Jeep's first all-electric SUV is priced at $72,000

NEW YORK — Jeep's first all-electric SUV for the United States will be the 2024 Wagoneer S, priced starting at about $72,000 when it's scheduled to go on sale this fall.

the StellantisThe company-owned brand revealed the vehicle and its price on Thursday, portraying it as a “new chapter” for the quintessentially American SUV brand that has struggled with domestic sales in recent years.

“This represents a lot,” Jeep CEO Antonio Velosa told CNBC during an interview after the vehicle’s unveiling. “It is the first global vehicle (all-electric vehicle) that is manufactured in North America, designed in the United States… for the world.” “It is a milestone in our history.”

Velosa, who started driving Jeep in December, said the brand is in “great shape” but is in the midst of a “transition like all car brands nowadays” that includes going electric.

Although EV adoption is slower than expected in the U.S., Velosa said the brand isn't worried about consumer adoption as it adds to Jeep's lineup, which will continue to offer traditional gas-powered SUVs, hybrid and “stretch” electric vehicles. -Electric vehicles starting next year.

The “Launch Edition” of the Wagoneer S will initially be available with a 400-volt, 100-kilowatt-hour battery capable of going more than 300 miles on a single charge and 600 horsepower and 617 pound-feet of torque for a 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds. It is able to charge from 20% to 80% within 23 minutes using a DC Fast charger, according to the company.

Jeep also revealed the Trailhawk off-road performance electric vehicle concept, which Velosa said “we hope will become a product soon.”

Less expensive models of the Wagoneer S will begin being released about six months after the launch, Filosa said.

The Wagoneer S EV's starting price of $71,995 falls between gas-powered versions of the Wagoneer, which start at about $63,000, and the more luxurious Grand Wagoneer, which starts at about $92,000.

Jeep will also introduce a new, unnamed midsize SUV next year to replace the discontinued Cherokee, Velosa said.

He also said the company will launch range-extended electric versions of its traditional gas-powered Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer in 2025. The technology, which uses an engine as a gas-powered generator in addition to electric vehicle batteries, is expected to debut in 2025. Pickup Truck The upcoming Ram Ramcharger.

The Wagoneer S is the beginning of what Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares described this week as the automaker's electric vehicle offensive for the United States, including six to eight fully electric vehicles this year.

“There is a great deal of opportunity here in the United States. We have just begun our electrification campaign,” Tavares said Wednesday during a Bernstein investor conference.

For Jeep, the Wagoneer S is expected to be followed by a Wagonler-inspired off-roader called the Recon later this year and a new approximately $25,000 electric vehicle “very soon,” Tavares said Wednesday without revealing additional details.

For years, Tavares has been vocal about the company having to produce electric cars, at a 40% higher cost, because of regulatory requirements rather than consumer demand. On Wednesday, he described electric vehicles as a “cost-cutting exercise” to ensure the profitability of the vehicles.

Electric vehicles represent a paradigm shift for Jeep in the United States, as the brand focuses on hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, such as the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee SUVs. Electric vehicles accounted for 17.5% of Jeep's sales this year.

Jeep, which currently ranks No. 1 in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in the U.S., expects sales of those vehicles as well as upcoming electric vehicles to continue to grow, Velosa said.

“Electrification for us so far has been working very well. Essentially, we've built the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) industry. We own that part of the market,” he said during the unveiling event.

Total Stellantis PHEV sales in the U.S. last year were nearly 143,000, up 124% compared to 2022. Jeep led the way, including 67,429 Jeep Wranglers and 45,684 Jeep Grand Cherokee “4xe” SUVs.

Jeep uses the 4xe badge as a play on the brand's off-road reputation alongside electric vehicles, including EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).

The Wagoneer S is Jeep's first “global” electric vehicle, according to the company. The Jeep brand's first EV model called the Avenger, a small SUV with a starting price of about 35,000 euros, or about $37,800, went on sale last year in Europe.

The Wagoneer S, which will be produced at a plant in Mexico, is based on Stellantis' large EV platform, which is expected to underpin eight of the company's vehicles from 2024 to 2026.

Despite sharing the “Wagoneer” name with Jeep's current gas-powered model, the five-passenger two-row electric vehicle has little in common with its traditional three-row internal combustion engine counterpart other than some Jeep designs.

The most notable difference on the exterior is a more modern interpretation of the brand's famous seven-slot grille, which the electric car doesn't actually need for cooling. They are indented and the slots are solid and interconnected with each other compared to seven separate slots.

“We have reinvented the traditional seven-slot grille,” said Ralph Gilles, head of design at Stellantis. “I'm very proud of this.”

The Wagoneer S also features a large R-Wing, an open spoiler on the back of the SUV. Gill said the goal was not to make a “jelly bean” like many of the good aerodynamic electric cars currently sold in the United States.

The company said the Wagoneer S is much less boxy than the gasoline model, which has helped it be the most aerodynamic Jeep the brand has ever produced.

Gill said the Wagoneer name more represents the luxury of the vehicle rather than the individual design.

Inside the car there are more than 45 inches of screens, including a 12.3-inch central display, and a mix of metal, faux leather and other sustainable materials.

Gill, a longtime car designer with the company, said wood is banned in the car's interior. It also doesn't have any chrome on the exterior of the SUV. These decisions were made after input from young designers to make the car more sustainable and attractive to young buyers.

“If this was an environmentally friendly vehicle, we had to rethink the materials inside,” Gill said. “There's been a big push for sustainable materials everywhere.”