2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Reviews, Pricing & Specs

For 2023, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan is available in Touring L, Limited and Pinnacle trims. For this review we’ve got the mid-trim Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Limited with the S Appearance Package. This adds body-coloured door handles and exterior mirrors, gloss black surround on the grille and black badging and accents scattered about. The exterior is topped off with 18-inch wheels. Chrysler says they have a “Foreshadow” finish, but we’ll just call them black.

Up front, the split grille is surrounded by standard LED headlamps, and we like the LED tail lamps that span the entire width of rear. Although minivans don't have the cool cachet of an SUV, they're a more practical choice. As we noted in our review of the Chrylser Pacifica Hybrid last year, this minivan is essentially the same vehicle as an SUV, but it's equipped with helpful sliding doors and more cargo space.

If you want anything but a black interior, you’ll need to upgrade to the top trim. That’s not to say the Limited’s interior is bad, it’s just dark. The Nappa leather seats are handsome and the dash features a few sweeping lines, giving the interior a sophisticated notion. We like the chunky HVAC and audio knobs, but it’s possible to confuse them with the transmission selector dial, as the two controls are situated pretty close to one another.

The Pacifica is available with a non-hybrid gas engine, but our tester combines a 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 engine shared with Dodge and Ram vehicles with a 16-kWh battery and two small electric motors for added efficiency. It’s the only minivan available as a plug-in hybrid, and official ratings from Natural Resources Canada are 51 kilometres of all-electric range, 784 kilometres of total range, 2.9 litres-equivalent per 100 kilometers, and 8.0 L/100 km combined non-hybrid fuel economy.

However, in our time we saw better numbers. Filling the battery netted 53 km of electric range and 885 km of total range. Our combined L/100 km exceeded the NRCan estimate as well. However, keep in mind that buyers have to keep that battery topped off to get maximum efficiency.

On a Level 2 home charger, it took a mere two hours to stock the battery. We didn’t have a chance to plug the Pacifica into a standard outlet, but the van’s computer predicted a 14-hour charge time. That’s doable overnight, but installing a Level 2 charger at your house would be much more convenient.

The problem, unfortunately, is how Chrysler decided to deliver the electric power. The Pacifica defaults to all-electric mode first before switching to operate as a standard hybrid once the EV range has been depleted. That's manageable when driving in the city, where you observe the most efficient use of electrons with low speed and plenty of stops and starts. Once drivers get on the highway, however, the electrons are burned up pretty quickly.

If you have a commute that starts on the highway and ends in the city, you’re out of electric power before it’s the most useful. Chrysler says this is to provide a seamless driving experience, but we think it isn’t giving its customers enough credit. The beauty of other plug-in hybrids is that they allow drivers to hold the electric-only mode as they wish. With the Pacifica you’re locked into one way of using the electric power.

You have to give up a few features if you opt for the plug-in hybrid model as well. Gasoline-only Pacifica models are available with all-wheel drive (AWD) drivetrain, but the Pacifica Hybrid is front-wheel drive (FWD) only. It also doesn’t come with a spare tire and can’t be equipped with the towing package (other models can tow up to 1,630 kilograms or 3,600 pounds when so equipped). If these features are important to you, you should look at the standard Pacifica.

Having said all that, the Pacifica Hybrid is a nice-driving minivan. The 260 horsepower and 230 pound-feet of torque on tap are sufficient for highway passing, but don’t expect blistering acceleration (the non-hybrid Pacifica gets power specs of 287 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque from its V6). The continuously variable transmission (CVT) does its stuff in the background, working smoothly and without droning. The steering is a bit light, but that’s fine for this kind of vehicle. The battery is mounted in the middle of the Pacifica Hybrid’s floor, and the lower centre of gravity means it handles better than one would expect.

Parents will enjoy the Pacifica's available FamCam interior camera, keeping an eye on the little ones in the second row captain’s chairs and third-row seats. The technology even includes a view of the rear-facing child seat, and the driver can zoom to a particular seat if one kid is really misbehaving. Our test did not include any children, but it seems like a cool feature if you’ve got a misbehaving brood.

Our tester had heated and cooled front seats as well as a heated steering wheel. The driver’s seat is comfy and easily adjustable. The centre armrest can swivel up if you want a bit more room, but we found it an exceptionally soft place to rest our elbow. Second-row seats are comfortable as well, if a bit low. Taller passengers might feel like their knees are up around their ears. The centre pathway is big enough for an adult to maneuver into the spacious third row. And while there is enough room back there for a full-grown human to ride for an extended trip, taller folks will likely appreciate the few more centimetres of legroom available in the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna.

