Last week, I argued that Dodge was wasting its time building muscle cars and hiring “badassadors,” and that what the brand needed to change its fortunes was a new electric minivan. That van already exists. Meet the Leapmotor D99.
The new D99 electric people-mover from the Stellantis-backed Leapmotor brand made its debut last week at Leapmotor’s 10th anniversary bash as a BEV packing a 115 kWh battery and 720 km (~450 miles) of range on the WLTP cycle.
That battery might be newsworthy, on its own, too. One of the latest new offerings from Chinese battery experts CATL, the new Leapmotor van’s battery pack is built on a 1000-volt high-voltage electrical system that promises both ultra-fast charging and reduced losses for better overall energy efficiency.
Driving the new D99 should be nice enough, but when you need it (or just can’t be bothered), an advanced ADAS powered by a pair of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8797 delivering some 1280 TOPS of computational power and supporting VLA (Visual-Language-Action) large language models can step in to keep you and yours safe and secure in a variety of driving conditions.
Call that ADAS a Level 2, Level 2+ if you like. Either way, it’s far more technology than CDJR dealers in the US are currently offering families who just want a quiet, comfortable, and electric way to move people and things from point A to point B.
All Stellantis needs to do now is admit that Dodge is on the wrong track, and start making moves to get some Leapmotor models ready for the US.
But wait – there’s more!
If you’re one of those people who (wrongly) believes that American buyers aren’t ready for a full EV, there’s a Leapmotor D99 for you, too. The company also announced plans for an EREV version of the van on an 800V platform that pairs a substantial, 80 kWh battery good for an absolutely massive 500 km (~310 miles) of pure electric range before a small combustion motor kicks on as a generator to keep the good times rolling.
Leapmotor still hasn’t released interior images or specs on the D99’s ICE, but something like the 1.5L DOHC four-cylinder found in the brand’s C10 and C11 EREV models feels right.
Top comment by Marlon
Totally agree - Chrysler is known for inovation with the minivan and Stellantis needs to stay relevant in the energy transition. Hopefully they can launch a full sized minivan on their Stellantis large platform that allows for 800V architecture. Even a Stellantis medium platform family vehicle (e.g. smaller minivan like the older Mazda5) on 400V architecture (but hopefully with optimized charging profile like VW or Tesla where charging speed is still good) would be welcomed. I'd hope they could actually offer both sizes of minivan.
Once we know more, we’ll update this post. Stay tuned!
SOURCE | IMAGES: Stellantis; via CarScoops, CNEVPost.
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