Still dreaming of electric Jeep
American 4WD manufacturer says it's too early to make a call on a serious electric off-road vehicleHow does the idea of an electrically powered off-road vehicle sound? Consider the positives: instant torque from zero revs and a motor at each wheel to deliver varying (and intelligent) amounts of power to each corner of the car for optimal traction on tricky terrain.
Plus there's also the concept of potentially environmentally friendly bush-bashing with virtually no motor noise to disturb the local fauna.
In theory it sounds good, but in practice it's long a way off.
Jeep's Martin G. Morse, Senior Manager for W Programs Vehicle Development, told the Carsales Network during an interview in San Francisco that the company would take a wait and see approach to electric powertrains in offroad vehicles, instead focussing on upcoming diesel and MultiAir petrol powertrain development to reduce its fleet CO2 emissions.
"Our newly appointed leader, [Fiat boss] Sergio Marchionne, is addressing the broader organisation [on electric vehicle strategy], but I would not say specifically for Jeep," commented Morse.
"There's a lot of great evolution taking place at Jeep," added Morse, who was upbeat about the possibilities of leveraging electric powertrain technology already showcased by sister car makers Fiat and Chrysler.
"I think the merged technologies have a lot of potential. But it's interesting to see a lot of the recent [electric vehicle] auto show display properties and a lot of the different industrial announcements with respect to hybrid technology, and pure electric technology. I think it's a fantastic and very interesting future."
While many car makers are aggressively developing electric vehicles (Nissan's first year allocation of LEAF electric cars has already sold out in Japan and the US) Jeep is now taking a far more cautious approach to the idea of high voltage off-roading.
"Vis-a-vis [electric SUV] applications I guess the practicality and the very detailed public acceptance of those technologies for mass volume production is a matter of time, but I think we're all in a very similar observant position," opined Morse.
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