Jeep Begins Move To All-Electric Future

一个utomotive conglomerate Stellantis has big plans for the electric future. The multinational recently announced it will spend $2.5 billion ona US-based EV battery plant. In Europe, things are progressing even quicker. Several of the company's brands will shift to EV-only, with Lancia promising to switch overto battery propulsion by 2026.

Vauxhall has made a similar promise and it appears Fiat is heading in the same direction. The British subsidiary of the Italian automaker announced it will onlysell electrified vehicles in the UK. It seems the iconic Jeep brand is heading that way too - In Europe, at least.

Company CEO Christian Meunier told一个utomotive Newsabout Jeep's electric ambitions on the continent. He said the SUV brand intends to stop selling ICE-powered vehicles in the majority of European markets and hopes to offer an extensive range of hybrids instead.

This new strategy forms part of Stellantis' bigger plan to achieve 100% BEV passenger car sales in Europe. A fully-electricmodel will arrive in 2023, to bolster a lineup that currently includes theGrand Cherokee 4xe. It's not entirely clear when the all-electric model will reach the USA, which remains the company's biggest market.

With a claimed EV range of 25 miles, Jeep says its electrified SUV has already completed the Rubicon trail on battery power alone. Electric power or not, Jeeps need to be able to usher their adventurous owners into the wilderness and back without fear of running out of charge.

Meunier added, "Our perspective is you're going to be able to do the Rubicon Trail and have another 100 miles at the end of the Rubicon to go to a charging station...that's what we need to be able to do, and I think we can do it with a BEV."