There’s a new Magneto coming to this year’s Easter Jeep Safari, and it’s not one built by Sir Ian McKellan. That’s not Michael Fassbender either. Last year, Jeep showed off a battery-powered Wrangler with a 285-horsepower engine from Webasto and a 70 kWh battery pack wherever that might be. Interestingly, it still has the factory manual transmission and range of options with 2WD, 4 high and 4 low. That’s unorthodox, because unlike conventional four-wheel drive BEVs, it doesn’t come complete with an engine at each end, but a traditional transmission and axles.
On Thursday, Jeep introduced a Magneto 2.0 ahead of this year’s EJS, presumably meaning the company will bring a second version of the model. There’s no way of telling exactly how this will be powered, but I’d like to come to the easy conclusion that this will be a more comprehensive BEV that makes the most of electric propulsion. I expected something with more power output and more motors. Whether that’s done with one engine in each axle or one in each wheel like Rivian does, we can’t be sure until the car is out.
The teaser image, above, appears to show flat carbon fiber fenders and a large bulge on the hood. Maybe this will be an electric Wrangler oriented on power and acceleration. Trucks like the Rivian R1T and GMC Hummer are trying to claim proper electric all-terrain vehicles, as well as quick acceleration on the road, so if Jeep wants to offer something lighter, fast and being more appreciated than either that could be a huge step forward in the EV direction Stellantis has set for its brands.
Sure, such a Wrangler wouldn’t be cheap to produce for public consumption, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be produced once for EJS rather easily to spark excitement and gauge sentiment. consumer sentiment towards an electric Wrangler.
I, for one person, fell in love with this idea.
