Jeep EVs locked in for Australia

Despite axing diesel and V8 power from the new-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee range that lands in Australia from May, Jeep says Australia won’t be left out of its upcoming electric vehicle push.

The American SUV specialist has already revealed its first fully-electric compact SUV ahead of its European launch in early 2023 and Australia is set to feature prominently in Jeep’s EV product assault.

“I’m particularly excited that we do have it available in right-hand drive, and right-hand drive markets are not being left out of the electrification push. We talk about the zero-emission vision for 2025 [and] right-hand-drive is well accounted for,” Jeep’s head of global product marketing Jeff Ellsworth told carsales.

“We’re invested in right-hand drive markets,” he reiterated.

Jeep has made no secret of its impending EV assault on the SUV marketplace, having committed to unleashing fully-electric SUVs in every segment by 2025.

Buyer appetite for electric vehicles is growing rapidly in Australia, where the Tesla Model 3 outsold all other passenger cars in Australia last month – a first for an EV in this country.

Beyond the all-new compact electric Jeep SUV already confirmed for early 2023, some of the car-maker’s upcoming EVs will leverage existing nameplates, for instance the Jeep Wrangler EV, while completely new Jeep EVs are likewise in development.

“It is very exciting; 2025 is right around the corner. And between now and 2025 there’s a lot coming. Some white-space products, some traditional nameplates will be getting full BEV – there’s more to come,” said Ellsworth.

Large V8 engines – the sort that currently power some of Jeep’s heavy-hitting SRT and Trackhawk models – are being phased out due to emissions regulations, but Ellsworth confirmed that Aussies will be taken care of when it comes to the next-generation of extreme electrified SUVs.

“I’m not in a position to divulge anything one way or another [regarding high-performance models] but we know there’s an interest in it and I believe Australia had the highest [per capita] percentage of SRT sales.

“We recognise there’s demand. We know there’s a lot of people asking for it,” he added.

Despite the extra weight that large battery packs will add to a big electric SUVs like the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT or Trackhawk, potent electric motors and clever torque vectoring technology have the potential to deliver arresting acceleration.

“The performance you can get out of the BEV is almost unmatched. That instantaneous torque, whether on the trail or the track, will take performance to the next level,” insisted Ellsworth.

It remains to be seen whether next-gen electrified versions of Jeep’s heavy-hitters will match the current crop of thunderous high-performance SUVs, like the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk that’s capable of hitting 100km/h in a gob-smacking 3.7sec and has a top speed of 289km/h, but Ellsworth is talking tough.

“There is going to be a learning curve to BEVs. But I think at the end of the day, when people get in the car and they feel what a BEV can do compared to what they’ve got with the internal combustion engine, and it starts throwing them back in the seats, it will change opinions.

“What you can do from a performance perspective – whether its off-road performance, whether its racetrack performance – electrification is the way forward,” he said.

But drivers who still desire the thrum of a combustion engine need not fear, as Jeep is expected to leverage its all-new 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder twin-turbo petrol engine (373kW/644Nm) for use in its high-performance models.

“There’s nothing to announce at this time, but it’s a phenomenal engine. Great technology, twin turbo, it exceeds the spec figures of our HEMI V8 engine. It will be used across Jeep, Dodge and Ram products,” Ellsworth revealed.

With a couple of extra e-motors in a plug-in hybrid application, there’s no reason why Stellantis’ new turbo straight-six won’t match the performance of the current Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, whose supercharged V8 belts out 522kW of power and an earth-shaking 868Nm of torque.

So, will the new inline-six form part of a hybrid powertrain?

“It could be, but it’s not something that’s currently in the pipeline for Jeep,” said the Jeep exec.

“Right now there’s still a lot we can do with smaller displacement engines. Rather than pushing the size of the internal combustion engine, it’s pushing what we do with electric,” said Ellsworth.

That’s probably code for: We’ll add electric motors to the new inline six, but not for a few years.

Watch this space.

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