You’re probably considering a minivan because you’ve got kids, and the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is the only one that might help you leave a cleaner world for those kids, thanks to its roughly 30 miles of electric only range. When you’re out of juice, the gas engine kicks in, making it clean around town, and convenient on road trips. You pay a steep price for that electric driving capability, however.

The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid isn’t the best all-around minivan on the market, but it’s the only minivan that gives you gas-free driving. If that’s critical for you, this is your only option. Just know that there are better options on almost every other measure of a minivan.

The Pacifica Hybrid is a plug-in hybrid. Charge it at home or at a public charging station and you get about 30 miles of driving on electric power alone. That can go a long way toward lowering your personal carbon footprint if you intend to use the Pacifica Hybrid mainly for around-town driving (and have the ability to charge it regularly). Once the Pacifica Hybrid runs out of electric power, its gas engine seamlessly takes over, removing the range anxiety that can come with a full electric vehicle.

Speaking of range, the electric motor and gas engine together allows the Pacifica to cover over 500 miles before it needs to be charged or filled up, so you can make record time on any road-trips.

Like most minivans, inside the Pacifica Hybrid has plenty of space for people and cargo across three comfortable rows of seats. The interior is full of little cubbies and storage pockets, guaranteeing you’ll be finding mashed up fruit snacks long after your kids have left for college.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available, and the Pacifica has a large, but not class-leading, 10.1-inch infotainment screen. You can even tick the option box to make your Pacifica Hybrid a WiFi hotspot, so your family will always be able to update their Instagram stories (although they probably won’t because minivans aren’t very Insta-worthy).

Overall, this is a decent minivan, but it’s sky-high starting price and terrible reliability rating make it tough for us to recommend. Unless you simply have to have those roughly 30 miles of electric range, we suggest you look at other options.

The Pacifica Hybrid isn’t the only hybrid minivan on the market. The Toyota Sienna is also available as a hybrid, but not a plug-in. That means it can’t travel on electric power alone, but its electric motor helps it get great fuel economy: 36 mpg combined city/highway. Beyond that, the Sienna also starts about $15,000 less than the Pacifica Hybrid, though the Pacifica Hybrid does offer some extra features to make up for that price difference.

The Honda Odyssey isn’t a hybrid, but it is one of the best minivans on the market. While the Pacifica Hybrid can feel sluggish on the highway, the Odyssey does not. It also has a much lower starting price than the Pacifica Hybrid and a much better reputation for reliability.

The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid starts at $51,095. No, that’s not a typo, and no, the Pacifica Hybrid doesn’t come with a free yacht. It has the highest starting price of any minivan on the market, but keep in mind, it’s also the only plug-in hybrid minivan. Also, once you start adding in options on other vans that are standard in the Pacifica Hybrid, the gap between the prices narrows.

The table below shows the most common trim levels and how much they will run you.

There are no real changes to the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid for 2023. In 2021, it underwent a major refresh, giving it SUV-like styling and upgraded connectivity features, including Amazon Alexa (“Alexa, tell the kids to KNOCK IT OFF!”) and the latest version of Chrysler’s top-notch Uconnect infotainment system.

If you’re looking for a fun-to-drive minivan, stop right here and go get your head examined. Minivans excel at having comfortable, forgettable driving characteristics, and the Pacifica Hybrid pretty much lives up to that norm.

The Pacifica Hybrid is powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine in addition to its electric motor. Together, the two put out a maximum of 260 horsepower. However, the Pacifica Hybrid is pretty heavy, so those horses have their work cut out for them, and the Pacifica Hybrid can feel a little sluggish when passing or merging on the highway. Power is fine for driving around town, however.

The handling is, like most minivans, neither good nor bad. The Pacifica Hybrid handles turns fine, but never invites you to push it, which is good because this is a minivan. The ride is comfortable and smooth. An added benefit of the 30-ish miles of electric range is that it’s quiet too – perfect for when you have napping passengers.

The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid hasn’t been crash tested, but gas-only trims of the Pacifica have and those ratings can give you a sense of how well the Pacifica Hybrid might protect you in a crash. The Pacifica earns a five-star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with five star ratings for front and side crashes and a four-star rating for rollover.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated the Pacifica as “Good” (their highest rating) in all of their crash tests. The Pacifica earned a rating of “Marginal” (second worst) for its seat belt reminders and “Acceptable” for the ease of use of its LATCH system for installing car seats.

Other minivans are likely more reliable than the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. It gets a predicted reliability score of 67 out of 100 from JD Power, which is below average. Consumer Reports gives it a one out of five for reliability, which is pretty bad.

Our advice? If you have your heart set on a Pacifica Hybrid, lease it. By the time reliability issues crop up, they won’t be your problem.

With a base price that’s north of $50,000 you’d expect the Pacifica Hybrid to be loaded with standard features, and you’d be right. The base Touring model has pretty much everything you’d need, while higher trims, the Limited and Pinnacle, have features like rear-seat entertainment that you probably don’t even want (just give passengers their own tablets). The Pinnacle does offer a more upscale interior, but for a family car, quilted leather and lumbar pillows in the second row really aren’t worth it.

The Pacifica Hybrid has good, but not great warranty coverage. There’s a 10-year/100,000-mile warranty on hybrid components, and a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. There’s also a limited warranty that’s good for 3 years or 36,000 miles

• Basic: 3 years / 36k miles
• PowerTrain: 5 years / 60k miles
• Hybrid components: 10 years/100k miles

We can’t recommend the Pacifica Hybrid as a used car. Its reliability ratings are simply too low and its warranty coverage (which isn’t even transferable) is too short. If you’re considering a used Pacifica Hybrid, unless you absolutely must have electric-only driving, consider something else. Vans from Toyota or Honda have higher reliability ratings, and the Kia Carnival has a longer, transferable warranty, giving you more coverage on your used minivan.

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