4xe Wrangler is the #1 selling PHEV!

[ag4ever]

So, the wrangler 4xe is the #1 selling PHEV (In North America). Why is that?

Is that because of customers like me, shopping for a Wrangler and liked the 392 but was not sold it was the right fit for me. (I am sure I would have enjoyed it too much and would need a lawyer on retainer all the time.) The 2.0 and 3.6 just don’t excite me. But the 4xe is the Goldilocks. Not as crazy as the 392 and not as sedate as the 2.0 / 3.6. Also, it does have the ability to run full electric and I have been intrigued by EVs, just not ready to jump in. FOR ME (not for everyone) it truly is the Goldilocks of Wranglers.

Or is it, rental fleets. My wife went on a business trip this week and rented a car At her destination. The rental agent literally asked her, “would you drive a wrangler?” My wife just about started laughing. When she replied, “yes” the agent was surprised and confused. So my wife proceeded to the car lot and arrived to find this wrangler.

She thought it was even funnier that the wrangler was a 4xe, almost exactly like ours back home (just wrong color).

Given the corporate tax credit of $7,500 (and the fact the new tax rules do not reduce corporate tax credits, only personal purchase tax credits), are the rental companies buying these for tax credits and skewing the purchase numbers? I know they are not buying them for EV purposes as another member here got one as a rental with no charge. My wife got hers with no charge. So two different rental locations are sending them out without charging the battery.

Or, are the primary buyers people that expect the 25 mile range to be sufficient 90% of the time and bought it for efficiency?

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[BXFXJeep]

I'm seeing a lot of non rental 4xe around me in the city, it is the ideal Wrangler for city dwellers, also we don't have $7,500k here in Toronto, there is $2,500 which isn't much of an incentive.

For those who can charge and drive within the range, it's the best Wrangler period.

 

[ag4ever]

There are 4 wrangler 4xe and 1 GC 4xe in the parking garage at my office. Oddly, only 2 of us charge every day. Several Tesla and they only charge occasionaly.

 

[PatriotX]

So, the wrangler 4xe is the #1 selling PHEV (In North America). Why is that?

Is that because of customers like me, shopping for a Wrangler and liked the 392 but was not sold it was the right fit for me. (I am sure I would have enjoyed it too much and would need a lawyer on retainer all the time.) The 2.0 and 3.6 just don’t excite me. But the 4xe is the Goldilocks. Not as crazy as the 392 and not as sedate as the 2.0 / 3.6. Also, it does have the ability to run full electric and I have been intrigued by EVs, just not ready to jump in. FOR ME (not for everyone) it truly is the Goldilocks of Wranglers.

I was shopping for a diesel and was blindsided by the 4xe, the 375/470 sold it.

You are very right with the Goldilocks designation. It is the best Wrangler in so many situations. The fact that it’s not the absolute best in every metric seems to anger a certain tranche of the population for some odd reason.

I will be out enjoying mine while they think of reasons to hate it.

 

[ag4ever]

The fact the 4xe exists at all seems to anger a select group of individuals.

 

[Dabrakeman]

Made perfect sense for me and I see more and more of them here in MI. In fact there seems to be a ton of Wranglers period here. My wave fingers are getting a workout.

 

[martoaj]

I see a lot of privately owned 4xes; even seen a couple of Willys 4xes already around NYC. I suspect that'll start to cool down a bit now that car prices are normalizing (a tad) and the $7500 credit got cut back.

I noticed the rental car fleet thing last week as well, though. At JFK as we walked by the Budget lot I noticed a majority of the dozen+ Wranglers parked along the fence were 4xes. Considering these are expensive, the companies aren't going to charge them, and most renters wouldn't know the difference between this and a regular Sport ... there's probably more at play here.

I assume these are hitting rental fleets because of the corporate tax credits and that Jeep has likely been prioritizing hybrids for assembly to help with its CAFE ratings. Rental companies love to have Jeeps to up-charge for as a special model, and if this is what they can get the most of at a decent price, they take 'em.

This is hardly the only time I've noticed rental companies with models well above the "rental spec" level, though. I've rented nicely equipped Wrangler Saharas, and BMWs with advanced safety packages and updated full leather interiors. Sometimes there are different incentives at play that get these things into fleets, they aren't required to only buy stripper spec cars.

 

[ag4ever]

When my wife was offered the 4xe it was not an upgrade, and she was offered an upgrade that could be used in the future if she accepted the wrangler. This was in Philadelphia.

