Jeep's Future Includes Electric SUVs, Autonomous Off-Roading, and Drones

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Stellantis sure had a busy "EV Day." The massive automaker announced a $35.5 billion investment into electric vehicles as it hopes to introduce a total of 55 electric vehicles by 2025. A large part of Stellantis' portfolio includes Jeep, the American brand that specializes in making rugged SUVs with serious off-roading capability. With parent company Stellantis pushing electric vehicles, Jeep has plans to follow suit, but in its own special way.

Major Electrification Plans For Jeep

During Stellantis' EV Day, Jeep announced that it plans to offer an electrified vehicle in every segment it competes in by 2025. That means we can expect quite a few electrified vehicles from Jeep in the near future. While Jeep didn't officially introduce an all-electric Wrangler during the event, the automaker released a video that all but confirms that a Wrangler EV is on the way. Additionally, Jeep highlighted that we can expect to see autonomous off-roading technology and drones in the future.

In the video, we get a glimpse at a two-door Wrangler with the word "Freedom" on the side of the hood. While the SUV is in focus, writing at the bottom reads "Concept BEV model shown," which all but confirms that the automaker is working on an electric Wrangler.

As far as features go, Jeep highlighted a few interesting ones. Peer-to-peer charging, which would allow for one EV to be plugged into another EV to share electricity with one another. Clearly, this feature would be incredibly helpful when off-roading in remote areas. Another cool feature is drone-to-drone pairing. While drones are capable of following a moving target right now, no automaker has built that feature directly into its vehicles. Jeep may be the first to do so with an advanced drone-pairing feature that would allow drivers to get a birds-eye view of what's above the SUV.

Loads Of Possible Features

While automakers have made great strides in allowing smartphones to be used as digital keys to access certain functions of a vehicle, the majority of people still have to use keys to get into their cars. In the future, Jeep envisions another way to access a vehicle: biometric recognition. Jeep's future SUVs could be able to recognize the owners' face, allowing the owner to lock and unlock the vehicle.

Lastly, the other cool feature Jeep outlined is autonomous off-road capability. We're not quite sure why someone would want to go off-roading and let the vehicle handle all of the driving, but for people that are interested in that, Jeep wants to bring that feature to market. With fewer pedestrians and vehicles to worry about when off-roading, autonomous driving off-road actually seems attainable.

Additionally, Jeep took some time to show off a new Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid model and confirmed electrified versions of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Jeep also showcased an electric off-roading SUV with a spare tire on the back and boxy dimensions.

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods