Whether you like it or not, electrification is coming to just about all Jeep-branded vehicles within the next few years, according to remarks from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne last Friday in Toronto.
Speaking in front of a group raising money for Italian earthquake relief efforts, Marchionne said hybrid electric-gas versions for Jeep SUVs will help improve fuel efficiency of the brand even though he understands the viability of electric cars is a “double-edged sword.”
"Most of the Jeeps going forward are all going to become hybrids," he told reporters after the speech. "That work is beginning now and will become visible in the next two to three years."
The company has said in the past it should have a mild hybrid Wrangler option by the end of the decade, but Friday’s announcement was significant because it is the first time FCA has disclosed plans to develop a full portfolio of hybrids among the Jeep line.
Mild hybrid vehicles typically do not rely on electric motors to power the wheels, but to provide power to other functions on the vehicle. Marchionne did not say Friday if the company was planning to upgrade Wrangler to a fully hybrid vehicle.
FCA has been reluctant over the years to put electrification in other vehicles outside its Fiat 500e, as it believes the technology is currently not cost effective. Marchionne says the automaker loses about $20,000 for every Fiat 500e sold, mainly because batteries and electronic motors are built by "external suppliers with highly-specialized know-how" – meaning pricy. He also said the environmental benefits from the proliferation of electronic vehicles may be overstated, noting many power grids rely on fossils fuels to generate electricity.
However, with just about all its competitors dumping vast amounts of money into electronic and autonomous vehicles, FCA reached out last year and started working with Google, and its offshoot Waymo, to help develop new driverless and hybrid technology. Marchionne said these technologies will be built up and led by Silicon Valley – not traditional automakers.
"We believe that full automation in the mass market is less than a decade away from reality," Marchionne said. "We cannot delude ourselves by believing we can replace or displace the technology giants."
FCA is currently in the midst of a brand ‘reimagining’ and has shelved production of just about all passenger cars in favor of more profitable SUVs and truck vehicles. Current governmental CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) estimates expect automakers to reach an MPG target between 50-52 by 2025, hence the increased interest in electrification for the SUV and truck brands.
Besides a new Wrangler model due out later this year, FCA is also producing a Jeep truck for the 2019 model year, as well as a Jeep Wagoneeer/Grand Wagoneer for 2020.
