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The Jeep Commander is a combination of the industry's most advanced powertrain with one of the fastest growing market segments - the SUV. The Commander uses fuel cells to generate electricity to power two EPIC minivan electric motors that provide full-time, four-wheel-drive. The body of the Commander is designed with carbon fiber, simulating the injection molded plastic that would be used in production. The molded-in-color plastic technology is used to compensate for the extra weight of the 2,100-pound fuel-cell powertrain. It saves up to 50 percent in body weight, 10 to 50 percent in manufacturing costs and is nearly 100 percent recyclable. The Commander sits two inches lower than the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, but has a suspension that can be raised four inches for off-road driving. It is also over seven inches wider, allowing for a massive center storage console in the front of the Commander and three-across bucket seats in the rear. Exterior features include a retractable roof rack and a spoiler that deploys from the roof at high speeds. Inside, a small laptop computer can dock into the center console to provide global positioning system data, internet access, phone e-mail, and vehicle diagnostic information. For security purposes, a tiny camera is located in the instrument panel to photograph a thief and electronically send the picture to authorities.Jeep Commander Concept
Jul 15, 2004
7 Replies
I dont think the Commander is as good looking as a Rolls actually :-)
Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ
Get your special order in early Bill......
Afterall they are compensating for the battery weight by making it out of " injection molded plastic".
I'd only buy one if they make a diesel (I'M KIDDING!)
My brother-in-law's Prius (he calls it the Priapism) just took a fatal, trade-the-car-back-in-level dump after 3 months. It'll be a LONG time before they ever come close to working all the inherent problems out of this hair-brained idea. Make the Commander with a cast-iron 6 of any sort in it and it would seem pretty cool!
Matt
So what happened to the Prius? My sister is interested in one and I can't talk her out of it. One of the points I made was the lack of a clean track record for the new technology, and the problem with getting service at any place other than the Toyota dealer.
John Davies
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'96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA
I've gotta say, it was a really cool car when it worked. You only have to have the key in your pocket and it knows who you are to start it. Even the Toyota dealer couldn't diagnose the problem. They took it and gave them a new one (great customer service at least) and were sending it to a district lab or something to check out. When they were driving, the car would just go dead, like unplugging a toy. Temp and everything were normal; the power source just stopped dead for no reason at random times. It has a little monitor that tells you what % of power is coming from the battery and what % from the engine, etc. It just kept happening even at different settings, like a faulty power supply in a computer, until finally they couldn't start it/run it again. The Toyota guys were baffled too. For it only being 3 months old, big warning sign! I don't care what goes wrong with a regular engine, somebody has seen or heard about the problem. It's scary when the folks who built it don't even know.
Matt
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