Technical details of Jeep Renegade hybrid revealed

KUALA LUMPUR: Jeep has revealed the technical details of the Renegade plug-in hybrid version. The new SUV is intended to sell in volumes and will be open for sale to customers in June 2020.

The hybrid variant of the Renegade is very similar to the present model, a significant difference being a 135hp rear-mounted electric motor. The motor is mounted on the AWD Renegade’s rear sub-frame which has been modified to carry the motor.

The fuel tank of the car witnesses a decrease in size to a capacity of 39-litres and the EV tends to deliver a range of 31 miles at up to 81mph when driven in idle conditions. The battery, which has been mounted on the floorplan’s centre tunnel takes up some space at the rear seat along with the downsized fuel tank.

Jeep’s hybrid Renegade features a 179.5 hp turbo engine which runs on petrol, the four-cylinder mill comes mated with a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine drives the front-wheel of the hybrid and also gains a belt-activated generator which recharges the battery when the car is braking or at rest. The nine-speed standard transmission unit will be discontinued for the hybrid variant.

This hybrid offers an EV mode where the rear wheels are driven completely on electric power, generated by the motors. In the all-wheel-drive mode, the vehicle shares a total of 240hp amongst the four-wheels, obtaining a total of 62mph in an estimated time of seven seconds. The car also provides the possibility of putting the battery on hold, to be used in a state of emergency.

The automakers have promised a significant improvement in the off-road ability of the vehicle as its rear electric motor offers a very precisely controlled 258Nm of torque between the rear wheels. Jeep will also be offering a ‘Trail Rated’ version of this hybrid Renegade that will be able to wade through water levels of 60-cm in depth.

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