Possible good news for the Jeep Wrangler

BillArnett

New member
You're right, we don't all agree. Much as I love my Jeep, if I had to choose between being able to crawl around on the rocks and leaving a decent planet for the future generations it wouldn't be a very hard choice.

BUT we don't have to make any such choice. It is well within the capabilities of the auto industry, even FCA, to product an all-electric "Jeep". If properly designed, it could be FAR BETTER for off-roading than anything currently on the market. (Tesla has already shown that an all electric sedan or an all electric SUV can blow the doors off the competition in the luxury market. They're well on their way to doing so in the mid-range sedan market, too.)

Think about it: get rid of the entire drive train (gas tank, engine, transmission, xfer case, drive shafts, differentials) and just put one motor on each wheel and a big battery under the floor (with a bit of armor). Very low center of gravity. (Get rid of the brakes, too, if the regulators will allow it; regenerative braking is fully capable of locking the wheels on any surface.) That's a LOT fewer parts to break. Software would control the torque to each wheel independently, no need for lockers. And the available torque from an electric motor makes a diesel look wimpy (top of the line Teslas have over 900 lb-ft) and it's all there at ZERO rpm. Plus the power delivery is super smooth and controllable, no waiting for the engine to rev up, no worries about being in the right gear, it just goes. It's hard to describe how much nicer an EV feels if you haven't driven one. And while that's nice on the highway it would be even nicer on the rocks.

I don't expect FCA's upcoming plug-in Jeep to be anything near that good. They'll probably just put an electric motor in a Wrangler chassis and probably keep the gas engine, too, making the whole system doubly complex. But as soon as someone builds an off-road capable vehicle designed from the ground up and an EV, I'll be first in line to buy it.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I dunno. My CJ3B is almost 65 years old and still running the original 134 Hurricane F-Head I-4 Engine. I turn the key and she starts up. If his battery were dead, I could push start him. Everything is so low tech, I could trouble shoot just about anything I needed to. Conversely, the Renegade Trailhawk I owned was super modern and full of cool electronics that managed how it drove. It was great while it worked but when I got a check engine light on the trail, I no longer had 4WD. Kind of a bummer being that being that I was still on the trail and didn't have a clue as to what I could do to make it work again. The more plumbing you have, the easier it is to stop up the drain and out on the trail, less tech is what I would prefer but then, I know that'll never happen and really, that's just me.
 

OverlanderJL

Resident Smartass
You're right, we don't all agree. Much as I love my Jeep, if I had to choose between being able to crawl around on the rocks and leaving a decent planet for the future generations it wouldn't be a very hard choice.

BUT we don't have to make any such choice. It is well within the capabilities of the auto industry, even FCA, to product an all-electric "Jeep". If properly designed, it could be FAR BETTER for off-roading than anything currently on the market. (Tesla has already shown that an all electric sedan or an all electric SUV can blow the doors off the competition in the luxury market. They're well on their way to doing so in the mid-range sedan market, too.)

Think about it: get rid of the entire drive train (gas tank, engine, transmission, xfer case, drive shafts, differentials) and just put one motor on each wheel and a big battery under the floor (with a bit of armor). Very low center of gravity. (Get rid of the brakes, too, if the regulators will allow it; regenerative braking is fully capable of locking the wheels on any surface.) That's a LOT fewer parts to break. Software would control the torque to each wheel independently, no need for lockers. And the available torque from an electric motor makes a diesel look wimpy (top of the line Teslas have over 900 lb-ft) and it's all there at ZERO rpm. Plus the power delivery is super smooth and controllable, no waiting for the engine to rev up, no worries about being in the right gear, it just goes. It's hard to describe how much nicer an EV feels if you haven't driven one. And while that's nice on the highway it would be even nicer on the rocks.

I don't expect FCA's upcoming plug-in Jeep to be anything near that good. They'll probably just put an electric motor in a Wrangler chassis and probably keep the gas engine, too, making the whole system doubly complex. But as soon as someone builds an off-road capable vehicle designed from the ground up and an EV, I'll be first in line to buy it.

This is JLWrangler.com not the Prius forum hippy. What you drive will have hardly any effect on that crap. Stop buying anything at all so it puts all manufacturers of anything out of business and that will help more. And where do you think your power comes from for your electric car? Let me guess, all solar right?


Sent from my iPhone using JL Wrangler Jeep Forum mobile app
 

notnalc68

That dude from Mississippi
This is JLWrangler.com not the Prius forum hippy. What you drive will have hardly any effect on that crap. Stop buying anything at all so it puts all manufacturers of anything out of business and that will help more. And where do you think your power comes from for your electric car? Let me guess, all solar right?


