2017 Chrysler Pacifica Named Best Minivan in Popular Mechanics’ Automotive Excellence Awards
The all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is the best minivan in Popular Mechanics‘ annual Automotive Excellence Awards.
To select the award winners, Popular Mechanics editors drive all the relevant class contenders over the course of the year, then pick the vehicle that they feel transcends the competition. The full list of Automotive Excellence Awards is in the May issue of Popular Mechanics, on newsstands today.
“Over three decades, Chrysler has refined the category it invented, arriving at the current standard for minivan excellence,” said Ezra Dyer, automotive editor at Popular Mechanics. “The Pacifica looks sleek and low-slung without committing the unforgivable minivan sin of trying too hard. Other vans have disappearing third rows, but the Pacifica can hide its second row, too, instantly transforming from luxury people-mover to capacious cargo van.”
As the original creator of the minivan more than 30 years ago, FCA US has transformed the segment with firsts – notching 78 innovations through the first five minivan generations. With the introduction of the all-new Chrysler Pacifica and Pacifica Hybrid, FCA US adds 37 minivan firsts to its portfolio for an unprecedented total of 115 innovations in the segment, including the industry’s first minivan available as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica reinvents the minivan segment with an unprecedented level of functionality, versatility, technology and bold styling. Re-engineered from the ground up on an all-new platform, the Pacifica delivers class-leading gasoline and hybrid powertrains to the minivan segment. With more than 100 available safety and security features, the all-new Uconnect Theater rear seat entertainment system, and a full array of comfort and convenience technologies, the Chrysler Pacifica is a no-compromises minivan ideally suited for today’s families and has earned its spot as the most awarded minivan of 2016 and 2017.
The Pacifica Hybrid takes this revolutionary vehicle a step further with its class-exclusive, innovative advanced and class-exclusive hybrid powertrain. It’s the first electrified vehicle in the minivan segment and achieves 84 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) in electric-only mode and 33 miles of all-electric range.
