Jeep’s next electric vehicle is apparently going to be a massively powerful Jeep e-bike with one of the highest-torque electric bicycle motors on the market.
The news comes as the Jeep e-bike made its first appearance in Jeep’s super bowl commercial, seen below.
The commercial features Bill Murray reprising his role from the 1993 hit movie Groundhog Day.
The actual subject of the commercial is the Jeep Gladiator pickup truck.
However, the new Jeep electric bicycle makes a short cameo part way through the ad.
Concurrently with Jeep dropping the ad on YouTube, US-based electric bicycle distributor QuietKat, who is apparently working with Jeep on the new Jeep e-bike, uploaded more information onto its website.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=61&v=AnhzGUcENWo&feature=emb_logo
According to the site, the Jeep electric bicycle will apparently feature extra-wide 4.8-inch fat tires, will be capable of achieving 40 miles (64 km) of range on a single charge, and will be available in June 2020.
They also claim the Jeep e-bike will feature a 750W electric motor.
But it won’t. See below.
Electrek’s Take
That’s all the information that Jeep has released so far. But they surely didn’t realize just how e-bike nerdy we are here at Electrek. So now let me give you the specs they didn’t list, but that we can pull out of the few sparse images and short video clip.
First of all, that mid-drive motor seen on the Jeep e-bike isn’t a 750W motor. It’s a motor built by Chinese company Bafang and is known internally as the model M620. Externally, it’s known as the Bafang Ultra.
It puts out at least 1,600 W of peak power with a standard 52V e-bike battery. And it pushes 160Nm of torque. Folks, that’s an insane amount of torque — a level that most gas motorcycles don’t reach.
That motor can literally twist and rip a bike chain to pieces. I know this because I was riding a Bafang Ultra-equipped e-bike at Eurobike 2019 this year when that very scenario occurred beneath my feet.
Alright, so that’s the motor. But what else?
The Jeep e-bike appears to be packing 4-piston Tektro Dorado hydraulic disc brakes in the commercial, though the brakes appear to be Magura-style brakes in the press photos. Those Tektro brakes are some of the nicest e-bike level brakes in the business, and the best in Tektro’s e-bike line. Magura MT5e’s would also be a very high-end choice. Either option would show that the Jeep e-bike is sporting some expensive, high-performance bike components.
Between the RockShox rear suspension and inverted front suspension fork, the integrated battery likely to measure in the 840Wh range and the other high-quality components like thru-axles on the wheels, the Jeep e-bike is shaping up to be more than just a simple Sunday ride e-bike.
The question that remains for me is just how much is Jeep involved in the development of this bike, or did they just lend the sticker? Because to me it seems to be encroaching pretty heavily into the realm of some other popular bikes out there in the market, such as a FREY M600 with an upgraded motor, for example.
What do you guys think of the Jeep e-bike? Let me know in the comments below!
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