Jeep is fully ready to embrace electrification and wants to become “the greenest, most sustainable SUV company in the world”, its boss has said.
A number of electric Jeeps are potentially on the cards, including an ‘adventure’ model making full use of the benefits of EVs for off-roading: namely instant torque to the individual wheel that needs it, reduced nature-disrupting noise and the ability to provide high-voltage power for camping.
“There are so many things we need to bring together to make Jeep a modern, contemporary brand that will break through and sustain for the next 80 years,” Christian Meunier told Autocar. “That’s a big transition in our world.
“There was a little evolution every year, but there’s a big revolution happening now. To make Jeep the greenest, most sustainable SUV company is a little bit of a challenge, but it’s the most exciting one.”
Meunier added that we’ll soon see a “lot of things we are working on, like BEV”. In Europe, the focus is on three core models: the Jeep Renegade, Jeep Compass and Jeep Wrangler. Jeep showcased plug-in hybrid versions of all three, badged 4xe, at CES in January, and is now subjecting them to cold weather testing in Sweden.
Meunier continued: “PHEV has a very strong role to play for us, we believe, because it gives a lot of advantages: a 50-kilometre [31-mile] range, zero emissions and then removes the [range] anxiety.
“So I think for markets like Europe and China, it’s critical.”
Former Jeep CEO and now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chief Mike Manley said in 2018 that there would be four EVs in Jeep’s portfolio by 2022. It’s not clear if this plan has been altered or wound back following the substantial executive reshuffling since that statement, but Meunier’s comments suggest launching EVs is still a priority for Jeep.
Meunier was quick to point out that electrification brings just as much in performance as it does ecological credentials.
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A plug in hybrid Wrangler
A plug in hybrid Wrangler sounds excellent.
Given that the Rubicon is already about £50k (and a LOT more expensive than it was just a few years ago), its going to be VERY expensive. But still not Defender expensive.
Part of the charm of the Wrangler has always been how well priced it was, and as a consequence how little they then depreciated, but with the lauch of the JL, FCA put the prices up massively so that no longer applies