Someone at Jeep is an X-Men fan. How else do you explain the Jeep Wrangler Magneto, a concept EV from the off-road company? Okay, you could point out that all electric engines make use of electromagnetism and be boring about it but we prefer to believe that there’s someone at Jeep silently giggling about that stealthy pun.

Making Magneto

If the name hasn’t clued you in, the Magneto is based on the Jeep Wrangler and we’ve been expecting something like this. But we were expecting it to be more widely available. This concept EV currently doesn’t have any production plans behind it. Which is a pity.

And that’s because it seems like quite a nice ride. The EV looks like the Wrangler, in terms of design, but uses a “custom-built axial flux electric motor that operates up to 6,000 rpm” to generate 285 horsepower. Jeep compares it to its 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine. Weirdly, the vehicle also includes a manual gearbox — a six-speed gearbox with a clutch that can be operated as though the Magneto featured a regular internal combustion engine.

It’ll do 0 to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds, which is slow for an EV but is probably a good idea for a vehicle that you’ve got bouncing around off-road. Nobody wants to hit a divot at those speeds. Nobody sane, anyway. There’s no range data, but the Jeep uses four battery packs forming an 800-volt system. We’re not sure how to do the math on that, but somebody might be able to make an educated guess.

It probably moves far enough. The EV concept was shown off at this year’s Easter Jeep Safari, held in Moab, Utah, this past weekend, alongside several other special edition Jeeps. Only, none of those were named after Erik Lehnsherr.

Images: Stellantis Media