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Jeep Springs Its First BEVs

Four all-new, all-electric Jeep SUVs prepare for launch in 2023-24.

Jeep Recon offers a pushbutton retractable roof. Exterior door hinges ease door removal for open-air driving. (Jeep)

Four all-new, battery-electric models will spearhead Jeep’s plan to electrify 100% of its product lineup by 2025, the Stellantis brand announced on Sept. 7. The quartet of BEVs includes the 4-door Jeep Recon and an electric Wagoneer code-named Wagoneer S, to be built in North America, and the Jeep Avenger, a compact 5-door SUV that will be built and sold in Europe. Jeep executives noted a fourth new BEV model also is in the near-term launch pipeline but provided no details.

Code-named Wagoneer S, the first electric premium Jeep SUV features a new focus on advanced aerodynamics. (Jeep)

Avenger enters production next year, with Recon and the Wagoneer S following in 2024, said Christian Meunier, Jeep brand CEO. The “4xe” used to delineate Jeep’s current range of plug-in hybrid vehicles will also serve as an umbrella for the new battery-electric models, with Meunier explaining that “4xe is a forward-thinking strategy” aimed at transforming Jeep  into “the leading electrified SUV brand in the world.” The BEV escalation aims for 100% of Jeep’s European sales and 50% of U.S. sales to be all-electric by 2030, in line with Stellantis’s corporate net-zero carbon emissions-reduction target.

Jeep currently manufactures two PHEVs, the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. The plug-in Wrangler is the top-selling PHEV in North America, according to Jim Morrison, head of the Jeep brand in the region.

Jeep Recon and Wagoneer S BEVs

Compact Jeep Avenger launches in Europe in early 2023; it will not be sold in North America. (Jeep)

Picking up the Recon badge from a current Wrangler off-roading package, Jeep creates a vehicle that fits in the product lineup between Wrangler and Cherokee, but “definitely inspired by Wrangler,” noted Ralph Gilles, Stellantis chief design officer, during the vehicle reveal. Recon’s removable doors and glass, power-operated retractable top, locking electronic drive axles, extensively skid-plated underbody and U-Connect telematics should serve it well as a Ford Bronco fighter – one with zero tailpipe emissions. Jeep Recon will be sold in major global markets.

The premium 5-door midsize electric Wagoneer S is expected to share elements of its modular battery and propulsion system with those of Recon, according to Stellantis engineering sources who spoke with SAE Media. The longer-overall Wagoneer will carry a larger, more energy-dense battery pack that Meunier said will help it deliver an estimated 400 miles’ (644 km) range on a single charge. Generating an estimated 600 hp (447 kW) peak, the electric Wagoneer S will be capable of 0-60 mph (96 km/h) acceleration in around 3.5 seconds, he said.

Gilles highlighted the focus on aerodynamic efficiency in the Wagoneer S exterior design, including a notably EV-like nose (fitted with a very narrow, LED-lit take on Jeep’s slotted grill) and a slickly-executed “wing” at the rear roof/backlight intersection that harkens to the classic Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, albeit lower profile.

Jeep Avenger for Europe

By the end of 2022, Jeep’s product range will be 100% electrified in nearly all European markets. The entire range will be BEV by 2030, the company promises.

First revealed in early 2022, the Avenger compact SUV will be produced in Stellantis’s Tychy, Poland, plant and sold across Europe and in Japan and South Korea, as well as other markets. Vehicle range per full charge is targeted at roughly 250 miles (400 km). Avenger will debut October 17 at the Paris Motor Show and go on sale in early 2023.

Topics:
Aerodynamics Batteries Batteries Battery packs Body structures Bumpers, fasciae and grilles Connectivity Doors Electrical systems Electrification Energy storage systems Exhaust pipes Exhaust systems Exteriors Hybrid electric vehicles Telecommunications Telematics V2X Vehicle acceleration Vehicle roofs Vehicles

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    This article first appeared in the October, 2022 issue of Automotive Engineering Magazine.

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