Electric 4x4 with 641bhp, 900lb ft one of seven new Jeep concepts

A fresh collection of off-road concept cars have been revealed by Jeep, as part of a showcase of what the brand could offer in years to come.

Shown off at the 57th annual Easter Jeep Safari event in Moab, Utah, the seven one-of-a-kind 4x4s range from restomods to unique creations.

One of the most striking, and technically advanced, to make an appearance was the Magneto 3.0, a two-seat electric off-roader that “points to the direction of the future of Jeep” chief designer Mark Allen said. 

The “open lab”, which is in its third and final iteration of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon-based machine, outputs 641bhp, 900lb ft from a custom-built compact axial flux electric motor. A lower powered 281bhp mode can be selected for less raucous driving.

Unique kit includes a 70kWh battery pack and six-speed manual gearbox – neither will make production.

The concept also features brake regeneration modes and “aggressive” hill descent control to offer true ‘one pedal’ off-road driving in serious rock-crawling situations.

“It is a sort of an open laboratory where we're testing and want to know more about electric,” added Allen.

“It's really kind of based on my curiosity, I can go by and drive an electric vehicle on the street, but when we started this, there were very, very few or none off-road focused electric vehicles.”

Since then, Jeep has confirmed the Jeep Recon as its first off-road focussed EV, which takes the form of an unofficial electric Wrangler.

Other highlights from the reveal included a reimagined 1978 Jeep Cherokee that has been placed on a Wrangler Rubicon 4xe chassis, and V8-powered 2-seat Scrambler 392 pick-up that’s been fettled to cut 204kg from the 4-door Wrangler that it is based.

The firm also showed off other aspects of its range, including  a Jeep Grand Wagoneer SWB with a cabin-accessible roof-mounted Redtail Overland Skyloft (which is heated, too).

“Every year, more than 20,000 Jeep enthusiasts descend on Moab for Easter Jeep Safari to drive in the most extreme off-road conditions, where our engineers continue to push the capability of our Jeep vehicles to next levels,” said Jeep boss Jim Morrison.

“It’s the perfect place to showcase our seven new Jeep concepts, because it’s with these Jeep enthusiasts that we’ll be able to push the limits even more and get their feedback on where they want to take the Jeep brand into the future.”