ok, 1st of all Tesla motors is a direct competitor of Chrysler in this electric car race. Tesla hired Mike Donoughe, Chryslers top engineer to head their own company. Which means some animosity between the two. And lotus may only produce the body for chrysler, if and when needed.

Also Chrysler has also been been working on these electrics for over 2 years, and they're VERY close to production according to my chat with Lou Rhodes (head of the ENVI electric car division) last week on the customer advisory board session. Infact they were planning the release of the car this spring 2009, but the high gas prices and low car sales forced them to put that capital into other more crucial areas like cost cutting and quality enhancements.
Last, lets not forget that Chrysler has been making and selling secondary electric vehicles for over 10 years. and these vehicles have top speeds of only 20 to 30 miles per hour.

So we can conclude that Chrysler isn't out if the game by any means. Infact they may be the 1st company to actually produce a working electric car even before GM. lets see what happens.