(Jeep)
Jeep will soon have a few new ways for you to get dirty, stay clean and relax behind the wheel.
The all-utility vehicle brand on Friday announced the upcoming introduction of a new DesertHawk trim level across several of its models that will be engineered for high speed off-road driving, in contrast to the rock-crawling TrailHawk SUVs in showrooms today that it will continue to offer.
Details on which vehicles would get the DesertHawk treatment were not revealed, but the teaser image accompanying the news used a Cherokee blasting through the sand as an illustration. The Renegade, Compass, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee are currently offered in TrailHawk trim.
(Jeep)
Jeep is also going all-in on electrification. It’s eliminating diesels, and said that by 2022 it will have 10 plug-in hybrid and four fully-electric models across its global lineup, and is adding a few all-new model to it
They include a subcompact SUV that’s smaller than the Renegade, a three-row SUV in the Grand Cherokee’s segment, and a car-like “urban” utility vehicle that trade’s Jeep’s traditional off-road capability for a better on-road ride. These are in addition to the previously-announced midsize pickup and full-size Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer.
Along with the powertrain tech, Jeep will begin offering Level 3 autonomous driving in 2021 that it is developing in partnership with BMW. This is a step above systems like Tesla’s Autopilot, and allows for fully-autonomous driving in certain situations, but still requires a driver to be in control much of the time. A Level 2 system along the lines of Autopilot will debut on the 2020 Grand Cherokee.
