[JeepFan]

Jeep will debut a concept version of the upcoming Wrangler EV at the 2021 Easter Jeep Safari event that begins in March. A teaser of the all-electric Wrangler was posted on the automakers 'The Road Ahead' page with a diagram and caption that reads "We plan to reveal a 100% battery powered Wrangler BEV concept vehicle as part of the Jeep® Brand concept vehicles at the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah."

 

[Willys]

Jeep will debut a concept version of the upcoming Wrangler EV at the 2021 Easter Jeep Safari event that begins in March. A teaser of the all-electric Wrangler was posted on the automakers 'The Road Ahead' page with a diagram and caption that reads "We plan to reveal a 100% battery powered Wrangler BEV concept vehicle as part of the Jeep® Brand concept vehicles at the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah."
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I didn't realize that they're doing the Easter Jeep Safari, I thought it got postponed due to Covid. Very interested to see what this concept looks like and what the specs are.

 

[JeepFan]

I didn't realize that they're doing the Easter Jeep Safari, I thought it got postponed due to Covid. Very interested to see what this concept looks like and what the specs are.

A day after it was said to be cancelled, they were able work things out.

“Earlier this afternoon Grand County administrator, Chris Baird, and Mike Kelso, President [of the] Red Rock 4 Wheelers had a conversation, wherein the county administrator assured the President of RR4W that the county ordinance that was hindering the Easter Jeep Safari event would be amended by the 16th of this month. Which would allow the event to [proceed]! ~ ABC4 News

 

[Willys]

Jalopnik had a field day ripping on the electric Wrangler's platform.

The Electric Jeep Wrangler Concept Looks Like It Was Designed By A High School Shop Class

To show that it’s keeping up with the times, Jeep has a new campaign called “The Road Ahead,” which lays out the brand’s electrification plans. Those plans include debuting what looks to be a downright primitive “All-Electric Wrangler BEV Concept.” Check out the vehicle that has my...

jalopnik.com

But maybe this is where Jeep is heading? From a tooling, investment, and assembly standpoint, what we’re looking at is bone-simple, and would allow for a much quicker time-to-market. There’s no doubt there are financial advantages to what looks like a high school shop class project.

I reached out to a bunch of my engineer contacts, and they all seem surprised by this BEV Jeep concept image. “Definitely does not look like the most beautiful of solutions,” said a seasoned driveline engineer. Another one well-versed in the EV space broke his thoughts into bullet points:

• It was probably cheaper, easier to package and on-brand to carry over the body on frame and mechanical drivetrain solution
• It might be cheaper to repair/replace the smaller packs in case of accidents/damage
• The battery pack solution is not optimized in terms of weight, cost and complexity v/s a bespoke single unit
• A trade off has been made - I could see this as an approach for the growing industry of EV retrofitters, but surprised/impressed a mainstream OEM are showing this.
• Any ICE vehicles will probably be able to share the same frame design, cutting cost across all their program derivatives.

Maybe this is just a conversion kit that MOPAR is debuting? Or maybe the image we’re looking at is not representative and just a way to build hype. Still, I don’t understand why Jeep would bother showing this hardware illustration of an “all-electric Wrangler BEV,” when, relative to pretty much any production EV, it looks like a compliance vehicle, at best.

And maybe a simple EV would be fine? Obviously, range wouldn’t be as high as it could be given the packaging constraints and the vehicle’s aerodynamic profile, but maybe a BEV Wrangler with a modest range is okay for some customers? I doubt that.