Jeep Treo
Jeep's futuristic Treo concept makes its domestic debut in Detroit, as what must be the strangest vehicle to ever wear the "Jeep" moniker. Looking past the, um, imaginative styling, there are some interesting ideas at play. The pickup trucklet is built on a fuel cell platform, with an electric powertrain providing full-time all-wheel drive. This platform can adapt various alternative powertrain systems, allowing the three-seat Treo to be a rolling science experiment. By-wire steering column, pedals, and instrumentation shift as a unit from side to side to allow instant adaptability for either left- or right-hand drive. On the styling front, the Treo applies rugged elements to an urban commuter, with exposed tires on 19-inch wheels pushed to the very corners, bolted-on body panels, oversized tow hooks, boot tread texture on sill plate, and obligatory seven-slot vertical grille.