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An all-electric Jeep Renegade is finally confirmed. Even better, it will start at under $25,000 as Jeep expands into new markets. In the US, the Jeep Renegade EV will join two other all-electric Jeep vehicles, the Wagoneer S and Wangler-inspired Recon.

The news was confirmed during Stellantis 2024 Investor Day on Thursday. Jeep’s electric Renegade will be among three new EVs launching in North America.

Although Jeep was recently voted America’s most patriotic brand, sales have slipped over the past few years. After sales quadrupled in the US, reaching nearly 1 million in 2018, Jeep has struggled to gain momentum.

Jeep brand sales fell 6% (642,924) in the US last year after slipping 12% in 2022 (684,614) and another 2% in 2021 (778,711).

CEO Antonio Filosa believes Jeep’s new electric vehicles will help turn things around. Filosa told Automotive News last week that “something like 100% will be conquested,” referring to its first global EV, the Wagoneer S.

“The brands we are targeting are mainly Tesla… but there are many others,” Jeep’s leader said. Jeep officially unveiled the Wagoneer S luxury electric SUV two weeks ago with up to 300 miles range.

Jeep-first-EV-Wagoneer-S-Tesla
Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Edition (Source: Jeep)

However, Jeep has “bigger” plans to expand into new markets and strengthen the brand.

Jeep Renegade is going electric for under $25,000

Jeep confirmed it will launch an electric Renegade, starting at “under $25,000” as part of its new growth plan.

The brand will return to the mid-size UV segment in North America while re-entering the small UV market globally. Jeep will expand its lineup from 10 to 13 over the next three years. By 2027, Jeep plans to have six all-electric vehicles.

Jeep-electric-Renegade
Jeep plans electric Renegade for under $25,000 (Source: Stellantis)

After Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said a $25,000 Jeep EV would launch in the US “very soon” just weeks ago, we are learning it will be the electric Renegade.

“If you ask me what is an affordable BEV, I would say 20,000 euros in Europe and $25,000 in the US,” Tavares explained. “In the same way we brought the 20,000 Euro Citroen e-C3, you will have a $25,000 Jeep very soon.”

Jeep-electric-Renegade
Jeep Recon electric SUV (Source: Stellantis)

Tavares revealed it will be an electric Jeep Renegade during Stellantis Investor Day 2024. Although no other information was revealed, it will priced “under $25K.” However, it’s unclear if that includes government incentives.

The affordable Renegade EV will join the Wagoneer S and Recon in Jeep’s electric lineup. Jeep is expected to reveal the Recon, a rugged EV inspired by the Wrangler, later this year.

Electrek’s Take

Jeep’s $25,000 electric Renegade comes as several rivals are also aiming for the low-cost EV segment.

Kia opened orders for its EV3 in Korea last week, starting at $30,700 (KRW 42.08 million). When it arrives in the US, it’s expected to start at around $35,000. The EV4, Kia’s take on electric sedan, is expected to launch at around $35,000 next year.

Volvo’s EX30, starting at $35,000, is off to a hot start, with 14,500 models sold globally in the first quarter.

Chevy plans to launch the $35,000 Equinox EV model later this year, while Ford, Volkswagen, and several others are also building affordable EVs.

What do you guys think? Would you buy an electric Jeep Renegade for under $25,000? Let us know in the comments below.

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Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency

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Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to officially join Trump’s administration as the co-head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency – a second federal department with the goal of making government spending more efficient.

You can’t get more ironic than that.

Throughout the elections, Musk, who is already CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX, a well as the defacto head of X, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, has been floating the idea to add to his workload by joining the Trump’s administration to lead a new department aimed at making the federal government more efficient.

He has been calling it the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which spells out ‘DOGE’, a meme that Musk appears to enjoy.

Well, now Trump appears to want to be going through with this idea.

He announced the new department and Musk as head, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, in a statement today:

I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement. “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” stated Mr. Musk.

What’s most ironic is that there’s already a federal department with the goal of cutting government waste and ensuring efficiency: the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO’s main objectives are:

  • auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;
  • investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities;
  • reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives;
  • performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration;
  • issuing legal decisions and opinions;
  • advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective

It sounds similar to what Musk described when talking about his DOGE, but Trump hasn’t gone into many details other than it will “cut waste.”

He also has a confusing message as he compares the initiative, which is supposed to cut government spending, to “The Manhattan project”, a massive and expensive government project.

Trump said that DOGE will help the government “drive large scale structural reform”:

It will become, potentially, “The Manhattan Project” of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.

The statement also noted that DOGE will only operate until July 4, 2026.

Musk has previously claimed that he could cut at least $2 trillion dollars of the $6.5 trillion dollar US federal budget.

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Oil could plunge to $40 in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

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Oil could plunge to  in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

A pump jack in Midland, Texas, US, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. 

Anthony Prieto | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.

“There is more fear about 2025’s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.

“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.

A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.

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Oil prices year-to-date

Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC. 

Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”

However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.

Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double.

Martoccia Francesco

Energy strategist at Citi

The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.

In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September. 

At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.

Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.

The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.

Bearish year ahead for oil

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Have you had a ride in a driverless vehicle?

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Have you had a ride in a driverless vehicle?

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