Sleuth: The Week of September 28

Power surge at Chrysler: Since being purchased by a private company, Chrysler has been pretty much silent about its direction and its plans to offer new and relevant product at a time when high fuel costs and increasing environmental concerns have, almost overnight, turned the industry on its ear. So, it was with some relief that Chrysler LLC made public, Sept. 23, a new initiative that’s intended to put an all-electric car in the company’s lineup some time in 2010, although the plan is to actually put several models on the street, including an all-electric four-wheel-drive Jeep Wrangler. One of the more exciting vehicles undergoing evaluation is the Dodge EV, a two-passenger sports car with the equivalent of about 270 horsepower and nearly 500 pound-feet of torque. At the moment, the car has a range of about 150-200 miles at which point a “fill-up” necessitates an eight-hour recharge when hooked to standard wall plug. You can read all about it at a new Chrysler Web site: www.Chryslergoeselectric.com.