With Jeep’s new high-powered electric bicycles now being delivered to the first customers, we caught up with the guys behind the bikes to learn more about these two-wheeled powerhouses.
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What has 1,500 peak watts and can climb mountain trails like a billy goat? Jeep’s new e-bike, apparently. And now Jeep and its partners are sharing new updates about the powerful new off-road, fat-tire electric bicycle.
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Many automakers seeking to comply with stringent emissions rules are selling plug-in hybrids instead of pure electric vehicles. And yet there’s no guarantee that plug-in hybrid owners will regularly plug in. The answer could be a geofence system that automatically forces off the combustion engine when a plug-in hybrid enters a city zone. Fiat Chrysler announced today that it’s testing that technology in Turin, Italy.
Jeep has been promising up to four new electric vehicles for more than two years. So it would be easy to dismiss Christian Meunier, Jeep’s chief, when he makes new claims about his outfit as “the world’s most sustainable SUV company.” But his interview today on Autocar reveals a new type of EV message: raw performance. That should excite both 4×4 buyers and EV fans.
Jeep is the latest car company trying to cash in on booming electric bicycle sales by bringing a Jeep e-bike to market. The company has just announced that pre-orders are going live today for the Jeep electric bicycle.
But wait until you see the price.
Jeep’s next electric vehicle is apparently going to be a massively powerful Jeep e-bike with one of the highest-torque electric bicycle motors on the market.
Christian Meunier, Jeep’s global president, was in New Zealand this week making big EV promises. He told Australia’s WhichCar that Jeep will be “the greenest SUV brand in the world.” If his name sounds familiar, Meunier was at the helm of Infiniti this year from January to May 2019. In that role, he said the next wave of Infiniti vehicles would be either plug-in hybrid or pure EV.
FCA’s outspoken CEO, Sergio Marchionne, has been known for being highly critical of electric vehicles, which has significantly slowed down the electrification of FCA’s lineup of vehicles.
But the industry is undoubtedly moving forward with all-electric vehicles and now FCA is announcing new electric vehicles coming under its Jeep, Maserati, and Fiat brands within the next 4 years.
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Jeep CEO Mike Manley announced at their LA Auto Show press conference that the new Jeep Wrangler will include a plug-in option in 2020.
Jeep has shown a plug-in hybrid concept before, the Yuntu SUV which they displayed at the 2017 Shanghai auto show. And there have been rumors for some time that the Wrangler, Jeep’s most iconic vehicle, would eventually gain a hybrid powertrain.
We don’t often report on plug-in hybrids because most of the new models coming out lately, like BMW’s eDrive powertrains or Audi’s e-tron PHEVs, have barely useful all-electric range – unlike some that can cover the average commute, like the Chevy Volt or the new Pacifica Hybrid.
After recently bringing the Pacifica to market, FCA now unveils another plug-in hybrid – this time under its Jeep brand: the Jeep Yuntu.
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FCA’s outspoken CEO, Sergio Marchionne, has been known to make unpopular but frank comments about electric cars and the future of the auto industry. The man in charge of Alfa, Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep, called for its customers not to buy his electric car, the Fiat 500e, because he estimates the company is losing about $10,000 per units.
In a recent interview with Car Magazine, he reiterated his comments and elaborated on how he doesn’t understand how anyone can make money selling electric cars other than to comply with government mandates. He also made some interesting and somewhat confusing comments on Tesla’s success.
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