Super Cheap Electric Renegade SUV Highlights Charge for New Gas, Hybrid, EV Jeep Models
It’s time again for the annual Stellantis shareholder presentation, which is more often than not ripe with upcoming future product news for the massive global stable of brands that includes Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler here in America. This year, there’s not much to report as the automaker recognizes it faces some serious challenges in the slowing shift to electric vehicles, new regulatory hurdles, manufacturing location headaches, materials sourcing, and the rising power of China‘s automotive manufacturing sector on the global stage—Stellantis has a lot of problems to solve, so we can forgive it for keeping some plans, like whatever will happen with Chrysler, very close to the chest. But there was some news from today’s presentation regarding upcoming new Jeep SUVs and pickup trucks, so buckle in for what’s coming as they could be well worth waiting for.
The $25,000 Jeep Renegade EV Is Coming Soon
Seemingly the biggest news to come from the shareholder presentation was that the recently-promised $25,000 Jeep EV that Stellantis previously announced was coming “soon” is now confirmed by today’s slides to be an updated version of the Jeep Renegade compact SUV, which should go on sale sometime by the end of 2027 with at least one BEV trim option. In fact, the corporate materials claimed the new Renegade EV would even start “under $25,000,” which should make it very tantalizing, but it’s not clear if that’s MSRP or after government incentives could be factored into the cost.
2027 Jeep Renegade EV Specs and Presumptions
Little is known about what this Renegade EV will offer, but it’s probably significantly similar to the brand’s existing Jeep Avenger and Alfa Romeo Junior electric SUVs that are sold in Europe; the current Renegade is sized between the Euro Avenger and U.S. Compass SUVs, but could likely easily adapt the existing 54 kWh battery pack (maybe bigger) offering around 250 miles of estimated range with either a single, front-mounted electric motor offering about 155 hp, or one on each axle for AWD capability and a slight power bump.
More New Jeeps Coming by 2027
Beyond the new Renegade with an EV variant (the Avenger, by the way, is sold in both BEV and internal-combustion guises overseas), the Stellantis presentation went on to detail even more product plans for the Jeep brand. The off-road automaker is planning to introduce two new mild hybrid models (that you won’t have to plug in, and that technically also includes the same eTorque mild-hybrid tech available on some past Jeeps and current Rams), one fresh 4xe plug-in hybrid model, one new range-extender hybrid, plus six total all-electric vehicles to be on sale by 2027.
Range-Extending EV (REEV) Jeep Details
We have some clues as for what to expect more specifically based on that information: the new PHEV is surely the previously-announced Gladiator 4xe trim, and three of the six EVs have already been revealed as the Wagoneer S and Recon SUVs expected for 2024, and now the electric Renegade trim expected for 2024 or 2025. We really want to speculate that the teased “range-extender electric vehicle” or “REEV” will borrow the same powertrain technology that Ram is incorporating into its 1500 Ramcharger pickup. That model uses an EV sled chassis with a 27-gallon fuel tank that juices a 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 underhood acting as a 130-kW generator to charge the platform batteries which then energize electric motors on the axles. Our guess? This setup is headed for Jeep’s current Ram-based offerings, namely the Wagoneer family. Look for a Wagoneer or Grand Wagoneer REEV to be offered alongside their eventual all-electric variants (which will use the same STLA Frame EV setup as the Ram 1500 Rev).
What Could the New Jeep Nameplates Be?
Additionally, the Jeep slides reveal plans for an obvious Wrangler refresh, which naturally would also mean a Gladiator refresh (that’s confirmed in the slides), plus a brand-new Compass SUV, an intriguing new so-called “mainstream utility vehicle” for the mid-size sector (likely an SUV), and then we can also expect Grand Cherokee + Grand Cherokee L refreshes, as well as eventual Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUV refreshes too.
We know the Recon and Wagoneer S are two of the three announced new Jeep nameplates. That means the mid-size utility vehicle will likely be a new Cherokee, though it’s not exactly a “new” nameplate. If that sounds like the Cherokee is growing, that may be the case, though Jeep has long insisted on calling the Cherokee a midsize SUV—even though in the marketplace, the larger Grand Cherokee more accurately fits that size class, while the outgoing Cherokee was a smaller compact in line with Toyota’s RAV4 and Honda’s CR-V. Either way, it’ll fit between the Compass (the current version of which is a sort of plus-size B-segment SUV or smallish C-segment compact SUV) and the larger Grand Cherokee family. So what could the third new nameplate be? We’re not sure, but Jeep could plausibly refer to a range-extender Wagoneer model as a new nameplate, if it gets a different name from the electric Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer models the way Ram’s 1500 Ramcharger does.
No Material Dodge, Ram or Chrysler News … Yet
Despite a detailed plan for Jeep, Stellantis didn’t have much else to offer for its vast stable of automaker brands in North America, which includes Ram, Chrysler, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Dodge along with Jeep. The fact that Chrysler CEO Chris Feuell is now also the new boss of Ram was reiterated, but no concrete announcements or teases for specific future models for either of her brands were announced, nor for Fiat, Alfa, Maserati, or notably Dodge. You just get to be excited about Jeeps, for now, so enjoy.
