Chrysler may show battery-powered Pacifica at CES 2017, report says

's excellent new Pacifica is already home to the auto industry's first-ever hybrid minivan, and the Auburn Hills, Michigan, automaker may be about to become the first in the business to offer a pure electric minivan, too.

That's according to a new Bloomberg report, which says that Chrysler Automobiles will show off a battery-powered version of its Pentastar-badged people mover at CES in January.

It's not immediately clear if the rumored vehicle is planned for production, or merely a concept.

Few details have been provided, but the reported Las Vegas debut is being seen as part of FCA's recent softening on electric cars . The company has long been viewed as being among the most reluctant automakers to embrace electrification. This, despite the fact that it sells a battery-powered version of its diminutive Fiat 500 city car in select states, as well as the aforementioned Pacifica plug-in hybrid, a model that just went into production. (The latter made waves in May for being named as the basis for a partnership with Google's ongoing efforts in pursuing fully autonomous cars.)

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Chrysler makes its Pacifica minivan electric, sometimes

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Despite the proliferation of electric-only offerings over the past few years, there remains a dearth of larger, family-minded vehicles on on the market. At present, if a Pacifica EV were to go into production, its closest competitor would almost certainly be the Falcon-doored Tesla Model X, a premium crossover that's not actually very similar in mission, capability or -- presumably -- cost.

When reached for comment by phone, FCA spokesperson Rick Deneau declined to comment on any future products or announcements for this story.