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Jeep to release four EV models by 2025

Credit: Jeep

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During Jeep’s 4xe Day event, the brand announced it would introduce four new Jeep EV models by 2025.

Jeep and other American Stelantis-owned brands Dodge and Chrysler have been late to the electric vehicle market. Still, Jeep intends to change that by introducing four new all-electric models by 2025. In their 4xe event, they announced a fully electric Jeep Wagoneer, a Jeep Wrangler-inspired Jeep Recon (an all-new model name), a Europe-based Jeep Avenger (what has been previously teased as a Jeep Jeepster), and a slew of PHEV models that will come to North America.

 

After hemorrhaging money in paying for carbon credits, primarily in Europe, the American Stelantis brands are now introducing their first all-electric models as part of their 100% EV sales goal for Europe and 50% EV sales goal in the U.S. by 2030.

Jeep Wagoneer S EV

The first model shown in Jeep’s 4xe event was the all-new Jeep Wagoneer S EV. This electric rendition of the now incredibly popular Jeep Wagoneer offers far more angular styling and lighting and a series of aerodynamic upgrades to aid in the vehicle’s efficiency. Most notably, the Jeep Wagoneer EV now adopts a BMW X4 coupe styling as the back window is aggressively slanted, as a wing compliments the rear of the vehicle. Jeep shared a few specs for the Wagoneer S EV; the SUV would have ~400 miles of range (643.738 kilometers), 600 horsepower, and a 0-60 of ~3.5 seconds. No other specifications were released.

jeep grand wagoneer ev

Jeep Grand Wagoneer S EV (Credit: Jeep)

Jeep Avenger EV

Jeep’s Avenger, the first of two new model names announced, will be Jeep’s first all-electric offering in Europe and will be available early next year. The Jeep Avenger is the vehicle that has been inaccurately rumored to be the Jeep Jeepster, though it may come to the U.S. under that model name. The small crossover SUV is ideal for the European market and offers a playful look and feel. Similarly to the wagoneer, limited specifications were released, but the vehicle will have ~400 kilometers (248.548 miles) of range.

jeep avenger ev

Jeep Avenger EV (Credit: Jeep)

Jeep Recon EV

Finally, the Jeep Recon is the brand’s new serious all-electric off-roader. Inspired by the Jeep Wrangler, the vehicle has styling reminiscent of the Ford Bronco and Land Rover Discovery. Jeep gave no specifications for this vehicle, but the brand stated that it was focused on maximizing off-road capability, fun, and freedom. If built off of the Jeep Wagoneer EV platform, the vehicle would likely not be capable of the same 400-mile range due to its decreased aerodynamics and more capable suspension setup but could retain the incredible 600 horsepower.

jeep recon ev

Jeep Recon EV (Credit: Jeep)

Excitingly, Jeep only showed off three fully electric vehicles that would be introduced by the end of 2024, but they stated that the brand would release four. Some have speculated that the brand may be working on an electric truck model based on their Jeep Gladiator platform.

Overall, this is exciting news for the heritage brand! Jeep is one of a few brands attempting to infuse fun and enjoyment into each vehicle. With electric powertrains, their vehicles can become more fun and cleaner simultaneously, and it is good news that they have recognized this fact.

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https://youtu.be/bQNxyMYXHmY

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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Elon Musk

Google just picked SpaceX for its first step into orbital AI

Google will launch its first Project Suncatcher AI satellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare next week.

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Google is about to put its own AI chips into orbit for the first time, and it is paying SpaceX to get them there.

The company said Thursday that the first in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, its research effort to find out whether space can host large-scale AI computing, will fly next week on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission.

The satellite, called MVP, is about the size of a refrigerator and carries four of Google’s Tensor Processing Units, the same chips Google runs in its ground data centers. Google originally planned to launch two custom satellites in 2027, but chose to move faster by integrating its chips into a satellite.

MVP’s solar panels supply about one kilowatt of power, and Google will run Gemini models on the TPUs only in bursts of roughly 15 minutes before the chips shut down so the radiators can shed heat. In a blog post, Google said its Trillium TPUs survived vibration testing that mimicked sustained launch loads of up to 10g, with individual components seeing 50 to 100g, and handled a radiation dose greater than a five year mission would deliver.

SpaceX and Google mull massive partnership on Musk’s orbital data dream: report

Next week’s flight, slated for October 1, follows a relationship that became public in May, when Teslarati reported that Google was in talks with SpaceX for a launch deal tied to orbital data centers. Google also holds a stake of roughly 6% in SpaceX.

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The two companies are chasing the same idea from very different starting points. SpaceX’s own orbital compute program is built around the AI1 satellite, a roughly 70 meter structure derived from Starlink V3 hardware that is designed for 150 kW of peak compute, about 150 times the power MVP will draw. Elon Musk has brushed off concerns about crowding orbit with those satellites, and SpaceX is building its Gigasat factory in Bastrop, Texas, to produce them, targeting an annualized rate of about 1 GW of space compute by the end of 2027.

