2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe Rugged Plug-In Hybrid

Bear in mind when hybrids have been boring? It actually didn’t appear that way back that we have been attempting to give you methods to make the issues look like something greater than snooze-inducing practical engineering. Even a starring position in Gran Turismo 5 couldn’t make the poor Prius cool.

However, whereas the Prius will in all probability by no means shake its picture as a utilitarian machine, no one will ever name the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe boring. From the lurid blue tow hooks to the huge stance of the knobby 265/60R-18 Goodyear Wranglers, this factor is each aggressive, and aggressively a hybrid. Bizarre combine? Yeah, however one way or the other it really works.

Let’s rapidly run via the small print. The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe is a $62,485, two-row SUV powered by Jeep’s venerable 2.0-liter turbo inline-four, right here placing down 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque ducted via an eight-speed computerized. That’s paired with a 17-kWh battery pack and the required plug-in plumbing to offer an EPA-estimated 25 miles of all-electric vary on a full cost.

Naturally, the very first thing I did was see whether or not that 25 miles is achievable. From empty, the Jeep took simply wanting two and a half hours on my dwelling Stage 2 charger to fill its batteries. I then went on a fast run round city to knock out some errands and, wouldn’t you realize it, precisely 25 miles later the dashboard dinged and the engine kicked on. I’d depleted my cost.

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The SUV was completely effective to drive on electrons solely. Positive, it was a bit wheezy off the road, but it surely was hardly gradual, the engine solely popping on every so often when climbing steep hills. Bear in mind, this factor weighs 5,300 kilos! Over the course of my two-week time with the Trailhawk 4xe, I averaged a number of tenths shy of twenty-two mpg, once more more-or-less proper on the EPA estimate. However as with all PHEVs, your milage can and can differ massively relying on the size of your commute and your entry to a charger on both finish.

Throughout these testing miles I used to be blown away by how good the Grand Cherokee is to drive — snug and calm regardless of the rugged suspension, quiet and composed regardless of the aggressive tires. I might actually see myself doing huge miles on this factor with out criticism. Solely the eight-speed auto was an occasional annoyance, delivering the odd clumsy shift on part-throttle acceleration. Actually, that’s only a tiny fly on this delightfully easy ointment.

The inside greater than held up its finish of the cut price. This Cherokee provided snug seating entrance and rear, and whereas the colour scheme was quite darkish in there, the panoramic sunroof brightened the place up. It’s well worth the $1,835 additional. The Trailhawk you see right here has each the $2,235 Superior Protech and $1,995 Rear Seat Video packages, that means touchscreens and HDMI inputs for everyone, plus a plethora of USB-A and USB-C ports and even three-prong energy for thirsty laptops or sport consoles.

The entrance passenger show is shrouded behind a privateness filter, that means you may’t simply see it from the driving force’s seat. That’s intelligent and, with Amazon Hearth TV inbuilt in all places, there’s no scarcity of media on faucet for all of your passengers. That mentioned, on this period of private content material consumption, I’ve to determine most people would simply as quickly convey their very own gadgets.

The ten.1-inch middle touchscreen is the one supposed for the driving force, augmented by Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, each wi-fi. That show is flanked high and backside with an enormous array of buttons. Jeep fortunately has not given up on bodily controls, offering knobs and dials for almost every part. Opinions will differ on this, however I’m grateful for the tactility.

I do, nonetheless, want these buttons have been a bit extra logically arrayed. Deciding on off-road drive mode is completed within the middle console to the left of the transmission’s shifter dial. Deciding on hybrid drive mode is completed on a separate panel to the left of the steering wheel. Then, if you wish to activate most regenerative braking, it’s important to hit a button perched up on the very high of the middle stack, above the touchscreen. That’s a number of flailing round.

Once more, although, that’s a minor quibble in what’s a extremely spectacular rig, particularly whenever you take it off-road. The Quadra-Carry air suspension hoists the Grand Cherokee as much as a claimed 11.3 inches of floor clearance, and the locking rear differential ensures all the facility will get the place you need it. I didn’t spend as a lot time without work the asphalt as I’d have preferred, however operating via some deep, muddy logging roads, the 4xe felt completely confidence-inspiring.

It felt, in different phrases, identical to a Jeep, however one that would get you to work emissions-free and in easy consolation. The as-configured worth of $72,185 is way from low-cost, but additionally fairly honest for all this factor can do, and the splendidly buttoned-up manner wherein it does it.