Jeep Wrangler to get hybrid option?
This may the year a Jeep hybrid is officially announced. Really. The Chrysler division may finally be making plans for its first gas-electric powertrain to help boost the group's fuel economy, says UK's Auto Express, citing Mike Manley, CEO of FCA's Jeep division.
The guinea pig of sorts may be the Wrangler, which moved almost a quarter-million units in the US last year. The Wrangler could get a hybrid drivetrain by the 2017 model year, as Jeep executives look to maintain the model's feel and torque while boosting its fuel economy. The Wrangler gets a pretty paltry 18 miles per gallon combined out of its six-cylinder mill, so the bar's set pretty low.
Of course, we've heard this talk before. In late 2013, Chrysler Asia-Pacific product planning manager Steve Bartoli told Australia's Drive that a Jeep hybrid was pretty much inevitable, though not much has been mentioned since.
FCA could use all the help it can get in the fuel economy department. The group brought up the rear among automakers when it came to fuel efficiency, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in its EPA Trends report released last October. The FCA models combined for a 21.1 miles per gallon average for the 2014 model year, compared to the 24.2 mpg overall industry average.
The group's only electric vehicle in the US is the low-volume Fiat 500e, though the company may start selling a plug-in hybrid version of its Chrysler Town & Country by the end of the year.Featured Gallery2014 Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition
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I don't think the 3.0L would help very much. It has a ton of torque, but the Wrangler has a good enough crawl ratio that torque isn't much of an issue. The EcoDiesel is more of an alternative to the Hemi. If you compare the price vs. efficiency gain in the V6 GC/Ram, it's actually not the best choice to go with diesel. Considering the Wrangler V6 fuel economy is similar to the V8 Ram/GC, I think the 3.0L diesel would struggle just to pull off 25mpg hwy.
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