Far and away Jeep's most iconic model range, the Wrangler, is one of three that's been tapped to lead the brand's electrification push, which will see to it that every single nameplate in the Jeep stable has at least one electrified model by 2022. The plug-in-hybrid Jeep Wrangler "4xe", as it's being called, has been hotly anticipated ever since it was first announced at January's Consumer Electronics Show, but the timing for the new model had been unknown.

Now, we can say with certainty that the new Wrangler 4xe is slated to launch this year, with Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley confirming the timing Friday during the automaker's Annual General Meeting with shareholders.

"Jeep's icon the Wrangler will arrive on the market with a 4xe version that will be on the front line of our electrification strategy in North America," Manley said. The other two models at the fore of Jeep's electrification push, the subcompact Renegade 4xe and compact Compass 4xe, will be available for order in select European markets as early as July.

But those electrified models are much more Euro-centric than the Wrangler 4xe, and it's still not clear when they'll reach the US market. Conversely, the Wrangler 4xe won't land in Europe until early 2021 - the same time as it becomes available in EV-hungry China.

That still leaves plenty of Jeep models without electrified powertrain options, for the time being: the Compass, Cherokee, and Grand Cherokee. And two new models - the Wagoneer and its long-wheelbase sibling, the Grand Wagoneer - still have yet to materialize. Manley didn't speak on the timing of those 4xe models at Friday's meeting.

The Jeep Wrangler 4xe is expected to pair an electric drive motor and a modestly sized battery pack with the Wrangler's turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, delivering a limited amount of pure-electric driving range but no more grunt than what the 270-horsepower 2.0L is already capable of on its own.