Jeep® Goes Electric — Off-Road As Nature Intended
SHARP & Jeep®
A twig snaps, birds chirp brightly, and the wind whispers through the gently swaying trees. Getting out into nature is all about taking the time to appreciate these moments of relative peace, and treading lightly as you do so. From the driver’s seat of Wrangler Unlimited 4xe, you’ll get to enjoy all the sounds nature has to offer, especially with the windows down and roof open to the sky as you travel in the near silence of battery power.
The electric future of the automobile is often presented as slick, urban, and glossy. Sleek electro-pods whizz along city streets, spotless, anonymous, and nearly featureless. The reality of electrification is a different story — it’s equal parts commuting, road trips, and that inherent human desire to explore. Sure, the future runs on batteries. But the Jeep brand going electric means the future will also include some mud-spattered fun.
Jeep currently has two plug-in hybrid nameplates in the lineup: the Wrangler Unlimited 4xe and the Grand Cherokee 4xe. The former is currently the best-selling plug-in hybrid in North America, and for good reason. It offers the practicality of a four-door SUV and a heritage of off-road capability honed on the Rubicon trail, all while drawing power from a plug-in hybrid system that offers remarkable fuel economy. It’s fun, it’s capable, and now it’s eco-friendly.
Jeep Goes Electric
Jeep Goes Electric
Jeep Goes Electric
Jeep Goes Electric
Jeep Goes Electric
Jeep Goes Electric
Jeep Goes Electric
The Grand Cherokee 4xe offers the same refined appeal it always has, backed by the same Jeep off-road capability and modern technology, but with an incredibly efficient plug-in hybrid engine powering it. Both vehicles offer a torque-rich powertrain that combines a 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine with two electric motors for a total of 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. A 17 kWh battery pack allows for up to 42 km of pure EV range in the Grand Cherokee, or up to 35 km in the Wrangler. You can use the vehicles in electric only mode for shorter commutes, hybrid mode which allows the vehicle to transition naturally between gas and battery power, or esave that uses the gas engine only so that you can save the full charge for some nearly-silent off-roading in the backcountry.
For adventurers interested in preserving the areas they love exploring so much, Jeep’s 4xe models provide a real-world solution that’s available right now. Having said that, both are just the tip of the spear for the company’s electrification plans, as announced in September on “4xe day.” Jeep also recently launched a Canada-specific hub outlining the path forward to its battery-powered future.
Along with greater proliferation of the 4xe plug-in variants, two all-new EV models are inbound for 2024. On the more rugged side is the adventure-ready Recon concept, which Jeep calls ‘Wrangler’s brother’, so yes, that means you can take it off-roading, remove the doors and open the roof right up. Like the Wrangler, the Recon is also a five-seater, and has off-road-ready approach, departure, and breakover angles.
More oriented towards on-road performance is the Wagoneer S, which picks up the mantle of the muscular Grand Cherokee SRT8 and the outlandishly quick Trackhawk variant. While the specifics aren’t yet confirmed, the stated goals for the Wagoneer S are some 600 hp, and a 0-100 kph time of around three-and-a-half seconds. It’s a stunning design, capped off by an integrated rear wing worthy of one of the greatest Mopar performance icons of all time, the Plymouth Superbird.
With a 4xe version of the full-size Wagoneer also on the way, the Jeep brand’s plans for range-wide electrification are just on the horizon. By 2025, it projects full 4xe proliferation across the entire portfolio, with four of those models being fully electric.
A cleaner, less environmentally impactful future is to be wished for, but not just for our city streets. An electrified Jeep brand means outdoor enthusiasts can still get anywhere they wish, but tread lighter, and leave a smaller footprint as they do it.
