The Chrysler Halcyon concept is a reminder that the company can be more than minivans

Chrysler, approaching its 100th anniversary next year, used to make a variety of models but is now the brand best known for the Pacifica minivan. But today, the company is trying to make a bold statement about its future by introducing a concept car that’s about as far from a minivan as you can get.

The Chrysler Halcyon concept is a stunning, high-end roadster with an electric powertrain and fully autonomous capabilities. And while the automaker doesn’t have any immediate plans to put it into production, the Halcyon is intended to show that the minivan company is doing more than just sitting back and thinking about, well, a small car.

“We want Chrysler to be progressive, for sure,” Christine Feuell, CEO of the Chrysler brand, said in a recent press conference. “But we want to introduce advanced technologies and experiences to real life, and not just as a science project.”

Chrysler has said it intends to sell only electric cars by the end of 2028, and the Halcyon is intended to serve as a showcase for how the company will deploy future technologies. But it is not a production ready car, it lacks many important specifications like battery capacity, range, performance and more. Think of it more like a full-scale version of the cockpit display car that Chrysler released over a year ago at CES.

The Halcyon combines a host of technologies developed at Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, including the STLA Brain operating system, the STLA AutoDrive driver assistance system, and the STLA SmartCockpit infotainment system. The Halcyon concept is designed to bring all those products together as one integrated system.

The Halcyon is built on Stellantis’ STLA Big platform, which is one of the four platforms introduced during the car’s production. EV Day in 2021. (There is Small STLA, Medium STLA, Large STLA, and STLA Frame.)

Driving very low to the ground — Chrysler says it will have only about four inches of ground clearance — the concept also has four doors that open outward, like French doors, or as Chrysler calls them, “red carpet style.” A canopy with butterfly hinges on both sides also provides more clearance to get in and out of this ultra-low-profile concept.

Chrysler also uses a lot of recycled materials for the interior, including the automaker’s wing emblems created from crushed and recycled music CDs. Overall, the company says 95 percent of the interior is made from “sustainable” materials.

Naturally, artificial intelligence plays an important role in this concept, as does augmented reality and car connectivity. That includes AI voice assistants, predictive navigation, and over-the-air app updates. The Chrysler Halcyon is a car that will get to know you according to your preferences and can make changes to things like the HVAC system when you get into the car.

There are also many visual and audio features designed to make you feel better by creating a zen-like environment. And when in full freedom mode, the steering wheel yoke and pedals fold to create a more comfortable seating arrangement.

This concept is based on the idea that one day soon we will all be driving driverless cars that we own – a theory that has been largely debunked by experts. If and when we get self-driving cars, they will almost certainly be fleet-owned vehicles deployed for commercial services, such as delivery and robotics.

Still, Chrysler wants to be sure it’s ready for any autonomous future, so it’s tricking out the Halcyon accordingly. The concept (and possible future Chrysler vehicles) will come with self-driving features, such as “a retractable glass sunroof and a dimmable windshield and reclining seats for a unique Stargazing Mode.” It looks lovely.

In the briefing, Feuell admitted that Chrysler still has work to do before offering full freedom to its customers. “Autonomous driving performance is definitely very mature in Level 2 and Level 2,” he said. “As we get into Levels 3 and 4, there’s still quite a bit of development work that needs to be done to completely get rid of the hands, the eyes and still meet the safety requirements that we need to meet.”

Other futuristic and unconfirmed features include “Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT) technology to charge the car wirelessly while traveling, allowing for unlimited range.” The idea is that when you’re driving down the road with inductive charging capability — again, not something that’s available anywhere today — the Halcyon will charge itself. Chrysler says the concept will have an 800-volt lithium-sulfur battery, which it claims has an estimated 60 percent lower carbon footprint than other EV batteries.

Halcyon is a fun science project, but the real test will come in 2025, when Chrysler hopes to unveil its first electric car. The company has already shown the Airflow SUV, which is a near-production-ready prototype that could serve as the basis for a future EV.

The company discontinued the Chrysler 300 sedan last year, leaving the Pacifica and Pacifica hybrid as its only remaining models. It sold around 133,000 minivans last year, making it one of Stellantis’ best-performing brands. Whether that’s enough revenue to start the expensive process of developing an all-electric car lineup remains to be seen. But Feuell said the company is well positioned to achieve its goals.

“Look, I’d like to have more and faster,” he said. “We’ve improved brand profitability significantly over the last two years. And that’s helping to fund the new product development that you’ll see going forward.