Jeep plans to stop selling non-electric vehicles in most European markets by the end of this year. In contrast, in the US, its largest and most important market, Jeep’s plans remain unclear.
The off-road synonymous brand plans to sell only hybrid vehicles in Europe in the near future and will have a small electric crossover planned for the market. In the US, however, progress on those plans has been much slower despite the brand’s successful 4xe model. However, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a vision for the future of electrification in the American market.
Christian Meunier, CEO of Jeep, told Automotive News, Jeep’s perspective is doing that on the Rubicon Trail and traveling another 100 miles to get to the charging station. “That’s what we need to do, and I think we can do it with BEV.”
Jeep has covered 22 miles (35.4 km) on electric power alone with the Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe, proving that Jeep has the technology to go off-road on battery power alone. Now it remains only to solve the problem of traveling to and from home.
And that fact doesn’t go unnoticed by Meunier, who is concerned about the power grid in the US with the Stellantis EV’s plans to make up half of its North American sales, Jeep will be forced to quickly electrify the entire lineup. However, the CEO is not sure the region can support him.
With the promise from the Biden administration to turn the US to a fully electric vehicle, it comes with access to charging stations, which will at least be addressed to some extent. That uncertainty doesn’t mean that the brand isn’t preparing for the future.
“The shift towards electric vehicles is happening very quickly with our vision of zero-emissions freedom, which is truly our guiding principle for the brand. We are now in the midst of a major transformation that will shape our brand in the next 20 years.” Add Meunier.
