The Chrysler Pacifica is a
minivan
Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...
produced by the
Chrysler division of
Stellantis. It is unrelated to the
discontinued crossover and concept vehicles by the same name and replaced the
Chrysler Town & Country
The Chrysler Town & Country is a minivan that was manufactured and marketed by Chrysler from 1990 to the 2016 model years. The third of the Chrysler minivans introduced, the 1990 Town & Country shared its nameplate with the flagship Chrysler st ...
for the 2017 model year. It is positioned as the higher-end
Chrysler minivan, above the
Dodge Grand Caravan
The Chrysler minivans are a series of minivans that have been produced and marketed by the American automaker Chrysler since the 1984 model year. Currently in its sixth generation, the model line is marketed worldwide, primarily in North Ameri ...
until 2020 and above the
Chrysler Voyager
The Chrysler Voyager (and the long-wheelbase Chrysler Grand Voyager) is a minivan produced by the Chrysler division of Stellantis. In the current lineup, it is positioned as the lower-end Chrysler minivan, having replaced the Dodge Grand Cara ...
(rebadged as the Chrysler Grand Caravan in Canada) since 2020.
The minivan is produced with two powertrains, a 3.6-liter gasoline-powered engine and a
plug-in hybrid. The plug-in hybrid version has a 16-kWh
lithium-ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also s ...
that can propel the car up to on
electric power alone. The gasoline-only version of the Pacifica minivan went on sale in mid-2016, while the plug-in hybrid version became available in early 2017.
History
Development
In June 2013, it was reported that Chrysler was preparing to produce a new generation of its Town & Country minivan at the
Windsor Assembly Plant
Windsor Assembly Plant (WAP) is a Stellantis Canada automobile factory in Windsor, Ontario. The factory opened in 1928 and Chrysler minivans production began in 1983. Windsor Assembly is Windsor's largest employer. The plant currently operates t ...
, with production set to begin in 2015 and a release for the 2017 model year. An industry analyst reported that the new version would possibly be a
crossover utility vehicle
A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles (S ...
in the vein of the
Pacifica.
In 2015, FCA CEO
Sergio Marchionne
Sergio Marchionne (; 17 June 1952 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing ...
announced that it would invest $2 billion in developing a new minivan, and overhauling the Windsor Assembly Plant to facilitate its production.
A company issued plan of future vehicles revealed that a new Town & Country would begin production in February 2016 for the 2017 model year, and that the final-generation Dodge Grand Caravan would be maintained in parallel with the new Town & Country as a lower-cost option during the 2017 model year, after which it will be discontinued. Marchionne has been against "duplicate
investments" in product development—a strategy reflected by his reduction of
badge-engineering
In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a manu ...
between FCA US's domestic marques.
On November 3, 2015, FCA filed to have its trademark registration on the Pacifica brand renewed; FCA's Head of Passenger Car Brands Timothy Kuniskis denied that this was related to any new products, and that it was standard industry practice to continue renewing its trademarks because "you don't want to lose names. Establishing new names is expensive."
Model years
Chrysler debuted the new vehicle on January 11, 2016, at the 2016
North American International Auto Show. Rather than being named the Town & Country, the new vehicle was branded as the Pacifica. The decision to drop the Town & Country brand was made primarily to distinguish the new vehicle from previous iterations; Director of Chrysler brand product marketing Bruce Velisek explained that the Pacifica was meant to "change the entire paradigm of what people know about minivans in the segment". Among its differences from the previous Town & Country is a new platform, and a design carrying a sportier appearance inspired by crossovers—a market segment that had cannibalized minivan sales—in an effort to disassociate the vehicle from other minivans with a boxier build.
Chrysler also changed the minivan's sliding doors: they will be aluminum and hands-free, opening automatically when the fob holder waves under them.
The starting price of the 2017 Pacifica was . This was less than the starting price of the 2016 Town & Country. The base model plug-in hybrid, called "Premium", started at and the high-end "Platinum" model started at .
Plug-in hybrid
The production of a
plug-in hybrid version was the first of its class in the United States, and according to chief engineer Kevin Mets, meant to create an electric vehicle that could feasibly be a family's "primary vehicle".
