Jeep presents the all-electric Wrangler SUV

EMBARKED FOR 12:01 AM MONDAY, MARCH 22.

Jeep has unveiled a new all-electric version of its iconic Wrangler SUV, but consumers will likely have to wait at least a few years to buy one.

The brand unveiled the Wrangler “Magneto” on Monday as a concept vehicle, meaning it’s a custom product typically built by carmakers to measure customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand.

“It’s a sustainable, stealthy, climbing force,” Jim Morrison, vice president of the Jeep brand in North America, said during a media event. “It’s a zero-emission concept vehicle with Jeep 4×4 capability that has taken it to the next level.”

Jeep executives have said each Jeep will offer some form of electrification in the future, but has not confirmed an all-electric version of the Wrangler. Recently, the company began selling a plug-in hybrid electric version of the Wrangler under a new nickname “4xe,” a game about the brand’s off-road reputation combined with electrification. Plug-in hybrid electric models have batteries like electric vehicles, but they also have a traditional internal combustion engine.

The Jeep Wrangler Magneto concept is based on a two-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 2020. To turn it into an EV, the engineers changed its internal combustion engine and some support parts for electrical components, such as four batteries and an electronic motor.

The vehicle is capable of reaching up to 273 kilos of torque and 285 horsepower. The Magneto runs from 0 to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds. The company did not launch the electric range of the vehicle.

The most unique thing about the Magneto is that it has a six-speed manual transmission, which electric vehicles do not need because of their motors. Mark Allen, chief designer of Jeep, said the vehicle “has the best features” of an automatic transmission, but the “direct driving feel” of a manual transmission, which is a key attraction for enthusiasts altogether terrain.

The Magneto was presented alongside several custom or conceptual vehicles for the Jeep Easter Safari, an annual brand off-road event in Moab, Utah. Jeep regularly uses the off-road event as a testing ground for its vehicles ’capabilities, as well as a way to measure customer interest in new products.

“The Moab Easter Jeep Safari has been a great tradition for over half a century,” Morrison said. “It’s a place where we can connect with our road enthusiasts and the most loyal to our brand.”