Tag Archives: Chrysler Pacifica

Pacifica: A Scary Good Minivan

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Let’s face it: when it comes to Halloween, capacity matters when it comes to candy

By Gary S. Vasilash

Although things are undoubtedly scary right now in Auburn Hills, one vehicle that is holding its own against its primary competitors is the Pacifica minivan.

Through the third quarter 92,386 Pacificas have been sold.

That bests both the Honda Odyssey with 59,248 and the Toyota Sienna at 50,789.

Taking advantage of the season, Chrysler has decided to name the vehicle “the Official Minivan of Trunk or Treat.”

Load up the Pacifica minivans for Halloween. (Image: FCA)

This isn’t entirely fanciful, as the vehicle does offer the Stow ‘n Go Seating and Storage System, the built-in Stow ‘n Vac, and the Uconnect Theater System, which are key features for the season. (Arguably any season, but. . . .)

The seating system is helpful because when the second and third rows are folded into the floor there’s more than 140 cubic feet of cargo candy space.

The theater system allows the showing of scary films.

And, probably the most-vital feature of all is the vacuum cleaner, because let’s face it: Halloween is probably has the highest level of debris-generation of any holiday.

Incidentally: the Pacifica is available as a plug-in hybrid, so there is built-in efficiency on the way to the trunk-or-treat venue.

Don’t Be Fuelish

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When I think “fuel economy” I think of, well, fuel. Liquid fuel. Gasoline. Things measured in miles per gallon, not miles per kilowatt hour.

So when I looked that the just-released “Model Year 2024 Fuel Economy Guide” from the U.S. Dept. of Energy I was more interested in seeing what the fuel economy ratings are for various vehicles, ignoring the full electric vehicles*, but giving attention to the plug-in and standard hybrids because in some cases, like minivans, there really is no option when consulting the “Fuel Economy Leaders”:

Minivans

  • Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid (PHEV): 48 mpg combined
  • Toyota Sienna 2WD (hybrid): 36 mpg combined
Pacifica PHEV gets a combined 48 mpg rating. Impressive. (Image: Chrysler)

Other top performers:

Subcompact cars

  • Audi A3 (hybrid): 32 mpg combined
  • MINI Cooper Hardtop (2 and 4 door): 32 mpg combined

Compact car

  • Toyota Corolla Hybrid: 50 mpg combined

Midsize car

  • Toyota Prius (hybrid): 57 mpg combined

Large car

  • Honda Accord Hybrid: 48 mpg combined

Small pickup truck

  • Ford Maverick HEV FWD (hybrid): 37 mpg

Standard pickup truck

  • Chevrolet Silverado 2WD (diesel): 26 mpg combined

Small SUV

  • Kia Nio FE (hybrid): 53 mpg combined

Standard SUV

  • Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid: 36 mpg combined

Something for everyone—especially those who don’t like to pay a lot at the pump.

*The whole MPGe ranking strikes me as being almost meaningless. While one could say the same for the mpg rating, I think that there is a notion that if a car gets 25 mpg and the average size of a fuel tank is at least 10 gallons (actually it is more on the order of 12.5, but that’s trickier math-wise), then 25 mpg means 250 miles. But unless someone knows the capacity of the battery and is able to do the math, the MPGe is a cipher.

Will Minivans Make It Once Again?

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By Gary S. Vasilash

One of the things that isn’t often cited with regard to the forthcoming VW ID. Buzz is that it is a minivan. Yes, an electric minivan. But nonetheless the type of vehicle that has more than its share of people who say they’d never be caught driving one.

In the U.S. market, the brand that really brought the minivan to the market back in 1983, Chrysler, is still there with the Pacifica. There is a plug-in hybrid option available for the Pacifica.

Toyota has the Sienna as a hybrid-only minivan.

And there are the Honda Odyssey and the Kia Carnival, although these are ICE-only (for now, anyway).

Which brings us to what they’re calling an “MVP,” or “multi-purpose vehicle,” but which one glance at its configuration says “minivan”: the Volvo EM90.

Volvo EM90: A minivan by any other name is still. . .a minivan. (Image: Volvo)

Volvo describes it as having an interior design that makes it “your living room on the move.”

For years (hard to imagine that the architecture is 40 years on) minivans have always had the most versatile and capacious interiors among light vehicles.

Will electrification make them more appealing to customers such that people will be boastful, not sheepish, about that comparatively boxy three-row vehicle in the driveway?

One thing about the Volvo EM90, however.

It is being launched in China and there has been no announcement it is going to be available elsewhere.

Perhaps if the ID. Buzz becomes a hit in the U.S. market Volvo may offer the EM90 there, as well.

Perhaps.