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Electric Jeep Wrangler concept confirmed for March/April unveiling

The iconic 2021 Jeep Wrangler four-wheel-drive looks set to go electric.


The American brand has teased a zero-emissions, all-electric Wrangler concept car, set to be unveiled in full as part of the Easter Jeep Safari event in Moab, Utah from 27 March to 4 April.

While details of the concept – tentatively dubbed 'Wrangler BEV' – remain thin on the ground, a shadowy image (top) published by the brand reveals it will feature a contemporary take on Jeep's iconic seven-slot grille, with a full-width LED light strip running through its upper sections and the headlights.

Mechanical details of the concept have yet to be confirmed, however it's highly likely to feature at least two electric motors for four-wheel-drive, with a four-motor setup – with one electric motor on each wheel – on the cards, as per rival off-road EVs like the GMC Hummer EV and Rivian R1S.

Jeep executives have floated the idea of a zero-emissions Wrangler in recent months and years, with chief designer Mark Allen telling Drive in May 2020: "I truly believe that if we do an electric Wrangler, sometime in the future, that would actually be a better Wrangler. It would be more capable off-road. It has the ability to do things that we can't do now."

Drive

However, he stopped short of confirming such a pure-electric model at the time, adding "Are there definite plans for that? No, not at the moment. Is that on the horizon? I think probably, yes."

The unveiling of an electric Wrangler (albeit in concept form) will be the next step in the model's electrification journey, with the American brand having unveiled a plug-in hybrid 4xe variant for its home market, plus Europe and China, in late 2020.

The 4xe pairs a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with a pair of electric motors and a 17kWh lithium-ion battery under the second row to produce 280kW/637Nm. A 40km all-electric range is claimed.

However, while the plug-in hybrid variant has yet to be confirmed for Australia, it remains on the local arm's wishlist, with Jeep global director Christian Meuiner telling Drive earlier in 2021: "I'd love to [bring the 4xe to Australia]. Not yet, but I'd love to, and I'm working on it."

Below: The 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid

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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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