And then there were three.
During a recent interview with Autoline, Mark Allen, the Head of Jeep Design for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, announced the company is bringing its wild Luminator Wrangler concept vehicle to Moab for the upcoming Easter Jeep Safari. This is something we first heard last October, when Jeep applied for a trademark on the name Luminator - saying in the filing it wanted to associate the name for, among other things, concept vehicles.
This concept will join the already announced Switchback and Quicksand out in Moab. During the Autoline interview, Allen said Jeep will probably bring five to six concepts to the 2017 EJS.
The Luminator, according to FCA, was developed in concert with Jeep engineers to define the requirements of increasingly popular night time off-roading using the best technology available. It displays 7” Round LED headlamps that provide over 1,500 lumens output for high and low beam combined, extremely large and powerful front upper fog lamps with added lighting elements that are controlled by steering wheel angle, and integrated 100mm round fog lamps with over 1,200 lumen output each. On the A-pillar, spot lamps equipped with high powered LEDs provide long distance spotting capability, while unique internal windshield-mounted LED light bars serve up additional lighting and effectively eliminate wind noise as well as preventing possible trail damage like what external units face. FCA says these lamps are slim, sleek, and have 12,000 lumens of output to the trail.
At the vehicle's rear are extremely bright and capable round LED tail lamps that offer a cool trail burner “welcome” feature when the key fob is actuated, and a new trail/scouting lamp with integrated LED whip antenna that nicely communicates trail speed to your off-road caravan. The Luminator's third brake light additionally utilizes rear flood lighting for trail back lighting or any emergency needs.
Besides powerful lighting resources, FCA also says the Luminator will display a hood-mounted infrared camera obstacle detection lighting unit, that can spot wildlife and send lighting to alert the driver of potential trail dangers. Another interesting feature is an integrated drone and drone carrier in the rear of the vehicle. The drone can be used to provide real time reconnaissance with an on-board HD camera and is lighted with two powerful LED lenses to provide nighttime vision ability. Video of your off-road adventure can be uploaded in real time to share on social media. Plus, an integrated capacitive tough screen is imbedded into the rear of the Luminator to display the drone camera view or provide local mapping information for Jeep off-roaders to plot their course. This screen is capable of providing any normal information via the internet or satellite just like a laptop or cell phone.
Finally, the Luminator employs a 360-degree VR camera mounted to the roof to provide passengers with a new experience while off-roading, while roof top mounted solar panels help provide auxiliary power to the tail lamp 110 V output which offers a healthy power supply for any other on-board gear, or for trail side camping.
The 2017 Moab EJS runs from April 8-16.
