WILL THE ELECTRIC JEEP WRANGLER CONCEPT BE CALLED MAGNETO?

Yesterday, news broke that Jeep was going to bring an electric Wrangler concept to their annual Easter Safari in March. And this isn’t rumors or speculation, Jeep themselves said, “We plan to reveal a 100% battery powered Wrangler BEV concept vehicle as part of the Jeep Brand concept vehicles at the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah.” While there’s no doubt an electric Wrangler off-roader is coming, we didn’t know what Jeep would be calling it. But now, we may have found a clue in a recent Jeep trademark filing for “Magneto” on January 5, 2021 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Specifically, the trademark applies to, “Motor vehicles, namely, concept motor vehicles.” Given the electric Jeep Wrangler will be a concept, rather than a production EV, there’s a good chance this is what Magneto refers to. And we’re not complaining, as Jeep Wrangler Magneto Concept does sound pretty fantastic.

If Magneto sounds familiar, you’re right. As CarBuzz points out, Magneto is a Marvel villain that has been featured in many X-Men comics, and his signature trick is controlling metal with his mind. While Disney does own the rights to the name, it must be fair play for Jeep to tack it on an electric Wrangler in an automotive context.

Then again, Jeep will reveal many concepts at The Easter Safari, and Magneto could be applied to something else entirely. It seems fitting for an EV though, doesn’t it? And Magneto could represent an opposite of the Apache-powered Wrangler 392, as these vehicles are fitting adversaries of changing times.

What makes us think that it the Magneto trademark could christen the electric Jeep Wrangler?

A simple word play, really. Permanent magnet motors are used in electric vehicles across the auto industry, and the name could be a nod to the propulsion system.

With the industry pivoting towards EVs so rapidly, with a particular focus on off-roaders, a production Wrangler EV is almost certainly coming. The timeline of the concept’s reveal could even mean the production model may get a reveal this year, before going on sale in 2022.

Once the production electric Jeep Wrangler goes on sale, called Magneto or not, it will truly spread the JL platform wider than any Wrangler before. Jeep may have a four cylinder, six cylinder, diesel, V8, plug in hybrid and fully electric variant of a single vehicle on sale at once.

As far as we know, there has never been a vehicle with such an eclectic mix of powertrain options, and there probably will never be one again.