Musk also posted on X on Thursday that “the amount of compute in space will obviously round up to 100% of all compute.”

Google has been more cautious in public. Its research estimates that launch prices need to fall below about $200 per kilogram before an orbital data center can compete with a ground facility on energy cost, a threshold the company believes could be reached around the mid 2030s. The Suncatcher team has said it expects the effort to remain a project rather than a product for years, which leaves the first real test of its hardware riding on a rocket from the company with the most aggressive timeline in the field.

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Tesla Cybercab gets initial tie-in to localized, in-house cathode plant

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has taken another concrete step toward owning its battery supply chain, and it’s doing so with what is perhaps the most important vehicle in its short-but-storied history.

On September 23, Tesla announced that it has officially built the first Cybercab with cathode material produced in-house at the company’s first cathode plant in the U.S., and the first in the U.S. overall.

Active cathode material is the most expensive piece of a lithium-ion battery cell, and it often accounts for more than a third of cell cost. For years, the industry sourced a majority of it from Asia, but Tesla’s decision to make it in the United States bodes well for the Cybercab project. This is the latest chapter in Tesla’s vertical integration strategy, which began in public at Battery Day in 2020.

At the Battery Day Event, Elon Musk said the company would build a North American cathode plant and overhaul the process to cut costs and waste, while also making some of the most powerful and long-lasting cells in the industry.

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The Austin facility took years to appear. Tesla filed permits for “Project Cathode” in 2022 on land near Giga Texas. By mid-2022, the building frame was up and Tesla later invested hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a larger expansion of the Giga Texas plant. The company stated it was operating the first large-scale cathode production facility in North America to supplement 4680 cell production.

One month later, that material reached a finished Cybercab.

The timing of this breakthrough is monumental for the Cybercab program. As Tesla officially launched the first Cybercab rides to the public earlier this month, production of the ride-hailing-geared vehicle is moving forward on the planned S-curve that CEO Elon Musk told everyone to expect.

Nevertheless, packs of Cybercab units have been spotted throughout the United States, in an effort to potentially activate the fleet as soon as the company gains regulatory approval in various geographic areas.

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On top of that, Tesla owning the cathode step and pairing it with its own in-house lithium from the Gulf Coast refinery shortens the supply chain that once stretched thousands of miles and subjects every pack to fewer external price shocks and geopolitical risks.

Tesla is not yet independent of all of its foreign suppliers, as some precursor metals come from mines and chemical plants. But the first in-house cathode Cybercab shows the company is closing the most expensive and most concentrated gap in its battery production efforts. For a vehicle like Cybercab to operate at a high utilization within the Robotaxi network, that control over cost is so crucial.

It is arguably as important as the software that drives it.

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Tesla leaks Semi customers ahead of handover event

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is set to inaugurate its dedicated Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada, this evening, but drone footage has already started to show who is expected on the handover stage.

Zanegler, a drone operator who regularly documents Tesla Semi operations in Nevada, filmed a row of new-generation Semi units parked outside of the plant with customer branding applied. The liveries visible in the video include companies like PepsiCo, U.S. Foods, Einride, DHL, WattEV, and others that have committed to utilizing Tesla’s Class 8 electric truck in their fleets.

Several of those company names already sit within Tesla’s public ordering book, including PepsiCo, which has been the program’s primary anchor customer since the first Semi deliveries in December 2022. PepsiCo now runs dozens of Tesla Semi units in daily service, with drivers completing regional routes.

Einride placed a 500-unit order in August, which was, at the time, the largest single Semi commitment. First deployments of their Semi units are planned for this month and will eventually span across California, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia. Meanwhile, IMC Logistics announced a 50-truck California order this week.

Tesla Semi lands the biggest electric truck deal in U.S. history

Other names, like LTS, OK Produce, and HMD, have not been widely confirmed as firm buyers, but their presence on the lot is perhaps the clearest signal that Tesla intends to expand on that list this evening at the event.

Tesla first unveiled the Semi back in 2017 with a 2019 production target.

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Limited pilot builds reached PepsiCo in late 2022, and high-volume production began at the new 1.7-million-square-foot plant that sits logically positioned next to Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada. Tesla Semi program director Dan Priestley has said that Tesla expects to build “many thousands” of Semi units this year, but as with every Tesla release, there have been set expectations of an S-curve ramp.

Outside estimates still put 2026 deliveries in the 5,000-to-15,000 range, but it will ultimately depend on Tesla’s readiness to put those units out, as well as how smoothly production is moving internally.

Tesla’s Semi Rollout event is set to start tonight at the Sparks factory, and it will be livestreamed on X starting at 6 p.m. PDT / 9 p.m. ET.

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