SUV Review: 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4xe Rubicon

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David Booth: We — that would be fellow autoscribe, Nadine Filion, and I — are shopping PHEVs. Perhaps not at this very moment, but sometime in the future, some form of plug-in will find its way into the Booth household and it sure-as-shootin’ isn’t going to be one of those anxiety-inducing EVs — I’ve truly had my fill of desperately seeking charging stations just with the testers I drive. We have the choice whittled down to a short list, either Toyota’s RAV4 Prime or some form of Jeep 4xe.

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My preference for the Prime is simply the result of its greater range — as much as 70 klicks on battery-power alone — and electrical moxie (it will cruise at 125 and even 130 km/h on battery alone, no matter how steep the hill or strong the headwind). Nadine wants a traditional short-wheelbase, off road-oriented Jeep and a two-door 4xe, when — if — one comes, would be as close as she comes to a YJ and still retains the plug-in hybrid powertrain I’d prefer.

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SUV Review: 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4xe Rubicon Back to video

Nadine Filion:  No surprise here: I disagree. I don’t want a Jeep Wrangler 4xe, four or two-doors. I guess I’m too traditional to be enticed into the trails – or sand pits as we did with the Jeep Gladiator Mojave – with an electric vehicle. Oh, there’s much talk about the new electrified Wrangler being “silent” and “zero emissions.” And, oh sure, not frightening deer with a booming exhaust when you’re off-roading does have its attractions. But what effect is a silent Jeep really going to have? For one thing, you’re sharing the sentiers with noisy ATV drivers. For another, your silence may be a danger for hikers who won’t hear you coming as BEVs are for some distracted pedestrians.  And come to think about it: Why the Heck do we need an electric Jeep? Hell, next thing you know Ford will want to launch an electric version of its iconic Mustang. Oh wait; they did.

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That said, I’m not professing that the first ever plug-in hybrid Jeep in 80 years of history didn’t hold its ground. In fact, when we took our Billet Silver Metallic tester into a local public off-road playground, it did exactly what you would expect from a Trail-Rated Wrangler. You shift it into 4Lo, you lock both differential and with those big 285/70R17 BF Goodrich KO2 All-Terrain tires — no lower-resistance hockey pucks for this off-road beast! — you’re the (oh so silent) king of the rocky hill, the magician of the stream crossing. Yes, even though it’s electrified the Wrangler 4xe is safe for water up to 30 inches deep. In fact, the main deviation from gas-only Rubicon performance is in the crawling ability. The 4xe brake regeneration is so that it slows the 4xe down too much, even on steep hills. And then when I feathered the gas, all that low-end electric torque was too “touchy” to make for a smooth descent.

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DB: Well, first thing, cher Nadine, don’t you know that ATVs too are starting to electrify. Bombardier, from your own cherished Belle Province , just announced it will offer battery-powered ATVs — and snowmobiles — by 2026. The Jeep won’t be the only silent off-roader on the trails.

As for your complaint about the over-aggressive ‘hill descent control,’ I agreed with you until one of the 4xe’s lead engineers explained to me that all that brake regen in 4Lo was just Jeep “flexing its muscles.” Basically, by upping the brake regeneration — the switching of the polarity that turns the electric motor into a “brake” — to the max, the 4xe electromagnetic resistance can pretty much stop the big Wrangler — it weighs 2,368 kilograms — in its tracks, something no other current off-roader can hope to emulate.

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But you’re right, trying to massage the pedal delicately enough to crawl down the hill is touchy. But hear me oh she-who-refuses-to-see-the-electrons, there is salvation. Thee 4xe’s Selec-Speed Control system — that we unfortunately could not find — allows you to set the hill descent speed at anything between one and nine kilometres an hour — in increments of 1 km/h, no less — that turns the electrified Jeep into the ultimate in downhill beast.

And, while on the subject of off-roading, how about the 4xe’s incredible grunt in 4Lo? I know that 134 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque — the amount of grunt the 4xe’s transmission-mounted motor-generator puts out in EV mode — doesn’t sound like much, but since a) it’s available at zero rpm and b) it’s working through a seriously steep 2.72:1 gear reduction ratio, the electrified Unlimited will climb a wall.

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Literally! According to Jeep, they pitted the 4xe against their 60-degree test hill in EV mode and it ran out of traction before it ran out of torque. Indeed, I really enjoyed the 4xe off-road, the combination of prodigious pulling power and not disturbing nature — at least aurally — appealing to what little environmentalist lies in this otherwise charred and blackened heart.

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NF : That’s odd since the place I most enjoyed all this electrically enhanced torque was on the 407 — and the deserted country roads of Northumberland  — heading towards the off-roading. Plug-in battery or not, the 4xe drive still feels like a Wrangler. For instance, the steering is a little wobbly — the 4xe perhaps more than most — but the extra 350 kilograms of battery and motor actually serve to lower the Rubicon’s otherwise towering centre of gravity, bringing a little more composure to the traditional solid-axle suspension.

Jeep’s 2.0-litre Turbo, despite producing 270 horsepower, isn’t the type to scream its intentions.  But, with the help of the two electric motors, it delivers a zippy 375 horsepower and even more vigorous 470 lb-ft of torque. That’s good enough to launch the 4xe to 100 kilometres an hour in just six seconds. Until a certain Wrangler Rubicon 392 finally lands in Jeep showrooms with its 6.4L 470-hp Hemi V8, that makes the electrified 4xe the most powerful and quickest Unlimited in the extensive Wrangler lineup.

