What we bought: Chrysler's Pacifica was the perfect family plug-in hybrid, until it wasn't
. Eventually, I found my ideal Pacifica: a Limited 2018 model with low mileage, CarPlay, a tri-plane sunroof, advanced safety features and a 20-speaker sound system. There was no way I was going to look like a cool dad in a minivan, but at least I could have a bit of fun driving it.A week later, Carvana took away my RAV4 as a trade-in and delivered the Pacifica to my driveway. It was love at first sight.
The sheer practicality of the Pacifica also won me over quickly. The Pacifica's sliding doors made it a cinch to install my daughter's 30-pound car seat, and I appreciated having much more room for child loading/unloading. Being a minivan, its trunk area was massive, even if I decided to have the third-row seats opened up. Those rear seats are a serious upgrade over mid-size SUVs, where they're only meant for children.
Things got even better in the driver’s seat, where the Pacifica’s UConnect infotainment system finally made me feel like I was driving a modern car. The 8.4-inch screen was bright enough to be clearly visible in direct sunlight , and it had a surprisingly responsive touchscreen. While I was most excited to have CarPlay integration, it was nice to see that UConnect’s entire interface could be customized as easily as an iOS device.
While I’m sure nobody would ever mistake the Pacifica for a Tesla, I definitely surprised some local drivers when I zoomed ahead of them at stop lights. That’s the power of EV torque in action: It was so smooth, it never felt like I was driving a large minivan.My family and I had a blissful first few weeks with the Pacifica. We rarely exceeded the 30 miles of EV range we typically saw every day , which meant the gas gauge pretty much stayed put.
Sadly, our car was among the recalled models, so now we’re stuck using it like a standard hybrid. The Pacifica is still a very nice family minivan, but without EV driving it just felt less special to me. Occasionally, its regenerative brakes will gather enough juice for a bit of electric fun, but it’s never too long before the V6 engine kicks in and it starts guzzling gas again. We’re also not getting anywhere near the 32MPG estimated mileage.