Acceleration in the 2010 Jeep Wrangler EV is strong and smooth, ramping up power progressively where the vehicle just keeps pulling up the speedometer at an almost unnerving pace. Because it's all electronic, the console-mounted stick shift is gone and the gear selection is done by pushbutton just below the nav screen. The nav screen itself allows for several different screens to help the driver monitor all sorts of vehicle parameters like battery temperature, power levels, strength, range, charge/discharge direction and more.
In fact, we've been hearing that a pair of wheel-mounted electric motors could work on a future model to make the SUV more trail capable, but the computer power needed to make the front and rear motors sync is prohibitive. Our guess is that's still a few years out at best, but this opens up all sorts of eco-friendly 4x4 possibilities Jeep is hoping will catch on. The key will be to make them work like a typical 4x4. In the 2WD 2010 Jeep Wrangler we drove, there was nothing that made the vehicle look or act compromised, with the exception of noise and absence of a transmission. Additionally, under the hood was tons of room to store various gear, tools, or mount a winch.