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It also can be pretty efficient. Although 10.3 litres per 100 kilometrs doesn’t sound like much to brag about, for a girl who owned a 1989 YJ with a carbureted inline six, it’s not so bad, especially since the diesel version of the Rubicon has an official 10.2 L/100 km combined rating.

DB: You’re right, Nadine, this is the quickest non-Hemi Wrangler off them all, about a second and a half quicker than the regular 2.0T version. What’s interesting about all that newfound power is that the 4xe is actually quicker in 4WD Hi than in 2WD, all that torque overwhelming those poor off-road tires. Indeed, the difference is sufficiently dramatic that you can feel it. Cane the electrified Wrangler in 2WD and it feels a little lethargic off the line. Only once rolling does it really start scooting along. At first I thought it was the 2.0T’s turbo lag even though I knew the electric motor was supposed to act like a “torque fill” as the turbocharger spooled up.

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In fact, it was just the opposite. Between the 2.0T’s prodigious low-speed torque and transmission-mounted electric motors zero-rpm grunt, the rear tires were simply overwhelmed. What I initially suspected was turbo lag was just the traction control kicking in when the rear tires were threatening to slip. Plump the centre differential in 4WD Hi or 4WD Auto and the 4xe is a rocketship. OK, as close as a bluff-bodied, 2,368 kg (5,222 pound) off-roader — with pretenses to the Rubicon Trail, no less — can get to Space X-like acceleration.

As for our 4xe’s average fuel economy, our 10.3 L/100 km is not hardly representative of what the electrified powertrain is capable of. We used Jeep’s “Battery Charge mode” frequently as we were — as always with plug-ins of any kind — often disappointed by the lack of charging stations. Battery charge modes, for those that don’t know, use the gas engine to charge the battery. That means the little 2.0T is putting out more power than it needs to just drive the wheels — the excess being used to charge the battery — which results in greater fuel consumption. A PHEV’s fuel always depends on how many miles you’re able to do in EV mode and we didn’t optimize that at all. If we had, our overall consumption would have been considerably more frugal than 10.3 L/100 km.

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As for preferring this Rubicon more on the highway, I think you’re full of horse patooties. For one thing, as I said, the 4xe’s EV mode is truly impressive off-road. Tons o’ torque and silent as a church mouse makes it perfect for minimizing one’s footprint off-road. For another, as delivered, in town, there’s more than enough power and battery to satisfy Jeep’s claimed 35 kilometres of electrical autonomy (I got 34 km, but who’s going to quibble over one lousy klick).

In fact, the one place I found the 4xe disappointing, at least compared with other plug-in hybrid SUVs I’ve driven lately — most especially Toyota’s RAV4 Prime — is that there simply isn’t enough power to maintain a serious cruising speed in EV mode. Oh, it does fine toddling along a secondary road at a steady 90 kilometres an hour. But given a serious hill, it struggles — thanks to that bluff-bodied, 2,368 kilograms I mentioned before — to maintain a steady 110 or 120 km/h. Pretty much every PHEV I’ve tested recently had no issue in this regard. On the other hand, none had the Wrangler’s combination of friction and aerodynamic drag (one last time, 5,222 pounds and the wind tunnel efficiency of a brick).

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NF : You know what: I think the reason I’m not smitten with the 4xe is that I find this Jeep too controlling for my taste. It may be a paragon of engineering, something you’ll appreciate because, as you mention over and over again, you “have an engineering degree.” But for the average Joe who only wants to get a blast behind the steering wheel of a traditional Jeep, the 4xe may insist on making up its own mind as to when and where it should be efficient.

Besides, it’s not cheap. A base version is still yet to come, but for now, the Sahara starts at $54,995, and the Rubicon we test-drove starts at a hair below $60,000. That’s a lot of money for “only” 35 kilometres of emissions-free driving. Although – and please, don’t shoot the messenger — In Quebec, the government will give you an $8,000 incentive to go off-roading electrically.

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Personally, I would like to compare the 4xe with the diesel version of the Wrangler.  I’d like to see what the difference in real-world world fuel efficiency would be. It certainly has the torque, its 442 lb-ft almost an equal to the 4xe’s combined 470 torques even if it lacks its top-end spurt — FCA’s EcoDiesel is good for just 260-hp, 110-hp less than the 4xe.  So, even if I know I’m dreaming in Technicolor — especially since VW’s troubles virtually killed the oil burner — a plug-in diesel Wrangler would probably be the perfect choice for me…in the more off-road worthy two-door, thank you very much.

DB: Well, I hate to disappoint you, dearheart, but there will be no diesel hybrid. Not only are diesels so yesterdays’s news — thanks to VW, as you mentioned, more so than gasoline-fueled ICEs — but the benefits of an electric motor (low-end torque) is not something a diesel needs (but a little gas-fed Turbo four most certainly does). Not only that, the battery in the 4xe is packaged under the rear seat — for an explanation of everything technical on the 4xe, go here — which means that, while the PHEV powetrrain could be expanded into the Gladiator lineup, there will be no plug-in version of the 2-door Wrangler, diesel or otherwise.

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Unlike you, I would choose the 4xe option over other Wranglers. Oh, I was originally disappointed with its highway performance. But then I realized that shopping anything based on its highway fuel economy would send me scurrying from a Jeep dealership.

The fact is, the 4xe is not meant to compete with other plug-in hybrids. It’s meant to be an electrified Jeep. What matters, then, is the performance of its EV mode off-road — in which it excels — and, more incidentally, its range in the city (which, while not great, is useful). In both those arenas, its performance more than justifies the additional complication. Judged on that criteria, I think the Wrangler Unlimited 4xe is a success. Anyone thinking they are getting a Jeep with the fuel economy of a Prius really needs to give their head a shake.