1983 Jeep Wagoneer Limited Sport Utility 4-door 5.9l on 2040-cars

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FCA joining virtual CES with in-depth tours and Jeep Wrangler 4xe in AR

CES is sort of, technically happening, but it won’t be the CES weÂ’ve all become accustomed to over the years. Automakers will be doing their best to participate virtually, assuming they decide to join in the festivities at all. FCA is one that will have a little nugget of tech to share with us. A few main experiences will be made available to anybody with a computer. FCAÂ’s main draw is meant to be “highly detailed interactive product tours” where you can get to know a number of vehicles in a virtual world and hear from a “virtual brand ambassador” throughout the tour. You wonÂ’t be able to sit in and crawl through the cars like a normal auto show for the public, but FCA is promising a rather immersive experience online. The guided tour through the cars and technologies will be available in 12 FCA vehicles, two of those being the new Jeep Grand Wagoneer Concept and Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. FCA plans to offer in-depth talks about how it tests vehicles, too. There are demonstrations planned for wind tunnels, the four-post shaker, an advanced drive simulator and general performance testing. Additionally, FCA plans on providing more insight into Uconnect 5 and vehicle electrification systems. WeÂ’re guessing the latter will offer up details on the Wrangler 4xe. The plug-in hybrid Wrangler will also be the star of FCAÂ’s AR play at CES. Everybody will be able to scan a QR code on FCAÂ’s site, then have access to a Wrangler 4xe on their phone. YouÂ’ll be able to “put it” in your driveway virtually, change the colors and get up close and personal with the interior.  All of this will launch on fcaces2021.com at 9 a.m. ET on January 11 (official first day of the virtual CES show), so surf on over there next week if you want to check it out. Related video:

5 classic trucks and their polarizing modern revivals

EVs are helping eliminate Detroit's gas-guzzling problem. Some revivals of gas-powered classics are getting the EV treatment.  But not every revived model looks exactly like its original counterpart. We're in a new era of hulking Detroit metal, and you can thank EVs. Americans can't get enough of their big, beefy trucks and SUVs. But for many years, some of the biggest gas guzzlers fell out of fashion as gas prices rose and emissions regulations tightened. But in the past few years, some of the most iconic American truck nameplates have been brought back to life with electric motors, like the GMC Hummer. In other cases, as with the Ford Bronco, improvements in engine technology and more interest in rugged adventure vehicles made a gas-powered revival possible. Even some revivals that started as gas-powered, like the Chevy Blazer and the Jeep Wagoneer, are now getting electrified spinoffs. (Even if they don't always look quite as sleek as their original inspiration.) Here are side-by-sides of five classic American trucks and their modern counterparts. The Jeep Wagoneer 1975 Jeep Wagoneer and 2024 Electric Jeep Wagoneer SStellantis After a long wait, Jeep released its revival of the classic Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer in 2020. Starting later this year, an electric version of the luxury Jeep SUV will join the Wagoneer lineup. The Chevrolet Blazer A 1973 Chevrolet Blazer and a 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EVGetty Images, General Motors The Chevrolet Blazer was first rebooted in 2019 as a sporty family SUV. The modern Blazer shares zero resemblance to its boxy, off-roading older sibling, but it has still managed to become one of Chevy's more popular SUVs in recent years. The Blazer EV came later, and was one of the first models GM built on its new Ultium battery platform. The Hummer A Hummer H2 and the 2023 Hummer EV pickup truckGetty Images, General Motors Once the poster child for Detroit's big, bad gas guzzlers, the Hummer got new life as an electric pickup truck in 2021. The Ford Bronco A 1971 Ford Bronco and a 2022 Ford BroncoFord Motor Co. After a rouge group of engineers and designers inside Ford spent years trying to breathe life back into the Blue Oval's boxy off-roader, the Ford Bronco was finally resurrected in 2020 amid a rise in popularity for rugged adventure vehicles. The Ford Ranger 1985 Ford Ranger and a 2024 Ford RangerFord Motor Co.

Making the Compatriot the Jeep we want - and deserve

If you're one of the hottest brands in the world, and you need to replace two vehicles that sell at a rate of nearly 200k a year, what exactly are you going to do? Do you take the safe route and attempt to mirror what has largely kept you a success thus far, or do you improve on the formula, and better sort your lineup? After 10 years with the Jeep Compass and Patriot, it is time for both to hang up their jackets and go in for the long dirt nap. And what a strange 10 years it's been. Born of the age of Diamler-Chrysler, the "Merger of equals," the Compass and Patriot were brought into this world to shore up sales of Jeep worldwide, pull on the heartstrings of former Cherokee owners, and make sure teenage girls had an affordable crossover to buy in just a few years. As much as I like to throw shade at each model on both subjective and objective basis, I truly find the purpose of each vehicle to be relatively endearing. For less than $22,000, you could (that is, if you could find one) walk out of your local Jeep dealer with a 4x4 crossover, with a manual gearbox, decent all-weather performance, and somewhat respectable fuel economy. This of course ignores the fact that they weren't packaged all that well, based on the outrageously terrible Dodge Caliber, and used all those shared bits and bobs with Mitsubishi that should have been shelved by 2010. Yet, the twins lived on, and on, and on. We've heard stories as far back as 2012 that they weren't long for our world, and then we get news that they're making it through 2017. Just in time for the "Compatriot" to arrive. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what Jeep intends to do with the Compatriot. As far as most blogs seem to know, we're getting a Compass and Patriot replacement that is based on the already well-received Renegade. A little bit of a stretch on the chassis will certainly aid in ride quality, and the Grand Cherokee styling cues will give it a much more upscale demeanor. Even the interior has looked very well executed, with a positively huge uConnect screen set in the middle of the dash. Could Jeep actually be trying to take their Compass and Patriot replacement significantly more up the product chain? I certainly hope so. If you pilot your browser over to the Jeep configurators, you might be surprised by how low the base prices are on almost all of their products. Less than $30k for a new Cherokee? A Renegade for just under $18k? What a deal!