexy” & “you look great”– we all know he’s either saying ‘please drive a cheap car so I can get something fast’ or ‘please drive something dorky so other men won’t hit on you.’ Either way, we women lose.
Enter the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV:
I drove it from Santa Monica to Culver City, to West Hollywood, to Malibu, to Agoura Hills, and back to Santa Monica again, and my fuel gauge didn’t budge. At one point, I was averaging 66 mpg. That’s because this is no ordinary, old minivan —this is our first plug-in hybrid minivan (PHEV Pacifica), and it’s fantastic.
Putting The “P” In The PHEV Pacifica
Now, I’m not gonna say it’s beautiful. ‘Sexy’ is not in its top 10 attributes. But with the right finishes and wheels, this box could go from ‘meh’ to ‘well alright.’ More importantly, it’s appealing in ways that no other minivan has ever been before. Let’s get down to business:
The Pacifica is the US’s first plug-in hybrid passenger minivan
- It gets 80 MPGe in the city and has a range of 30 miles of all-electric
- It seats 7, with ‘Stow & Go’ seating in the 3rd row and a removable 2nd row
- The cabin is hushed, remarkably comfortable, and the technological interface is an excellent blend of intuitive and old-school. For example, there are buttons where you need them, a screen where you don’t.
- Name an upgrade and it has it (surround view camera, parking assist, adaptive cruise control, programmable key fobs, etc–I’ll tell you more about this is in my upcoming Pacifica video)
- It’s got a transferrable warranty (up to 5 owners) with 15 years/150,000 miles covered
- It’s Forward Collision Warning saved me and my co-pilot from totaling a Tesla on Sunset
And then there’s the pricing. You may want to sit down for this one:
*Being a plug-in hybrid, it qualifies for the $7500 federal tax credit. Plus, if you live in places like California, Massachusetts or New York– you’ll get an additional tax credit from the state. In many cases, this will mean that the fully loaded $47,885 minivan will cost you closer to $37k, making it even CHEAPER than the gas model. Too good to be true?
*I know, I thought the same thing. I’m not sure how Chrysler is getting away with it, but who cares? Get one before the incentives change, and you find yourself driving a Prius!
I’ll do a full review of the Pacifica video (complete with kids) in early December.
The second-row seats on the hybrid are said to be more contoured, more thickly padded, and thus more comfortable than in the gasoline-powered versions, because only the latter have the Stow ‘n’ Go seats that need to fold into underfloor compartments. In the plug-in hybrid Pacifica, what would have been those compartments hold the batteries, so there’s no place for the seat to disappear into. Chrysler took advantage of that to put more comfortable seats in their hybrid vans.
Second row seat bottoms need to be 14 to 15 inches high or you’ll be sitting with your weight on your hips and rear buttocks, NOT comfortable for long distances. My 2004 Odyssey seats are 15″ high and very comfortable. For reference, standard seat height of a chair is 18″.
I’d drive it.