Jeep Cherokee to gain engine stop-start

The technology - which shuts the car's engine down when it comes to a halt - is becoming more widely available, with the clear benefit being lower fuel consumption as the engine doesn't keep burning fuel when you're stopped.

The Jeep Cherokee has been confirmed to adopt the technology by the US brand's media team, and it will arrive on both the more affordable 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine and the high-end 3.2-litre six-cylinder. The former currently offers claimed fuel use of 8.3 litres per 100 kilometres - higher than almost all of its rival four-cylinder SUVs in the class - while the bigger six uses a claimed 10.0L/100km. It is currently unclear what effect the stop-start system will have on those claimed consumption numbers.

According to the Chrysler Group, the system features a high-speed/high-durability starter that "reduces crank time for quicker restarts", and the company claims the restart function will be modulated based upon the amount of throttle input. "Passive accelerator application is met with measured throttle response; hard inputs trigger aggressive starts. And there’s no waiting for either," the company claims.

The car is said to feature "beefier batteries" to "maintain other vehicle systems so in-cabin comfort is unaffected", and the company claims the engine will restart, the nine-speed automatic will re-engage within 0.3 seconds of the brake pedal being released.

CarAdvice has contacted Jeep Australia's headquarters to ascertain timing for a local rollout of Cherokee models equipped with stop-start technology.