Vans, in general, have come a long way from the days of air-brushed metal unicorns gracing the sides of Astro Vans (not that there's anything wrong with that, but you know what we mean).
Don't believe us? You only need to look at the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid thatwe recently had the chance to drive.
In case you didn't catch that, yes, this is an actual hybrid. Which really makes a lot of sense for a people mover and makes us wonder why more minivans aren't hybrids.
At any rate,check out the full review to see what we thought about the Pacifica Hybrid:
A minivan will never be a “cool” car to drive but if you need a vehicle to haul around a family and to be able to haul a full sheet of plywood, they are hard to beat. I really like minivans and am not ashamed to admit that plus I have never driven a plug-in hybrid, so I was excited to get behind the wheel of this one.
The 2020 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid has all the modern convivences that I look for in a car plus some nice extras that I didn’t expect in a minivan. Heated and cooled leather font seats, Apple CarPlay, a panoramic moonroof, and a full entertainment center for the middle row with separate screens. It is definitely an upgrade from the minivans I grew up with. Plus, it had plenty of room for my camera equipment when I took it to Orlando for a video shoot for the magazine.
The 30-mile range on electric is a really nice feature that for someone looking to get good gas mileage around town and still be able to drive wherever while hauling the entire family is very appealing. I completely drained the battery while driving it around the first day so when I got home, I plugged it into my house and woke up to a full battery for my trip to work.
Is this the ultimate minivan? No, but I think the Pacifica comes extremely close to ticking all the boxes and I am excited to see what happens when more manufactures break into this market.
My drive in the Pacifica started with a dead hybrid battery, a full tank of gasoline and a van full of project car parts. And, well, it drove just like a minivan should. Think “Camry but longer” and you’re right on the money. And that’s good! The whiny engine noise wasn’t, but what do you expect from a modern FCA product? The Pacifica handled a load of random car parts without breaking a sweat, and was super nimble as I backed it up to my garage, unloaded it, and plugged it in for the night.
Plugged it in? Yep! This van is electric, and not in a creepy ‘70s way. Two hours later (I have a 240 volt car charger at home), and the van had a full charge and 30 miles of all-electric range showing on the dash. After 30 miles, the van turns back into a regular hybrid, meaning I’d be able to drive to work and back every day on electric power, then use gasoline for longer trips.
Driving around town on battery power turned the droning engine off, lending a mostly-smooth, mostly-quiet drive that made the Pacifica instantly feel $10,000 more expensive than it had a few hours before. I say mostly because there is no all-electric mode, or at least none I could find, so any press of the gas pedal past halfway caused the gasoline engine to fire up and interrupt the silence. The van’s A/C condenser fan was louder than a 747 at takeoff, too, but it only bothered me while stopped.
So, is this Pacifica the best or worst of both worlds? I have mixed feelings on plug-in hybrids, and generally think they represent overcomplicated cars with too many compromises. That said, today they’re the only viable option for people who want to do their daily commute on electric power, but don’t want to own a second car for longer trips or pay dearly for a modern long-range pure electric. Case in point: My wife’s daily driver is a Honda Clarity, which I think represents the current state of the art of this particular niche of cars. Will they be around in 5-10 years? No, but just like throttle body injection smoothed the transition from carburetors to modern engine management, so to will these weird hybrids smooth our switch to electric cars.
Where does that leave the Pacifica? Well, I love the idea: It’s a giant vehicle that doesn’t carry the corresponding fuel bills. But I’m so-so on this execution. There’s one near deal-killer that trumps all others: This van loses the normal Pacifica’s second-row Stow ’N Go, which is the best feature ever invented on a minivan, and replaces it with battery storage. Surprisingly, the price is basically the same: The hybrid Pacifica carries about a $6000 premium, but makes the buyer eligible for a $7500 federal tax credit which means it’s basically a wash. After the tax credit, you should be able to own the base version of this van for somewhere in the low-$30,000 range.
So would I buy one? Since it’s the same price as a normal Pacifica, absolutely. No, this isn’t the best execution of a plug-in hybrid (where’s my Stow ’N Go and my EV-only button, and why does it only go 30 miles in electric mode!), but it’s the best van-shaped plug-in we have today, and I’d take it over a straight-gasoline version in a heartbeat.
Of course, whenever Honda uses the Clarity drivetrain to build a plug-in hybrid Odyssey, that will be a much tougher question.
The original Pacifica was kinda cool–a minivan-ish, mid-sized crossover that looked sporty yet, to be honest, didn’t make all the sense in the world in that, at least initially, it could only be had with buckets in the second row.
So, perhaps it was better for empty-nesters over growing families. Either way, it left us after the 2008 model year.
But, like so many good things in life–feel free to insert something clever here–the Pacifica badge has returned. This time it’s attached to a vehicle that’s closer to the traditional minivan, something that the company knows about.
And it’s also something that dominates Chrysler’s current lineup as the brand currently offers just four models: Pacifica, Pacifica Hybrid, 300 sedan and Voyager, the last on that list being just a plain Pacifica.
But what about the Town & Country? That’s so 2016–and, also, so 1996. That nameplate has been replaced by the Pacifica.
Okay, enough history. How does it drive? Fine. It delivers as expected. On gas power, performance is adequate, the interior is quiet enough, and the amenities are comfortable enough. It has most of the expected gadgets. It’s the minivan of minivans. Load up the team/crew/family/whatever and head out to sporting event/fast casual food/family get-together/whatever.
But does it need to be a hybrid? In electric mode, it can go just 32 miles. And this is in a day where a Leaf can now cover 200-plus per charge.
This is one of those where I’m going to say that you need to run the numbers, drive both versions, and do some gut checking. Is the Hybrid worth the price premium, even though the Tax Credit zeroes out much of it? Is it the answer to a question that no one’s asking? Does that little EV range work for you? Do you just prefer the hybrid driving owning/driving experience?
And then look five years into the future: What will the EV market offer, and how will this one have aged?
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