The car pictured is not just any Renegade, but the off-road-ready Renegade Trailhawk. Mysteriously, the Renegade in the spy shots wears Trailhawk badges but is missing a few Trailhawk styling cues like red tow hooks in the front and a stripe on the hood.
It’s unlikely that it’s a fully-electric vehicle, but a hybrid variant sounds realistic. Jeep’s corporate cousin Chrysler has a PHEV version of the Pacifica minivan and the new Jeep JL Wrangler is promising a plug-in hybrid variant in 2020. Perhaps the little Renegade is next in line.
What seems more likely is a mild hybrid like the four-cylinder JL Wrangler which comes with a 48-volt electrical system to give the SUV a mild boost to save some gas. It could also be a more traditional kind of hybrid with an Atkinson cycle engine accompanied with electric motors like a Prius.
We reached out to Jeep asking about this rumor and Jeep declined to comment. A hybrid Renegade would be a welcome addition to the Jeep lineup. The subcompact crossover segment is getting pretty crowded and a hybrid option would be a good way to make the Renegade stand out on top of its rugged, yet cute character and the legitimate off-road capability of the Trailhawk.
