While other automakers look to the high-end luxury segment to build out their zero-emissions portfolio, Stellantis is taking a more, shall we say, earthy approach. For one thing, the first vehicle in its ZEV portfolio was a Jeep. And not just any Jeep, but the endearingly basic, mud-in-your-face Wrangler. An odd choice, given a market space dominated by Tesla luxury sedans and “cyber” play-truck thingies.
And yet, according to Christian Meunier, Jeep’ s global CEO, the Wrangler 4xe is “by far” the number-one selling plug-in hybrid in America, its combination of low-emissions driving and bountiful electric torque resonating with an audience that most thought would be too hidebound to buy into the hype that is lithium-ion.
Buoyed by that success, Jim Morrison, Jeep’s head of North American operations, recently announced that, “by the end of 2025, our full lineup will be electrified. Not only that, but four of those vehicles will be full-electric BEVs.” And, while some of these new fully battery-powered Jeeps will be luxury models that compete with the Teslas, Audis, and BMWs in luxury segments, at least one, the Recon, will be specifically targeting the same hardcore off-road enthusiasts as the Wrangler 4xe.
Few details are being proffered other than that the Recon will be a) offered only as an EV; and b) it will be fully trail-rated. Morrison declined to delve into the specifics on its abilities, but did claim that its approach and departure angles would be in the same league as the (four-door) Wrangler. It will also feature what Morrison calls “authentic Jeep open-air freedom,” with a one-touch power top and removable doors. In other words, it’s a Wrangler without the gas motor.
And, because Morrison knows that loyal Wrangler owners are probably worried about the future for their beloved trail-busting icon, he emphasizes that the Wrangler is not going anywhere, Jeep instead doubling down on serving its traditional hardcore audience. Recons will start production in 2024 — and yes, there is some hope of it being assembled here in Canada to take advantage of the new Stellantis-LG battery manufacturing plant in Ontario — but Jeep will be accepting deposits for the new Recon BEV SUV in early 2003.
The first Jeep to go all-electric, however will be the new Avenger. Compact and obviously designed as an urban guerrilla, export markets such as Europe and Japan will see the Avenger as soon as 2023, as part of plans there for a fully battery-powered future by 2030.
In fact, Antonella Bruno, head of Jeep Europe, says that most of its European portfolio “will be electrified” by next year. In Italy, the company’s largest market in Europe, Jeep is the number one purveyor of low-emissions vehicles, with PHEV versions of the Compass, Renegade, and Wrangler; Avenger will be its first full electric, boasting a 400-kilometre range. It will also, says Bruno, be “fun” and “emotional,” all the while offering traditional Jeep attributes like “impressive for its segment” ground clearance, breakover, and approach angles.
More mainstream, at least here in size-obsessed North America, will be the Wagoneer S. Offered only as a BEV, claims of 600 horsepower and a 3.5-second sprint to 60 miles per hour (96 km/h) dominate the headlines. Like its gasoline-fueled namesake, the S will, of course, feature berm-pounding all-wheel-drive, though in the BEV’s case, that will mean an electric motor at each axle rather than a Quadra-Trac transfer case.
Unlike other Jeeps — including, again, its ICE namesake — the Wagoneer S is not your typical as-aerodynamic-as-a-brick Jeep, with Ralph Gilles, Stellantis’ chief design officer, unveiling an extremely innovative rear fastback design married to a huge rear wing that looks like it was lifted right off a Le Mans GTP car. Calling it ”my favourite part of the design,” the combination melds a gigantic spoiler with the fastback roofline to appear at once both traditionally and sleekly aerodynamic. I think it’s the first truly innovative SUV styling flourish since BMW introduced its X6 sport-activity coupe more than a decade ago.
A little less convincing is Gilles’ claim of 400 miles — 640 kilometres! — of “estimated range.” Considering that the longest-range SUV of any size is Tesla’s $156,000 100-kWh Model X with a 560-kilometre range, that might be stretching the Jeep brand a little too far.
Stretching that, um, optimism even further is a new battery-powered Grand Wagoneer, which Morrison promises will able to drive from New York City to Toronto — 800-plus kilometres! — “with only one initial charge.”
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The reason that claim so defies credibility is that there is currently only one electric vehicle in the world rated for that kind of range, the Lucid Air. In fact, there is only one iteration of the Air — the Dream, with 19-inch wheels — with that kind of range, and I’ll remind you that the Lucid is a lightweight carbon-fibre sedan with the aerodynamics of a raindrop, descriptors that don’t apply at all, of course, to a seven-passenger Grand Wagoneer.
More typical of thick-as-a-brick SUVs is the 49 kWh/100 miles (31 kWh/100 km) that a Rivian R1S consumes. With that kind of consumption, for Jeep to claim that 500-mile range — again, 800 kilometres — the Grand Wagoneer would need a 245-kilowatt-hour battery. I’d remind you that the top-of-the-line GMC Hummer boasts but 212.7 kWh, and its battery alone weighs in at an incredible 1,329 kilograms (2,923 pounds), more than an entire Hyundai Kona! Even with more modest consumption — say the 21.4 kWh/100 km that a Range Finder’s top-performing Genesis G80 averages on the highway — 800 kilometres of range would require a whopping 171.2 kWh. I wouldn’t want to say that Morrison picked this number out of thin air, but I do think a little of the Missouri “Show Me” principle awaits the Grand Wagoneer in 2025.
That said, while everyone else is chasing Tesla down a rabbit hole in their quest for electrification, Stellantis, led by Dodge and now Jeep, is looking to carve out its own unique niches in the otherwise moribund EV segment. Dodge’s Mopar Muscle attacks the very core of the North American performance segment, while Jeep’s focus on electrification, as Meunier so eloquently puts it, “helps ensure millions of Jeep fans around the world have a planet to play on, to explore, embrace, and protect.”
Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!
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