The Pacifica also gets Chrysler’s flat-fold Stow ‘n Go seats for the second row, but they are not available on the plug-in hybrid because the battery is in the place where the seats would normally go. This reduces the Pacifica Hybrid’s versatility. However, cargo space remains the same with 914 litres behind the third row. Fold those seats down and that expands to 2,477 litres. With everything folded, you have 3,978 litres of space. However, both the Kia Carnival and Honda Odyssey offer more space overall.

Insert sad-trombone sound here: other items from the standard Pacifica not available on the plug-in hybrid are the built-in vacuum cleaner and heated second row seats.

Every Pacifica, hybrid or not, comes with a 10.1-inch touchscreen running Uconnect 5. We like this robust system for its ease of use and crisp graphics. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity are both here, as is the ability to connect two phones via Bluetooth.

Our tester was equipped with the optional rear seat entertainment system. For an extra $3,145 this adds two 10-inch screens for second-row passengers with all kinds of apps and games for long road trips. Kids can also stream content from Amazon Fire TV (this also works on the front row screen when the van is parked) or through the HDMI port. However, it’s tough to justify the extra coin for this feature when most kids already have phones or tablets that do the same thing.

Devices can be charged through the myriad USB ports, both USB-A and USB-C, scattered throughout the cabin, including the third row. There are also 12-volt outlets, a 115-volt outlet, auxiliary ports and wireless charging. No phone should ever be without a charge in this vehicle.

The Pacifica has plenty of standard safety features and driver assistance technologies. Blind-spot monitoring, forward collision warning, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, pedestrian automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking assist and adaptive cruise control are all standard across the board.

Thanks to quickly stopping traffic, we got to experience the forward collision warning system with both a visual alert and an audible alert with at least two separate but continuous chimes and tones. It certainly does get one’s attention. We also give credit to the adaptive cruise control system, with its smooth braking and quick acceleration once a slower car moves out of the way.

However, not all features are standard. If you want help with parallel parking or front and rear parking assist, you’ll have to add a package or opt for the top Hybrid Pinnacle trim.

The 2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid has not yet been rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but the virtually identical 2022 version received an overall safety rating of five stars. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives it Good marks across the board except for Marginal grades for seat belt reminders and Average grades for headlights and LATCH ease of use.

The 2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid starts at just shy of $60,000 in Canada before the $2,095 delivery charge for a Pacifica Hybrid Touring L model—a significant premium over the standard Pacifica. Our mid-trim Pacifica Limited with the S Appearance package and rear seat entertainment comes to $71,230 including destination. Yikes.

This is eased somewhat by the federal governments concessions that give Canadian-built PHEVs full credit in the iZEV EV incentive program. Because of this, the Pacifica Hybrid qualifies for a $5,000 rebate in every trim. The two lower trims also qualify for an additional $5,000 rebate in Quebec, $2,000 in British Columbia, $3,000 in Nova Scotia, $5,000 in New Brunswick, and $3,250 in Prince Edward Island.

Still, if fuel economy is your jam, the plug-in hybrid is the way to go. In addition to offering some all-electric range, our tester’s 8.0 combined hybrid rating also beats the gas-only powertrain’s 10.6 L/100 km combined with FWD.

Meanwhile you can get a Toyota Sienna with a non-plug-in hybrid power plant for just over $45,000. You won’t get as robust an infotainment system, but you’ll actually get better fuel economy (6.6 L/100 km combined in the FWD model). The hybrid powertrain is standard across the board in the Toyota Sienna, which means you can get it with AWD. Or you can get a top-tier Kia Carnival for just under $50,000 before fees with Highway Drive Assist and Kia's cool in-dash blind-spot camera. However, the Carnival doesn’t have a hybrid option and returns 10.6 L/100 km combined.

In Canada, Chrysler puts a three-year/60,000-kilometre bumper to bumper warranty as well as a five-year/100,000-kilometre powertrain warranty on the Pacifica. The hybrid gets an extra bump for its battery, extending to 10 years or 160,000 kilometres.

We like the Pacifica for its great technology and premium design. And with incentives available of up to $10,000 depending on where you live, the math adds up. But it’s tough to recommend this minivan when it doesn’t include some of the Pacifica’s best features and doesn’t give drivers full control over their EV driving experience.

Note: Images show a US model.