New Jeep EVs confirmed for Australia

Jeep says the recently revealed Recon and Wagoneer S electrical SUVs are coming to Australia, however the Avenger EV has but to be locked in regardless of being engineered for right-hand drive.

The rugged-looking Recon EV – designed to be path rated – is slated to enter US manufacturing in 2024, ditto the sleeker-looking Wagoneer S. Each will use the Stellantis ‘STLA Giant’ EV structure designed across the wants of electrical automobiles.

“The Recon and the Wagoneer S… are secured for Australia,” Jeep CEO Christian Meunier instructed CarExpert in Detroit this week, saying he’d observed the expansion in electrification right here.

“Clearly Australia was very a lot behind two, three years in the past [with] electrification. It was not even a query… and after I talked to the native staff, it was ‘electrification, not likely attention-grabbing’.

“And I stored questioning, questioning, questioning, and have a look at what occurred within the meantime. And we see New Zealand goes 100 per cent full velocity forward. And Australia is catching up. Australia’s going to get there.”

Mr Meunier didn’t disclose native timing, however we’d recommend 2025 could be an excellent guess given the US will in all chance be prioritised with the preliminary manufacturing runs.

Jeep lately stated it needed 50 per cent of gross sales within the US and 100 per cent of gross sales in Europe to be battery-electric automobiles by 2030.

There’s one other Jeep EV within the works, the Avenger, which is extra targeted on Europe than the opposite pair. This small SUV premieres in Paris this October and can hit showrooms on that continent in early 2023, nevertheless Australia seems someplace down the record.

“Avenger goes to the UK, it’s going to Japan, and we’re possibly Australia if there’s a marketplace for it,” Mr Meunier added.

Mr Meunier stated the overwhelming majority of future Jeep fashions have been engineered for right-hand drive, and has dedicated to the Australian market and RHD manufacturing generally.

At the moment, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are the one Jeep mannequin traces not out there in right-hand drive, although there are some variants of different merchandise which are left-hand drive solely.

This consists of the V8-powered Wrangler 392, plus the plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe. Mr Meunier says he pushed arduous for a right-hand drive Wrangler 4xe however the enterprise case didn’t stack up, although he stated this isn’t essentially the top of debate.

Earlier than Jeep rolls out its first EVs in Australia, it’ll introduce its first plug-in hybrid, the Grand Cherokee 4xe, in early 2023. Just like the electrified Wrangler, 4xe variations of the Compass and Renegade aren’t bought right here, leaving Australia with a a lot smaller vary of PHEVs.

Jeep Recon

Probably the most adventurous member of Jeep’s incoming electrical vary is the Recon, a rugged off-roader that’ll enter manufacturing in North America in 2024.

The Recon has been designed completely as an EV, however has additionally been designed to sort out the Rubicon Path and due to this fact put on Jeep’s Path-Rated badge.

To that finish, it consists of e-locker axle know-how, under-body safety, tow hooks, off-road tyres, and Jeep’s Selec-Terrain traction administration system.

Just like the Wrangler and Gladiator, the doorways and glass might be eliminated, and there’s additionally a one-touch folding roof.

Jeep additionally says it’ll characteristic detailed journey guides of notable off-road trails in its newest technology Uconnect infotainment system.

The Recon wears its spare wheel on the tailgate like a Wrangler, whereas there are flared wheel arches and a closed-off model of Jeep’s trademark seven-slot grille, with the slots that includes illuminated borders.

Whereas the Recon is Jeep’s rugged EV equal to the Wrangler (there may be a Wrangler EV too, as previewed by this), don’t anticipate a Recon ute to present patrons an electrical various to the Gladiator.

“I don’t see the advantages of doing a pickup on the Recon when now we have a Gladiator that’s doing very effectively,” stated Mr Meunier, including the Gladiator shall be electrified. That implies it ought to obtain the plug-in hybrid powertrain of the associated Wrangler 4xe.

Jeep Wagoneer S

The Wagoneer S – a placeholder name – is a mid-sized premium electric SUV though, despite its dramatically different styling, it shares its STLA Large EV underpinnings with the Recon.

It’s also completely unrelated to the current Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, which offer petrol and soon plug-in hybrid powertrains and are related to the Ram 1500.

As with the Recon, it’s going to enter manufacturing in North America in 2024. It is going to be a part of a brand new Wagoneer sub-brand that’ll be a “premium extension” of the Jeep model.

Jeep says it’s concentrating on a variety of 644km and a 0-60mph (0-96km/h) time of round 3.5 seconds, with the Wagoneer S to supply 447kW of energy.

The corporate says it’ll show the automobile to the general public subsequent yr, and provide it in main markets around the globe together with Europe.

Just like the Recon, it options an illuminated seven-slot grille, however it contains a totally different total form and design – very like the automobile itself.

The place the Recon is boxy and upright, the Wagoneer S is sleeker with a extra tapered roofline. There are squared-off wheel arches, and a roof-mounted spoiler and full-width gentle bar down again.

Jeep Avenger

Set for an early 2023 launch in Europe, Jeep is asking the Avenger an A/B-segment SUV, which due to this fact slots it in beneath the B-segment Renegade. It is going to be inbuilt Tychy, Poland.

Jeep is concentrating on 400km of vary from the Avenger, which shall be formally revealed on the Paris motor present on October 17.

Stellantis has been enjoying musical nameplates. A lot because the Dodge Hornet borrows an previous AMC nameplate, the brand new Jeep crossover borrows a nameplate from Dodge: Avenger.

As an alternative of sporting the rumoured Jeepster nameplate, one from the model’s again catalogue, it’ll put on a nameplate used from the Nineteen Nineties into the 2010s on mid-sized Dodge sedan and coupe fashions.

MORE: Jeep introducing three EVs by end of 2024