Why Some Jeep Wrangler Owners Are Very Positive About an EV Wrangler

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Several days ago I covered the story of one electric Jeep Wrangler, which was custom built by a private company and had some good crawling action. When I shared it with other Wrangler owners I was surprised to see how positive they are about a possible EV Jeep Wrangler, something you do not see a lot with other performance car owners.

I shared my Jeep EV story at Jeep Wrangler JK-JKU 2007-2017 group on Facebook, which resulted in very interesting discussion. In fact, the electric truck may well be the future of off-roading, reports Road and Truck. Here are some excerpts from the chatter.

Why Are Wrangler Owners Positive About Jeep Wrangler EV

They say electric motor means big instant torque. "Electric cars are renowned for their instant torque deliveries which lead to ferocious acceleration off the line," writes Car Throttle explaining how EV makers produce this immediate torque and why can’t good old internal combustion get close?

"I would really love it if there was an electric conversion I could look to rather than a Hemi or LS," writes a group member Chris Walsh. "We have been watching these options closely," he adds.

Some people favor a hybrid option. They say electric motors powering the wheels with a small gas motor to generate more power would be perfect. "No issues with transfer cases, gearing locker, or worrying about needing massive skid plates to protect the middle bottom of the car. Potentially you could even get better clearance through the middle and across the axles. Heck, you could have fully independent suspensions for each wheel," writes Andrew Rostek.

At least one person mentioned that Jeep had already built one, but apparently because of the government bailout loan several years ago the EV program was shut down. I can't verify this information at this moment. If anyone knows, please comment with facts.

EV Jeep Wrangler and Water Concern

One person in the group had a concern about electric Jeep Wrangler. "My concern would be water, what if there was high water or a stream crossing? How will this affect the electric motors or are they that well sealed?," asks a group member named David.

He has a valid question. I don't know how other electric vehicles deal with water issue. But I guess, for now they are not going to cross rivers like Jeeps do.

In the meantime, we see from this Youtube Video that electric Jeep Wrangler can impressively, smoothly and quietly cross any extreme terrain.

See you in our latest story on this topic about Jeep's electric plug-in Wrangler in CES 2020.

Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.

Submitted by Michael (not verified) on October 19, 2017 - 10:56AM

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I am pretty sure if they are going to put electric motors to power the wheels of a jeep on a jeep they would think about water. Plus numerous cars such as Tesla has this technology and are able to drive in the rain and through normal high water conditions on roads.

Submitted by Jose (not verified) on October 19, 2017 - 10:56AM

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Modern all terrain vehicles are prone to having electrical problems when meshing with water. Best vehicles for water crossing are the old diesel powered as they don't have sparks and very few electronics.

Submitted by Hennie (not verified) on October 22, 2017 - 5:12AM

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What will a electric engine like this cost you and fully installed conversion in a Jeep? How far can this engine run on a single charge and can it be charged then with solar panels on the hard top if installed?