Jeep is ready for an electric safari.
After having opted for a strategy of small steps toward the electrification of its models, the flagship brand of Stellantis (STLA), a company born from the marriage between the American-Italian vehicle manufacturers Fiat Chrysler and French Peugeot, now wants to accelerate.
It must be said that time is running out and that investors are rewarding automakers with a clear vision of their electric future.
And until now, Jeep was not one of them. Its main competitors have taken a significant lead.
Ford (F) has reinvented its legendary Mustang and released an electric SUV, Mach-E, which is in high demand, according to the Dearborn, Mich., automaker. In addition, the electric version of the best-selling F-150 pickup, the F-150 Lightning is very close to starting production.
As for General Motors (GM), the company is preparing to launch production of the highly anticipated Lyriq electric SUV, the first electric vehicle from its high-end Cadillac brand.
GMC, GM's other brand, already sells the massive electric Hummer SUV.
Moreover, the electric Chevy Silverado pickup is on the way.
And as if that weren't enough, Tesla (TSLA) already offers the Model Y SUV, while newcomer Rivian (RIVN) is already gaining market share with its "all-terrain, all-weather" truck R1T.
Faced with this state of affairs, it seems urgent for Jeep to react. The brand does not currently offer any full electric vehicles, but markets a Plug-in-Hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe, and soon the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe.
Ambition or Panic?
But things are about to change, Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, said on Tuesday during the presentation of the company's strategy by 2030. To everyone's surprise, Jeep is not going to just launch a single electric vehicle by 2024 as the company had hinted.
But the brand will offer two, a real challenge as the development of an electric vehicle is expensive and requires a whole new manufacturing architecture that is very different from an internal combustion engine car.
Tavares said Jeep will sell its first full-battery electric vehicle in early 2023.
He revealed photos of this vehicle, which he did not give a name, just saying that it was a "lifestyle family" vehicle.
The CEO didn't give any technical details about this vehicle, or what segment of the market in terms of price Jeep was targeting. But the two images of the vehicle, one front and one rear, show a yellow colored SUV/crossover vehicle, that resembled the current Jeep Compass in size. But the rear looks like a Cherokee or a Renegade.
Tavares did not say whether this vehicle would be marketed in all its markets, particularly in the United States.
"We are setting the course for 100% of sales in Europe and 50% of sales in the United States to be battery electric vehicles by the end of this decade," Tavares said. "We plan to have more than 75 BEVs and reach global annual BEV sales of five million vehicles by 2030.
"Today, we are thrilled to present the Jeep brand’s first-ever fully electric SUV launching in early 2023," Tavares added.
Tavares did not stop there since he announced that Jeep would also market an all-terrain SUV from the beginning of 2024. He didn't give further details, but speculation points to an electric version of the Jeep Wrangler.
Being Competitive
Asked if launching two electric vehicles in less than two years wasn't a bit too ambitious and if it wasn't more or less an acknowledgment that the company was behind the times, Tavares said no.
"I'm a competitive CEO", he answered. "It's about being competitive.
"We are in the race and hopefully, I could convince you today that we are in a very good position to be leading this race, which is what we are working for every day," he insisted. "Europe and the U.S want electrification so we are going to compete, and we are going to be in the race for electrification."
The firm presented a concept of a full electric Jeep Wrangler during the 2021 edition of Easter Jeep Safari.
From what we've seen the Wrangler Magneto is an electric concept vehicle designed to show off what you might expect from a future electric Wrangler.
It's based on the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and seems to cling to many of the Wrangler's off-road skills, delivering power to match the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine, while retaining the 30-inch wading depth and featuring a skid plate and a plate skid to protect electrical components and batteries.
There are four batteries, spread out to keep the weight balanced, with a total capacity of 70kWh. It runs on an 800-volt system, with a custom motor that will deliver 273 lb-ft of torque and equivalent power of 285 hp.
The Jeep Wrangler Magneto can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 8.1 seconds, but Stellantis says nothing about range. But it's important to note that most cars with this type of battery capacity go around 250 miles.
Besides Jeep, Tavares reconfirmed that a Ram 1500 electric pickup will go on sale in 2024. The company will continue to expand its electric offering with a heavy duty model equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain that will provide a combination of long range with quick refueling capability.
