Dear Jeep, please don't make a "weird" hybrid version of the Wrangler...

[xjgary]

16 kw battery going to cost more than $0.25 but I get your point. Still not spending $10k extra for 30 electric only miles.

We need a Rivian like solution but with lots of under armor to protect that battery. Catching fire isn’t my thing.

The full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV, meaning no internal combustion engine) is expected approximately one year later in 2021. My guess is more than 12 months, but who knows!

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[GARRIGA]

The full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV, meaning no internal combustion engine) is expected approximately one year later in 2021. My guess is more than 12 months, but who knows!

I’ve read the same and doubting it will be that early.

 

[BearJewJonny]

I’ve never even heard about there being a full electric wrangler. Where is that coming from ?

 

[GARRIGA]

Saw it on Jeep Informant reviewing FCA five year plan. If I recall correctly. Also read it on the web about future FCA plans.

 

[Dakster]

Battery tech is evolving and faster charge times are coming. I've been followig battery tech and IMHO, solid state batteries are coming. It might stil be a good 5-10 years away though. good thing is that they are a lot safer than today's Li-Ion ones. Another area that needs improving is power infrastructure and generation. The power needed to do the fast charging is incredible. Think 800 Volts and probably 500KW or larger charging stations. And like phones, the cord to plug in will be a thing of the past in a decade. Wireless charging is a thing and hopefully it will become mainstream in the years to come. EVs - both PHEV and BEV seem to be rolling in at glacial speed, but hopefully a bunch of them are actually brought to market soon.

I can't see a Wrangler breaking 100 MPGe either, probably will be in the 70 MPGe range if I had to take SWAG at it. It's still a brick going down the road and a lowered wrangler is of no use. I'm not as interested in a BEV until the infrastructure all over is able to handle it - I like the PHEV concept for now. GIve me ideally 50 miles or more of rated range and an ICE generator to recharge it so I can go anywhere I can now in my pure gas/diesel vehicle. Most of the time (95%+) I will probably never use fuel.

Most importantly - Don't make it look any different or have any less capability than the current Wranglers. I don't have a PHEV or EV right now because the ones that make financial sense have no capabilities. AWD/4WD and ground clearance are my first considerations. I need to re-do our current vehicles and it's why we are looking at a Wrangler and a JGC.

 

[GARRIGA]

Every parking spot can be converted to electric charging. Outdoor and indoors. Same with gas stations, although, the later probably DC fast charge only but even their spaces assigned for going into the store can be converted.

There’s no requirement one needs to fully charge at anyone spot. Just charge where ever you stop with overnight handling most fir those able to charge at home.

Slow charging is better with fast charging left occasions like long trips. Batteries like it slow.

I also agree solid state in our future along with capacitors to handle temporary where power is needed. Fast draws aren’t good fir batteries and where capacitors help.

Infrastructure is the major hurdle and likely better solved once we go to a single platform versus proprietary solutions like Tesla and now Rivian considering. If these companies really want mass acceptance then they need to get off their BETA vs VHS competitor mentality. It’s electricity. Nothing proprietary about that so why make its delivery a reason to buy one car over another.

Plus you need to make it mainstream. Cheap car on the lot. Not just $100k cars because everybody don’t got one.

 

[Dakster]

Every parking spot can be converted to electric charging. Outdoor and indoors. Same with gas stations, although, the later probably DC fast charge only but even their spaces assigned for going into the store can be converted.

There’s no requirement one needs to fully charge at anyone spot. Just charge where ever you stop with overnight handling most fir those able to charge at home.

Slow charging is better with fast charging left occasions like long trips. Batteries like it slow.

I also agree solid state in our future along with capacitors to handle temporary where power is needed. Fast draws aren’t good fir batteries and where capacitors help.

Infrastructure is the major hurdle and likely better solved once we go to a single platform versus proprietary solutions like Tesla and now Rivian considering. If these companies really want mass acceptance then they need to get off their BETA vs VHS competitor mentality. It’s electricity. Nothing proprietary about that so why make its delivery a reason to buy one car over another.

Plus you need to make it mainstream. Cheap car on the lot. Not just $100k cars because everybody don’t got one.

Agree with all of the above... FWIW, Tesla has a conversion plug so their cars can use DCFC or the standard L1/L2 stuff - just not the other way around (yet). It's like Apple is finally going to USB-C instead of their proprietary charge plug. Disappointed if Rivian goes to their own charge adapter... I'd get the Outlander PHEV except we don't have any Mitsubishi dealers in AK and the one place that is a private shop that is authorized for warranty repair hasn't seen a PHEV yet.... But it's all good, because I have high hopes for the Jeep Wrangler PHEV....

 

[drogers]

The full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV, meaning no internal combustion engine) is expected approximately one year later in 2021. My guess is more than 12 months, but who knows!

Pretty sure FCA would need to have a legitimate BEV drivetrain *somewhere* before conjuring a BEV wrangler out of thin air. As much as I’d love one, and I would, it’s just not realistic to expect anything like that in the next 3-5 years.

Look at all the other mfrs who are releasing BEVs in 2019 and 2020 - they’ve been working on the platforms for years. What has Jeep been doing other than developing PowerPoint decks with ‘hybrid’ and ‘full electric’ in them?

 

[Lilmasterchief5]

Also, I can't stand the Rubicon styling. Even the word is awful. If I had a Rubicon the first thing I'd do is take the ugly AF stickers off of the hood.