The Pacifica Hybrid has a 16
kWh battery pack qualifying it in the US for the full
federal tax credit and also to other incentives at the state and local level. In June 2017, Chrysler recalled 1,600 Pacificas to fix the electronics.
![Waymo-Pacifica](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Waymo-Pacifica.jpg)
On November 7, 2017,
Waymo
Waymo LLC, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google.
Waymo oper ...
announced that it had begun testing
driverless cars without a safety driver at the driver position using the Pacifica plug-in.
AWD version
The AWD option was made available in June 2020 for 2020 Touring-L models equipped with the AWD Launch Edition package. The Pacifica is currently the only minivan in the North American market to feature a traditional AWD system as the fourth-generation
Toyota Sienna
The Toyota Sienna is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Toyota primarily for the North American and select East Asian markets. It is named for the Italian city of Siena, in the region of Tuscany. It replaced the first generation Previa van ...
has switched to the
E-four system with the rear wheels driven electrically.
Chrysler Voyager
Starting with the 2020 model year, the low-end "L" and "LX" models have been separated from the Pacifica nameplate and are now sold under the Voyager nameplate in the United States. This marked the return of the Voyager nameplate to the Chrysler model lineup, in which it was last used in 2016, and the North American market, in which it was last used in 2003 in the U.S. and 2007 in Mexico. In addition to the L and LX trim levels, an "LXi" model is available to fleet customers.
In the 2021 model year, Canadian sales of the model started under the Chrysler Grand Caravan nameplate with trim level designations carried over from the outgoing
Dodge Grand Caravan
The Chrysler minivans are a series of minivans that have been produced and marketed by the American automaker Chrysler since the 1984 model year. Currently in its sixth generation, the model line is marketed worldwide, primarily in North Ameri ...
(as opposed to the former base Pacifica) and no equivalent to the LXi model.
This marked the return of the "Chrysler Grand Caravan" nameplate which was last used in 2007, primarily in South American markets.
The Voyager was restricted in the United States to fleet buyers for the 2022 model year.
It continues the pre-facelift design and includes a long list of features and equipment with only two options: (1) the "SafetyTec Group" (Advanced Brake Assist, Pedestrian Emergency Braking, Full-Speed Forward Collision Warning Plus, Uconnect 5 NAV with 10.1-inch Display, ParkSense Rear Park Assist System with Stop, and Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross-Path Detection System) and (2) the "Fleet Security Group" (Two additional key fobs and SiriusXM Guardian trial).
2021 facelift
A restyled 2021 Chrysler Pacifica was introduced at the 2020
Chicago Auto Show
The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Place
convention center. It is the largest auto show in North America.
History
Samuel Miles, formerly a promoter of bicycle shows, produced the first "official" Chic ...
in Chicago, Illinois. The 2021
model year
The model year (sometimes abbreviated "MY") is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured.
...
Pacifica featured new exterior styling and is now available with all-wheel-drive (AWD) for gasoline-powered models. The Pacifica Hybrid versions use front-wheel-drive.
Unlike previous AWD Chrysler minivans, the AWD Pacifica retains the Stow 'n' Go seating. It is the first
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles vehicle to feature the new
Android-based Uconnect 5 infotainment system with a standard 10.1-inch high-resolution touchscreen display and wireless
Apple CarPlay and
Android Auto
Android Auto is a mobile app developed by Google to mirror features of an Android device, such as a smartphone, on a car's dashboard information and entertainment head unit.
Once an Android device is paired with the car's head unit, the syst ...
smartphone integration, as well as
Amazon Alexa
Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio ...
capabilities, as well as
SiriusXM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...
Satellite Radio and high-speed data connectivity. USB-C high-speed data and charging ports are standard equipment, and
TomTom
TomTom N.V. is a Dutch multinational developer and creator of location technology and consumer electronics. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom released its first generation of satellite navigation devices to market in 2004. ...
-based GPS navigation are optional. The "FamCam" rear camera system can display an image of rear passengers in place of a conversation mirror.
A new Pinnacle trim level adds "Pinnacle" badging on the front doors, unique leather seat trim, quilted leather pillows for the second-row seats, and unique exterior styling cues.
