Jeep will be the first Stellantis brand to have a full range of electric vehicles across its line-up as part of a U.S. product offensive of more than 25 all-new BEVs, Carlos Tavares, chief executive officer of Stellantis, revealed during a wide-ranging presentation to analysts and reporters in Amsterdam Tuesday.
Most notably, Jeep’s first fully electric SUV will launch during the first half of next year, but no other details about the vehicle were revealed. It is one of two new battery-electric Jeeps coming in 2024, one for off-roading, the other is a lifestyle family vehicle.
“We’re pushing real hard to build on what’s natural for Jeep, and our electrification adds to our four-wheel-drive capability,” said Jim Morrison, Jeep’s CEO, in an exclusive interview with TheDetroitBureau.com last month. “We say ‘Jeep is freedom electrified,’ and it’s making the vision about being true to our brand and delivering on freedom in a way that underwrites capability improvements.”
The BEV Jeeps are Stellantis’s opening salvo in a product cadence that will see fully electric Jeeps in every SUV segment by 2025, with battery electric vehicles sales of all of its brands expected to account for 50% of its vehicles by 2030 in the United States, and 100% of vehicle sales in Europe.
What we know
As TheDetroitBureau.com previously reported, Jeep will be expanding its hybrid electric offerings, including Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, the first Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid electric model that is expected to deliver 25 miles of all-electric range and 57 MPGe.
Power is rated 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. Offered in Limited, Trailhawk, Overland and Summit trim, it will come with equipped with a 10.1-inch display, Uconnect 5, a 10.25-inch touchscreen for front passengers, and optional 10.1-inch displays in the back. Amazon Fire TV streaming is built-in.
Jeep’s new luxury sub-brand, Wagoneer, is also expected to receive the 4xe treatment. Given these vehicles use drivelines and platforms derived from the Ram 1500 pickup, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Stellantis’ other truck brand to get the hybrid treatment.
Of course, part of this future is already on sale. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe provides 21 miles of pure electric driving, while its 2.0-liter inline-4 and two electric motors that generate 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque, enough to tow 3,500 pounds. It was the best-selling plug-in hybrid in the U.S. last year.
Stellantis’ focus on Jeep for its first battery-electric vehicles isn’t surprising, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president, Global Vehicle Forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC.
“Jeep is a global brand that makes money and it’s known around the world as a premium product. So it’s the quick and easy one to focus on. It’s relatively risk free.”
Amping up their electric vehicle arsenal
It is part of a larger strategy to electrify Stellantis’s product portfolio as part of more than 100 product launches for the company’s 14 brands, with the company expecting to be selling 75 battery vehicle nameplates by 2030, accounting for up to 5 million units of EV sales worldwide. Of those, more than 20 will be premium and luxury vehicles, although he declined to give specifics.
“Some say we have too many brands,” Tavares said. “We say we have a brand that is tailored to fit every customer need. A more regular cadence will reduce the average age of our showroom by two and a half years by 2025.”
Platform sharing is a key component of the program. The company’s massive product makeover will see battery-electric vehicles on one of four platforms: STLA Small, STLA Medium, STLA large, and STLA Frame. The vehicle architectures are designed to accept a variety of drivelines.
Dodge to maintain its identity as its drivelines electrify
So far, we know Dodge’s new products will have some element of EV components in them.
Dodge will unveil its first battery-electric muscle car concept, which is expected to hit the streets in 2024 and first reported by TheDetroitBureau.com in June. By then Dodge’s Hellcats will be history. A new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle is coming as well, which Dodge will reveal soon. It’s slated to go into production by the end of next year, but what its nameplate will be has not been revealed.
When the new models arrive, they will be wearing the Dodge fratzog, the logo that graced Dodge vehicles from 1962 through 1976, and will be used on Dodge BEVs, including Dodge’s new electric muscle car.
Ram to challenge its electric competitors
Stellantis already announced earlier this year the forthcoming Ram ProMaster BEV coming will arrive in 2023, and can be had with features for last-mile delivery service providers, such as Amazon. Expect more in the future as the company expands its electrified van line-up.
The company currently sells the midsize Citroen Jumpy, Peugeot Expert and Opel Vivaro e-vans for last mile deliveries, with 75-kWh battery delivering a range of up to 205 miles. Full-size vans are next, and expected to come stateside in 2025.
But the bigger news was acknowledgement of a battery-electric Ram 1500, which will be built on the STLA Frame platform and arriving in 2024. While specifics were not disclosed, Tavares said the new pickup would outperform its competitors in range, payload, charging time and towing.
“Make no doubt we’ll bring the best electric truck to the full-size segment,” he said, adding that Ram will offer fully electrified vehicles in the majority of its segments by 2025.
But most of those vehicles will be aimed at fleet and commercial vehicle customers, which Mike Koval, the CEO of the Ram brand, expects to grow fastest.
Chrysler’s future
Other marques that have weak brand identity, such as Lancia and Chrysler, will become fully electric, with the Chrysler Airflow debuting as the brand’s first EV. Its front and rear electric motors each generate 201 horsepower each, but a total output figure has not been released. Range is estimated to be as much as 400 miles from its 118-kWh battery pack. The concept is also equipped with STLA AutoDrive, Stellantis’ forthcoming Level 3 autonomous driving system being developed with BMW.
It will join the Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid, a vehicle currently on sale. Powered by Chrysler’s 3.6-liter V-6, two electric motors and a 16-kWh battery pack, it generates 260 horsepower, 33 miles of range using solely electric power, and is rated at 84 MPGe.
The brand will be fully electric in six years.
The rest of the company
The company’s other brands got brief mentions, most notably Maserati, which is a key part of Stellantis’s intentions for expanded its luxury vehicle sales. DS was briefly mentioned, but Alfa Romeo wasn’t.
“Alfa Romeo hasn’t turned out as strong as they hoped,” said Fiorani. “You know, it was Marchione’s baby to revive Alfa Romeo, and Tavares said that he wants to keep it going, but looking at their presentation. There are a lot of brands that they have to deal with.”
But other brands are far more regional in focus. While Tavares made numerous mentions of Ram, it’s a vehicle that Fiorani said is primarily a North and South American brand. “Outside of this region, it we’re talking Fiat Commercial,” he said. The same could be said of Chrysler and Dodge in America, Citroen and Peugeot in France, Lancia in Italy and DS in Europe.
“You could potentially break into other markets, but then there’s no real reason to export them especially when you have all these other brands to rely on.”
But is Stellantis too late?
To some, the massive presentation may appear to be overcompensating for the company’s lack of plans for electrification, and plans that some say are late in arriving. But not all analysts agree.
“If you’re not Volkswagen or General Motors who have been touting electric vehicles for a long time you all seem behind the times. But the buyers aren’t there yet, so nobody’s really behind the times yet.”
Of course, whether Stellantis will reach their sales level remains to be seen.
“It’s a two-fold thing, where you have the emissions regulations that make EV conversion much easier on the manufacturer. On the other side, you have buyers who are not switching over fast enough. And over the next 10 years or so we’re going to see a lot of growth in EV sales, but it’s not going to be up to the level that all the manufacturers are claiming. And they have to claim that at this point to keep the stock market happy.”