Sent from my iPhone using JL Wrangler Jeep Forum mobile app

Wind, silly. I’ve seen all those wind turbines, near you.


Sent from my iPhone using JL Wrangler Jeep Forum mobile app
 

TrailHunter

Member
What's the effect of all the car batteries needed going to have on the planet? Batteries aren't made out of Kale and Flax Seed.... just sayin.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
That’s the solar plant on the way to Vegas.

Nothing wrong with “clean energy” right?

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-solar-bird-deaths-20160831-snap-story.html

It’s all rainbows and butterfly’s.

That article doesn't even mention the thousands of endangered Mojave Tortoises that were originally removed to build the Ivanpah plant and then eventually euthanized when they kept coming back.

It should be noted that MOST electricity in the US still comes from coal and gas powered plants. Just sayin.

What's the effect of all the car batteries needed going to have on the planet? Batteries aren't made out of Kale and Flax Seed.... just sayin.

You mean to tell me that batteries have bad stuff in them? :idontknow:
 

BillArnett

New member
I don't want to get into a big discussion of the merits of alternative energy; that's for another forum. What I am asserting is that an all-electric off-roader would be very much superior to a gas powered one regardless of it's environmental benefits.

(And yes, the solar panels on my roof send more energy back to the power company than I use including charging my Tesla.)
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I don't want to get into a big discussion of the merits of alternative energy; that's for another forum. What I am asserting is that an all-electric off-roader would be very much superior to a gas powered one regardless of it's environmental benefits.

Clearly, that's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it. My brother in law has an all electric Subaru that he uses to access a remote ranch here in Nevada. I have to say that it's really nice so long as you never get a flat. You know, because all it's batteries prevent it from having a place to carry a spare. This is of course to say nothing about its limited range or ability to carry extra power. Maybe someday that'll all change and if it ever does, I might be interested. But until then, for the kind of wheeling/exploring that I do, I'll stick with what I know.

(And yes, the solar panels on my roof send more energy back to the power company than I use including charging my Tesla.)

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but do you have any idea how pretentious that sounds to regular people who aren't making a software engineers income. Most of the guys I know have to save for years just to buy a Jeep let alone build one up. In fact, I'm one of those guys. Not everyone can afford to buy Teslas or have solar power installed on their roofs.
 

JTCO

Meme King
I for one don't believe climate change has anything to do with humans, so the less regulation, the better.
 

Onlyone

Member
You're right, we don't all agree. Much as I love my Jeep, if I had to choose between being able to crawl around on the rocks and leaving a decent planet for the future generations it wouldn't be a very hard choice.

BUT we don't have to make any such choice. It is well within the capabilities of the auto industry, even FCA, to product an all-electric "Jeep". If properly designed, it could be FAR BETTER for off-roading than anything currently on the market. (Tesla has already shown that an all electric sedan or an all electric SUV can blow the doors off the competition in the luxury market. They're well on their way to doing so in the mid-range sedan market, too.)

Think about it: get rid of the entire drive train (gas tank, engine, transmission, xfer case, drive shafts, differentials) and just put one motor on each wheel and a big battery under the floor (with a bit of armor). Very low center of gravity. (Get rid of the brakes, too, if the regulators will allow it; regenerative braking is fully capable of locking the wheels on any surface.) That's a LOT fewer parts to break. Software would control the torque to each wheel independently, no need for lockers. And the available torque from an electric motor makes a diesel look wimpy (top of the line Teslas have over 900 lb-ft) and it's all there at ZERO rpm. Plus the power delivery is super smooth and controllable, no waiting for the engine to rev up, no worries about being in the right gear, it just goes. It's hard to describe how much nicer an EV feels if you haven't driven one. And while that's nice on the highway it would be even nicer on the rocks.

I don't expect FCA's upcoming plug-in Jeep to be anything near that good. They'll probably just put an electric motor in a Wrangler chassis and probably keep the gas engine, too, making the whole system doubly complex. But as soon as someone builds an off-road capable vehicle designed from the ground up and an EV, I'll be first in line to buy it.

And where is all this fairy electricity going to come from? As well as all the chemicals required for all these terrific batteries? Then, where should we bury all the battery waste? That’s an awful lot of coal. Wait, you don’t want us digging for that.... hmmm. Maybe wind turbines...nope. Not in out back yard!...hmm......
 

Onlyone

Member
I for one don't believe climate change has anything to do with humans, so the less regulation, the better.

But global warming was happening right before all the dinosaurs became extinct. I guess all the cars on the road back then made it happen. Wait........
 

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