 

[BXFXJeep]

Made perfect sense for me and I see more and more of them here in MI. In fact there seems to be a ton of Wranglers period here. My wave fingers are getting a workout.

The two most common vehicles in Toronto are Teslas and Wranglers, it not uncommon to see 2 or 3 Teslas driving past, same with Wranglers.

 

[C.Sco]

I think there are mostly two types of 4xe buyers.

1. People who primarily wanted a PHEV in general, and while shopping around saw that Jeep makes a PHEV wrangler now and thought "Oh cool, best of both worlds!"
2. People who wanted a Wrangler with a ton of power but didn't want the sticker price or the 10mpg mileage of the 392, and being a PHEV is a plus but not really a requirement.

Personally I fit into a little bit of both those categories. I used to drive a Kia PHEV during the week, and Jeep GC for fun and weekends. The Kia got wrecked so I went shopping for a replacement, and it occurred to me that I could ditch the GC as well and get a 4xe Wrangler and have "best of both worlds", but it never would have considered it if it wasn't also really powerful.

Jeep did the right thing with the 4xe. They could have easily just dropped a 2.0 (non-turbo) in there tuned for highest possible MPG with a small 60hp electric motor and a standard non-PHEV hybrid battery, with maybe 230hp and 250ft/lbs. And everyone in category 1 above would still buy it. Maybe even moreso, because it would be cheaper MSRP and better MPG.

But I give Jeep major kudos for going the other way with it, making it the 2nd most powerful Wrangler they've ever made. This ain't you're grandpappy's PHEV

The only thing I would change about it, is I wish they gave it a bigger fuel tank. 17 gallons just doesn't cut it, at least for me. I carry 8 extra gallons with me in rotopax tanks, and that solves my issue, but I wish I didn't have to.

 

[Bmeister]

The power is nice, but THE best thing about the 4xe for me is the weight distribution; it's perfect and planted.

 

[C.Sco]

The power is nice, but THE best thing about the 4xe for me is the weight distribution; it's perfect and planted.

I like the weight being down low, and I agree that the weight distribution feels great. But I do wish it was somehow a bit more forward. Even without any cargo in my Jeep it looks and feels like I'm hauling around 800 pounds of cargo in the back, because I sort of am. And then when I load actual cargo into the back it gets even worse. I've got some stronger rear springs waiting to be put in which will hopefully level things out a bit.

 

[SOON]

As far as I know, and I’m not thinking too hard, it the only hybrid convertible you can buy. Wrangler is an awesome vehicle for so many different types of buyers. If you wanna just drive it to work. You can. If you want to take it to Moab you can. For almost every category a car buyer might have it can be put on the list. I think people are starting to calculate their finances more nowadays and there is no other vehicle on the market that you can basically take the top off, beat the crap out of it, now drive 25 miles a day with no gas, and in ten years get 50% back when you sell it.

 

[Ten4Jeep]

I like the weight being down low, and I agree that the weight distribution feels great. But I do wish it was somehow a bit more forward. Even without any cargo in my Jeep it looks and feels like I'm hauling around 800 pounds of cargo in the back, because I sort of am. And then when I load actual cargo into the back it gets even worse. I've got some stronger rear springs waiting to be put in which will hopefully level things out a bit.

Agreed. I rented a 2022 4xe Rubicon for a long weekend trip from TX to LA and I was impressed by how well it handled itself in a turn, compared to a regular wrangler. I did notice though that my 392XR is a tad bit better in the turns, feeling a bit more stable than the 4xe. The placement of that big 6.4L works very well with this vehicle. Too bad they couldn’t get the 4xe batteries a little further forward.

 

[Bmeister]

...I did notice though that my 392XR is a tad bit better in the turns, feeling a bit more stable than the 4xe. The placement of that big 6.4L works very well with this vehicle. Too bad they couldn’t get the 4xe batteries a little further forward.

The 4xe battery placement is perfect; at a scale I had 50/50 weight distribution. I've got two customers each with 392 Wranglers and have swapped vehicles with both. Neither they nor I could disagree more; the 4xe handles much better.

Maybe there was a production change in the recent 392s or 4xe? I just returned from SC with a loaded 2000lb trailer and ~200lbs in my '21 Rubi 4xe cargo hold and felt neither tail heavy nor unstable at any speed (25mph to 70mph) on the ~900 mile trip.

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