Looking for a midsize SUV plug-in hybrid? You’ll have to break that question down by a few details. There are so many recent and future PHEVs that narrowing down that decision can be quite difficult. Jeep is trying to make that decision simple. It combined the off-roading capability and rugged styling of their new Grand Cherokee with a silly name: 4xe. This is pronounced “four-by-e”, which is marketing jargon for a plug-in hybrid. That sounds like a no-brainer, right? An actual fuel-efficient Grand Cherokee!? After testing a Grand Cherokee 4xe Summit, I found some interesting results.
I like what Jeep did when they redesigned the new Grand Cherokee. It is still recognizable as a Grand Cherokee, but they made some modern changes to the design which looks even sleeker. When you’re looking at the back, you see some blue and silver badging for both Jeep, Summit, and 4xe. The left side of the Jeep is where you’ll find both the charge port and the fuel filler flap. Both sides have Grand Cherokee badging with some blue elements along with a USA flag. The Summit model has large 21-inch wheels and the black metallic paint matches quite well with the silver trim. In front, you have the traditional seven slats for the grill reminiscent of other Jeeps along with some thinner headlights. I think that this looks better than the previous generation.
I like what Jeep did when they redesigned the new Grand Cherokee. It is still recognizable as a Grand Cherokee, but they made some modern changes to the design which looks even sleeker. When you’re looking at the back, you see some blue and silver badging for both Jeep, Summit, and 4xe. The left side of the Jeep is where you’ll find both the charge port and the fuel filler flap. Both sides have Grand Cherokee badging with some blue elements along with a USA flag. The Summit model has large 21-inch wheels and the black metallic paint matches quite well with the silver trim. In front, you have the traditional seven slats for the grill reminiscent of other Jeeps along with some thinner headlights. I think that this looks better than the previous generation.
When you open the door, you’ll see a few buttons on the door with a special button being for the massage function. There are a couple different options and severity you can do for the massage. While I enjoyed it, some of my passengers thought that the massage feature was not strong enough. I also had a few complaints about the Tupelo (brown) interior. I thought it looked well against some of the black interior design elements.
Looking ahead, you’ll see the familiar Jeep steering wheel that has all the traditional buttons for the infotainment system and adaptive cruise control, along with some buttons on the back for your media and paddle shifters. There are a few hybrid-specific buttons that include hybrid, electric, and e-save. In front of you, you also have a head-up display and the dials are good at giving you all the information you need about your electricity and fuel. There’s also the option of having night vision along with a camera feed from the rearview mirror for maximum creeping.
I’m glad that Jeep kept buttons on both top and bottom of the infotainment system so you don’t have to go into the infotainment system itself to modulate your climate control, heated ventilated seats, and heated steering wheel. The buttons that are on top of the infotainment system or for your parking features along with a blue battery icon that turns on maximum regeneration. I’ll go into that later, but let’s just say it’s a button that I liked having turned on. The infotainment system itself is just ok with a little bit of lag. There is wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but there were a few times that the system would not sync up with my phone.
Powering all 4xe models is a plug-in hybrid system that utilizes a turbocharged 2.0-L inline-four engine along with a motor which produce 375-hp/280 kW and 470 lb-ft/637 Nm. Also standard is an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive. You can drive the Grand Cherokee in electric mode, but you’ll only want to utilize that for very short trips. That’s because the battery is small and you only get about 20 miles of range. While driving, you’ll notice that that 20-mile range does not equate to actually 20 miles. I was constantly at less than 1% charge and 0 miles of range. When you have a full battery, the Grand Cherokee can get from 0-60 MPH in around six seconds.
You can feel body roll and undulations on the ground, but they are not jarring. Usually, I was using the in-line four engine which was louder than I would expect in an $80,000 vehicle. Back to that little blue button for Max Regeneration. Because the brakes are not very good and seem to take their time slowing down this SUV, it is nice to have more regenerative fuel while using the accelerator pedal. When driving, those physical buttons for climate control make driving a lot easier. I don’t really understand the gimmick of the passenger screen and I would not get that. Save the $2,000. There’s also a large panoramic sunroof which is something that I would include. The cabin also has some brown trim which, while looking interesting, I didn't feel the trim paired well with the leather interior.
So let’s take a look at some numbers! First, is the fuel economy. As I said, you can get around 20 miles of range, and the hybrid system itself was able to get around 28 mpg. That’s really not bad for a vehicle this large. However, when you’re only driving with the gasoline engine, I received around 21 to 22 MPG. If you do have to fill up the battery from zero, it takes over 10 hours on a regular socket or 2-1/2 hours on a 240 V. I spent a lot of time reading books while charging. Once again, definitely not bad, but I do wish that there was some more range.
This particular vehicle was fully loaded and cost about $80,000. Since this doesn’t have a lot of range, I wanted to see if this is worth that $80,000 and if this is the correct powertrain. My answer for the most part was no. This is one of the few times that, during a time when fuel is still around $4.50 to five dollars, I would opt for the V-8. You can get a V6, but, as I tested in the Jeep Grand Cherokee L, took over eight seconds to get to 60 miles an hour and felt extremely slow. Of course, the V8 is going to get much worse gas mileage, but I think that it’s an altogether more smooth engine. If you do have short commutes then this is OK. Looking at plug-in hybrids, I would compare this to the Volvo XC-90 which also has a similar setup but just felt more composed on the road and more luxurious.
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