Jeep's 'Magneto' electric Wrangler concept is a big tease

Jay PetersMar 22, 2021, 1:54pm EDT

Jeep has unveiled a new electric vehicle with an X-Men-inspired name: the Wrangler Magneto. However, don't get your hopes up for this being the electric Jeep Wrangler you might have been wishing for — the Magneto is just a concept car, so you probably won't be able to buy one any time soon.

The car's design is based on the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, but it has an electric motor that offers up to 273 pound-feet of torque and 285 horsepower, and it comes equipped with an 800-volt system spread across four battery packs, according to Jeep. The company didn't share a range for how far the Magneto can go without needing a charge, though that's not all too surprising given that this is a concept car.

The Magneto also, interestingly, comes equipped with a six-speed manual transmission. And while that might be surprising, since most electric cars have single-speed transmissions, the Magneto actually isn't the first electric concept car to have a multi-gear transmission. Ford showed off a concept six-speed manual transmission all-electric Mustang, the Mustang Lithium, back in November 2019.

Jeep's parent company Fiat Chrysler (which is now called Stellantis) has been slow to adopt EVs, and with GMC's Hummer EV and Rivian's R1T pickup truck on the very near horizon, Stellantis could risk losing customers if it doesn't offer an electric version of the Jeep, one of its most iconic cars. And while Stellantis has been making some bold promises about its plans for electric vehicles, the Magneto is lacking some substance to show that any sort of electric Wrangler is coming out anytime soon.