The Wrangler 4xe was introduced in 2021 and is really an interesting Jeep to say the least. A combined (engine plus electric) 375HP and 470 Torque make this Jeep the 2nd most powerful Jeep ever produced..the first being the amazing 392. Interesting though, the 4xe shares the SAME torque rating as the 392 thanks to the instant and smooth torque produced by electric motors.
So how does this all work?
The 4xe is the first Jeep to combine electric and engine to create a plug-in hybrid vehicle – also called a PHEV. Up front is a 270HP-295lb/ft 2.0L turbo 4cyl engine (known as the Internal Combustion Engine or ICE) that has a directly connected electric motor (called the P1) that kind of acts like an electric supercharger producing 44HP..but there’s more. The P1 is also what starts the engine and acts as a generator to provide regenerative braking (more on this). To note, the engine doesn’t have a traditional starter or alternator, that’s the P1’s job.
Within the 8 speed automatic is another electric motor called the P2. This motor replaces a traditional automatic transmission torque converter. The P2 produces 100HP and provides driving power to the Jeep when running in electric only and hybrid mode.
You may want to add up all the HP from the 2 motors and the engine to think…hey this Jeep is actually 414HP. But that just doesn’t work that way since the three hit a peak of 375 due to individual peaks at different rpm. Debate it all you want.
The Jeep is ALWAYS a hybrid – but lets discuss modes
The 4xe has 3 modes of driving…electric, hybrid and e-save.
Electric mode prioritizes electric driving and will avoid starting the ICE unless it has to. Such as: hard acceleration, battery at <1% or any condition that the Jeep’s systems see the need for ICE.
Hybrid mode is the default mode and will prioritize electric but will be quicker to start the ICE especially when climbing hills or hard acceleration. This is a get in and drive mode – no thinking required.
E-Save mode prioritizes the usage of the ICE mainly to save battery power. This is really handy when the need for electric is desired later in the drive. Example: Drive to the trail using ICE, use electric on the trail for silent, cool running. This mode will start the ICE when the battery falls to 95% but the Jeep will still act as a hybrid. Stopping the engine when coasting, stopping and slow moving. There is an additional feature that can be selected that provides charging to the battery in e-save, but this mode will drastically reduce fuel mileage.
So you can see all modes are varied versions of hybrid. There is no 100% electric and no 100% ICE modes.
Air Conditioning and Heating
The 4xe has a 100% electric HVAC system meaning that the A/C works without the ICE running as well as the heat. Heat is near instant since it uses electric elements instead of engine heat. But since these systems are electric they rely on battery power resulting reduced electric range. The A/C draws much less power than the heat does. Many people rely on the heated seats and steering wheel and keep the interior heat lower to conserve battery. It’s more efficient to heat the driver over the cabin.
Driving Experiences
Most owners use the default hybrid mode, this allows the Jeep to determine the best method of propulsion. When extra power is needed the engine will start and stop when it isn’t. So far we’ve achieved best results in fuel usage and electric range when in hybrid.
Max Regen vs Max Regen Off
There’s a button that is called Max Regeneration or Max Regen. When max regen is on the Jeep re-maps the top of the accelerator so that if your foot is completely off the accelerator the Jeep will apply max regen force to use the Jeep’s momentum to reclaim energy. In many ways it feels like downshifting with a stick vehicle but it has nothing to do with the engine or transmission. Regenerative braking works by reversing the phase of the electric motor to essentially make the motor into a generator. Traditional friction braking dissipates the momentum energy as heat when regen braking allows the capture of that momentum energy back to the battery.
The trick is to not lose too much momentum capturing energy that results in the need to accelerate back to speed. There’s physics laws at play here and it’s a balance. No free lunch.
Like mentioned above the re-map of the top of the accelerator allows varied pressure to vary the amount of regen. It has a feel of like an accelerator and brake pedal in one. It can make for an interesting and enjoyable driving experience especially on back roads.
Brake lights – when using max regen the brake lights will come on most of the time when regen is engaged.
Watching the energy gauge can show you how much energy is coming back into the battery by regen. When the gauge is below the zero line you are reclaiming energy.
We’ve experimented here to and found that either mode when driven properly are about the same. Max regen allows for a one foot driving experience, the only time the brake pedal needs to be applied is when stopping or hard braking. It takes some getting used to and can be fun but in the end we prefer max regen off for most driving. Why? It almost seems more comfortable to allow the Jeep to coast instead of having to constantly play with the accelerator. If there is an opportunity to regain some power with regen, light application of the brake pedal will do the same thing as regen. Remember the brake lights will come on.
Reporting
Some of us like to see the stats on things. The 4xe allows you to see a variety of information about the performance of the Jeep. You can pick and choose screens and even customize how some things look.
The above image shows the breakdown of electric miles and gas miles. This was our first gas fill up and you can see we drove 613 miles. Just to note this 613 miles included a 200 mile trip where there was minimal electric usage after the initial charge was depleted.
The Jeep took 13.72 gallons of gas ($4.19/gallon $57.64 total) and was charged 15 times. A charge can be roughly calculated at $1.25 per charge, this cost was $18.75. So this 613 miles cost $76.39. In comparison the our 2018 JL would get about 17 miles to the gallon and 613 miles would have cost $151.04 using the same $4.19 price.
So there’s so much tech and nerdery to be had with the Wrangler 4xe – you can geek out with it or just get in and drive.