I felt personally attacked reading this & I don't even own a jeep yet. LOL. To each their own opinion I guess however Rubicon is the only trim I will ever consider on the Wrangler. GoOOoo Rubi's .

Anyway, sorry for sliding off topic - I will say that I can't wait to see the PHEV engine in action on the Wrangler but I will not be first customer in line for it. I want to see the reports, reviews, testimonies, etc, first.
Will I ever make the jump? Maybe. Gotta wait & see.

EDIT:

I want a PHEV Wrangler Rubicon. People in this thread talk about torque and fuel economy and things like that, but they're all missing the best thing a PHEV Wrangler can provide. That would be a near silent drive through the forest. Seriously, trolling parking lots in my Prius with almost no noise is one of my favorite things in that vehicle (aside from MPGs). Doing it at higher speeds in full electric vehicles like a Tesla is even more awesome. Being near silent in my Wrangler in the woods without the top or doors on is something I would really look forward to. That said, FCA has some big challenges with how the vehicle handles, not to mention reliability in off road situations or battery capacity and all that, which need to be overcome before I think the Wrangler will be a good PHEV. I look forward to seeing how FCA engineers address these challenges while still trying to keep the Wrangler DNA intact. It's exciting times we live in. The Jeep JL 3.6L you buy today could very truly be the last pure gas powered vehicle you ever own.

I enjoyed reading MrMischief's post! These parting thoughts of quiet woods driving made me dreamy, happy to see a hand up for the PHEV Rubicon.

 

[GARRIGA]

According to this class C which includes the Wrangler will have a BEV option.

I know the difference between PHEV and full electric. Am I reading this chart incorrectly?

 

[Majestic]

Currently the PHEV Pacifica is the worst selling and least profitable Pacifica. Only about 5% of Pacifica sales are PHEV even though the cost is roughly the same as the gas Pacifica even before the tax credit. The PHEV Pacifica is also plagued with problems 3 years after being in production.

If FCA has any lessons learned from the PHEV Pacifica, I wouldn’t count on the success of a PHEV Wrangler. They might make a stripped down “compliance Wrangler”, but don’t set your expectations too high.

 

[Dakster]

I heard about BEV Wranglers a long time ago. Wish I could find that link... How does Tesla handle snow and ice? - they have a cold weather proving ground outside of Fairbanks, AK and they seem to brag about how well they do in the snow and ice. As far as regen and slippery stuff - other plug ins have a regen strength setting. Jeep could also link that force to the select terrain 4WD system. Pick Snow and no regen. And yes, vehicles can regen so strong that brake lights need to come on with just you lifting off the 'go' pedal. I can see a couple generations from now asking why we had two (or even three) pedals in cars. The slippery stuff is why I'll never own a non-awd/4WD vehicle as long as I live I Alaska. I have a hard enough time with a 4WD/AWD vehicle and studded snow tires. I spent most of my life in a non-snow and flat state.

Time will tell how these do in extreme off road conditions once they hit us end users... Then we will know. The PHEV wrangler could be the ultimate off road vehicle or a flop. A lot of this is on the Jeep engineers shoulders. FWIW, I like manual shift vehicles a lot too. It's just that they are so hard to sell and don't lease well that I've given up on ever owning one.

 

[Majestic]

And yes, vehicles can regen so strong that brake lights need to come on with just you lifting off the 'go' pedal. I can see a couple generations from now asking why we had two (or even three) pedals in cars.

I can think of a reason. One doesn’t always want to stop proportionally as much as they don’t want to go. Just because you no longer want to accelerate full throttle doesn’t mean you want to start slamming your brakes. Same with a panic stop. There’s a reason the brakes are controlled by a variable pedal and not an on and off switch.

 

[Flyslinger2]

I equate electric vehicles with the PC crowd. I know I may ruffle a few feathers here but really. Electric in a work vehicle? And that's what a wrangler platform is, a work vehicle. If you want electric because gas is expensive in CA, and it is, so much so that the first picture I took when I landed in LA in February for a conference was the prices of gas, then purchase a micro-electric car for the economy. Get a GAS guzzling Wrangler, and mine has been averaging 20 MPG in the two weeks I've owned it, up from 10 MPG for my Yukon Denali XL, do be the fun weekender truck.

 

[Majestic]

I equate electric vehicles with the PC crowd. I know I may ruffle a few feathers here but really. Electric in a work vehicle? And that's what a wrangler platform is, a work vehicle. If you want electric because gas is expensive in CA, and it is, so much so that the first picture I took when I landed in LA in February for a conference was the prices of gas, then purchase a micro-electric car for the economy. Get a GAS guzzling Wrangler, and mine has been averaging 20 MPG in the two weeks I've owned it, up from 10 MPG for my Yukon Denali XL, do be the fun weekender truck.

It’ll be an interesting experiment. Currently electric vehicles are almost strictly for commuting purposes. The business case for buying an electric Wrangler would have to save more gas money than the up-charge for an electric drivetrain. By the time depreciation and additional insurance cost get factored in, electric almost always burns more money than it saves.

Otherwise the argument “more low end torque” won’t actually pan out to be all that noticeable since Wranglers already have plenty of wheel torque by the time the engine torque is multiplied through the drivetrain. Its more of a marketing gimmick.

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