Jeep Shows Off All-Electric Restomod CJ Surge Ahead of SEMA

Photo: Jeep

Forget throwing an LS engine in your Jeep CJ. You should put an electric motor in there instead, and Jeep is leading the way. At SEMA, the company is unveiling a battery-electric system that is meant to fit in classic Jeeps. It’s called the CJ Surge, and in a word, it’s sick. The “electromod” concept is meant to allow designers and engineers to better understand the potential of BEV parts kits.

Photo: Jeep

Jeep says that under the hood of the CJ Surge is a 400 volt, 200 kW electric drive motor. Power is routed to all four wheels (duh, it’s a Jeep) via a two-speed transfer case with selectable gearing. The SUV has front and rear Jeep Performance Parks Dana 44 Crate Axles. All of the power comes from 24 lithium-ion batteries that are enclosed in a custom — and assumedly secure — shell mounted at the rear of the passenger cabin.

The “Copper Canyon” colored SUV runs on 35-inch BFGoodrich all-terrain tires that are paired with a two-inch lift kit and 18-by-9 inch Black Rhino Solid wheels with plenty of blue and black accents that can be found throughout the rest of the exterior.

Photo: Jeep

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Up front there’s an interesting — if not slightly out of place — JPP Wrangler JK Rubicon bumper kit with a winch, LED fog lights and underbody protection. There’s also a two-inch chopped windshield.

Along the side of the CJ Surge are more of those black and blue accents as well as a custom charging port right behind the driver’s door. It really looks like it was meant to be there, even though it very clearly was not.

Photo: Jeep

Inside is a bit spartan, but that’s sort of to be expected for something like a Jeep CJ. The surf blue-stitched, black Sedoso cloth and houndstooth driver and passenger seats are perched on concept seat risers. The center console will look very familiar if you’ve spent time in a modern Wrangler. The one thing you won’t be able to get your eye past is the rotary-style shift knob that comes right out of a number of different Stellantis products. The driver controls the CJ Surge from a custom steering wheel that is festooned with a unique JPP horn pad badge.

It’s all very cool isn’t it? Let us know what you think about the CJ Surge down below.