File:2021 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L, front 7.11.21.jpg, 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L
File:2021 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L, rear 7.11.21.jpg, 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L
Production
Production of the vehicle uses an all-new platform at the Windsor Plant in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Powertrains
![2021 Chrysler Pacifica S Hybrid 3of4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/2021_Chrysler_Pacifica_S_Hybrid_3of4.jpg)
The Pacifica uses a new revision of the 3.6-liter
Pentastar
The Chrysler Pentastar engine family is a series of aluminium ( die-cast cylinder block) dual overhead cam 24-valve gasoline V6 engines introduced for model-year 2011 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The engine was initially named " Phoenix ...
V6 engine, and is produced with two powertrains: gasoline-only and plug-in hybrid, the latter marketed as Pacifica Hybrid. The plug-in hybrid version uses a 16-kWh
lithium-ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also s ...
, located under the floor under the second row of seats (the hybrid is not available with
all-wheel drive
An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand.
The most common forms of all-wheel drive are:
;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...
, eight-passenger seating, Stow'n'Go seating or vacuum), with an
all-electric range of
before switching back to using the gasoline engine. The battery can be fully recharged in two hours using a 240-volt plug-in system. The gasoline-only version of the Pacifica minivan went on sale in mid-2016; the plug-in hybrid version, in 2017. Chrysler expected the plug-in hybrid model to achieve a fuel economy of at least 80
miles per gallon equivalent
Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe or MPGge) is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative ...
,
and on December 1, 2016, the EPA announced the minivan achieved 84
MPGe
Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe or MPGge) is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative ...
.
Fuel economy
The Pacifica Hybrid operating in
hybrid mode has the highest fuel economy of any minivan available in the American market . The following table presents the official
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
fuel economy ratings for all powertrain variants of the Chrysler Pacifica.
Safety
NHTSA
IIHS
=2017
=
The 2017 Pacifica was tested by the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a U.S. nonprofit organization funded by auto insurance companies, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle traffic collisio ...
(IIHS), and its top trim received a ''Top Safety Pick+'' award:
:
* rating applies to models built after August 2016
=2022
=
The 2022 Pacifica was tested by the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a U.S. nonprofit organization funded by auto insurance companies, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle traffic collisio ...
(IIHS), and it received a ''Top Safety Pick+'' award:
Awards
As of December 2020, the Pacifica has earned 140 honors and industry accolades.
Among them:
* "Best Minivan of 2016" by Cars.com
* 2017 "Best New Large Utility Vehicle" by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC)
* "2017 North American Utility of the Year" by a panel of automotive experts
* 2017 Family Vehicle of the Year by the Midwest Automotive Media Association
* "2017 Drivers’ Choice Award for Best Minivan" from ''MotorWeek''
* "2017 Crossover-SUV of the Year" by the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press
* "Top Minivan of 2017" by ''New York Daily News'' Autos Team
* Best Minivan by ''Popular Mechanics'' as part of its 2017 Automotive Excellence Awards
* 2020 Pacifica Hybrid: Top Consumer Rated Van/Minivans of 2020 by Kelly Blue Book
* 2020 Best Family Car by ''Parents magazine'' as the "Best Eco Pick"
*2021 ''Consumer'' Guide Best Buy award (for the fifth year in a row)
*2021 Pacifica won the 2020 CarBuzz Family Fun award
*2021 shortlisted for the 2021 Car of the Year by ''Motor Trend''
Marketing
In April 2016, Chrysler launched a television advertising campaign for the Pacifica entitled "Dad Brand", featuring comedian
Jim Gaffigan
James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...
and his children.
In October 2016, Chrysler launched a social media-oriented campaign known as "PacifiKids", featuring videos in which unsuspecting families shopped for the vehicle at a dealership staffed entirely by children.
The Pacifica has also been used in cross-promotional campaigns for the films ''
The Secret Life of Pets
''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney (in his feature directorial ...
'' and ''
Incredibles 2
''Incredibles 2'' is a 2018 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to ''The Incredibles'' (2004) and the second ...
''.
Total sales
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Chrysler
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Pacifica 2017
Front-wheel-drive vehicles
Minivans
2010s cars
Cars introduced in 2016
Plug-in hybrid vehicles
Cars of Canada