Amsterdam - Jeep has released official pictures of its first fully-electric vehicle, in prototype form, ahead of the vehicle going on sale in 2023. This, says parent company Stellantis, is the iconic 4x4 brand’s first step towards a zero emissions future, and en route there Jeep plans to offer a fully-electric alternative in every major SUV segment by 2025.
Jeep has not released any further information on its upcoming EV, and we don’t even know the name yet, but the brand has promised to release further information in the coming months.
The new electric Jeep appears similar in size to the Renegade, and according to CarAdvice it is likely that the new model will be underpinned by Stellantis’ CMP architecture, which also underpins the Peugeot 2008. This platform can underpin both combustion engined and fully electric vehicles.
Stellantis announced, during a strategy update on Tuesday, that it would have 75 battery electric models on the market and sell five million EVs a year by 2030.
Like other major carmakers, Stellantis faces major challenges in turning its product range from traditional combustion engines to zero-emission models and developing self-driving technology, all while fighting for market share with Tesla and other electric-only startups.
"We are proud to be a legacy automaker," Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said during a presentation to analysts and reporters in Amsterdam. "Being a legacy automaker shows our ability to design and produce safe products at scale."
"Others still have to prove it," he added.
Stellantis, born last year from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, said it would adopt an "asset-light" model for its lagging Chinese business - keeping only one fully-owned plant and opening up other manufacturing capacity to third parties to lower fixed costs.
The carmaker expects EVs to make up 100% of its sales in Europe and 50% in the United States by 2030, all while expanding in hydrogen fuel cells for vans and heavy-duty trucks, investing in EV software and using its partnership with Alphabet's Waymo to develop self-driving delivery vehicles.
"We are moving, and moving fast, to become a mobility tech company," Tavares said.
Stellantis also expects a third of its sales to be online by 2030 and for revenue from luxury and premium car sales to quadruple by then. It aims to cut carbon emissions by 50% from 2021 levels by the start of the next decade.
IOL & Reuters