Hybrid mode useless.

[gman123]

We took delivery of the 4xe last April, actually the first one delivered in the country. And over a year of use this is still the same and the dealer assured us it works as usual. So electric mode runs ev until battery runs out and then the engine kicks on, how’s it’s supposed to work. But hybrid mode works the same as electric, runs all ev and then engine when it’s dead. Am I missing something or should hybrid be running both, ie using electric when accelerating and gas when on steady speeds??? I have found the trick to do manual 4 and that runs at about 40mpg while using a little electric - so exactly how hybrid should run. Frustrating as it is just wasting fuel saving potential

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[mllcb42]

All modes of the 4xe are hybrid modes where they run both gas and electric. What changes is the input bias for handing off between the two power plants.

When in electric, it takes a lot of more throttle input for the gas engine to come on an augment power delivery. In hybrid, it takes less before it comes on and augments.

In all the modes, when the gas engine is on with sufficient demand, you get the gas and electric motors proving power.

It's set up to prioritize the use of electric only because that uses the least gas. Once it gets down to showing <1% available, there's still 15% or so state of charge remaining and it behaves like a mild hybrid. It does this because at that state of charge, the charge and discharge cycles are more efficient than if it was behaving as a mild hybrid at a higher state of charge.

 

[MerPinXEss]

Key to mileage on these is let the tech do what its supposed to do. Check this out:
Husband, Max Regen, back and forth between easve and hybrid trying to maximize mileage - 22mpg
Wife, Do nothing, dislike the extra stopping Max regen creates so off always - 28mpg

Why? Because at its root the hybrid is designed to keep the gas engine running only when hard accel, or battery <1%(actually 15%). Its kind of like the gas engine being turned off at stoplight that is being introduced on most cars, the less you run the engine the higher the mpg. Also 0mph/0gas=no cost, 0mph/any gas=0mpg

 

[Getmadboy]

We took delivery of the 4xe last April, actually the first one delivered in the country. And over a year of use this is still the same and the dealer assured us it works as usual. So electric mode runs ev until battery runs out and then the engine kicks on, how’s it’s supposed to work. But hybrid mode works the same as electric, runs all ev and then engine when it’s dead. Am I missing something or should hybrid be running both, ie using electric when accelerating and gas when on steady speeds??? I have found the trick to do manual 4 and that runs at about 40mpg while using a little electric - so exactly how hybrid should run. Frustrating as it is just wasting fuel saving potential

I thought that @Chris Hall had the first 4xe customer delivered in the US. I got some gloves if you guys wanna settle this real quick…??

 

[bossboy302]

As has been said many times...press "Hybrid" mode and leave it alone. It will work as engineered and give great performance, power, economy, and ICE longevity.
You're 4xe sounds like it is working fine, and your Hybrid mode is not useless.

 

[bjm00se]

....Frustrating as it is just wasting fuel saving potential

Nothing saves fuel like when the engine is off completely.

The way to win in a PHEV is to plug it in whenever you can and run with the engine off as much as possible.

I suspect the disconnect is you're trying to get the highest "MPG" number on the dashboard. But that number only shows up for miles driven when the ICE engine is running.

Instead, use a gas app like "Fuelly" and just keep track of total miles driven, and total gallons of gasoline purchased.

 

[mllcb42]

I suspect the disconnect is you're trying to get the highest "MPG" number on the dashboard. But that number only shows up for miles driven when the ICE engine is running.

It's actually weirder than that. The 4xe seems to apply some sort of gas equivalent value to miles driven under electric only, like the opposite of how mpge is done, for the mpg number in the dash. But 100% agreed that it's a largely useless number.

 

[bjm00se]

It's actually weirder than that....

Words to live by.

 

[bossboy302]

The way to win in a PHEV is to plug it in whenever you can and run with the engine off as much as possible.

No more untrue statement has ever been posted here.....

A PHEV is not, and will never be, a Tesla

 

[lilred7879]

As others have indicated I think what you are missing is that even after the EV "stops" working the Jeep is still running as a Hybrid - not just the ICE.

The only difference between Hybrid mode and EV mode is in Hybrid the ICE will be engaged sooner and more often than in EV-only mode.

When the battery shows less than 0% there is still 15% actually in reserve and the system works like a more traditional Hybrid providing power from the EV as needed and charging some when not needed.

Then you also have E-save mode(s) both of which work a little different also...which brings on a whole new list of questions normally.

Bottom line the system is always a Hybrid with each mode determining how much the EV side is preferred.

 

[Chris Hall]

I thought that @Chris Hall had the first 4xe customer delivered in the US. I got some gloves if you guys wanna settle this real quick…??

I think you're right. I picked mine up on 3/31/21.

 

[Chris Hall]

We took delivery of the 4xe last April, actually the first one delivered in the country. And over a year of use this is still the same and the dealer assured us it works as usual. So electric mode runs ev until battery runs out and then the engine kicks on, how’s it’s supposed to work. But hybrid mode works the same as electric, runs all ev and then engine when it’s dead. Am I missing something or should hybrid be running both, ie using electric when accelerating and gas when on steady speeds??? I have found the trick to do manual 4 and that runs at about 40mpg while using a little electric - so exactly how hybrid should run. Frustrating as it is just wasting fuel saving potential

What you are describing would be exactly right in a standard hybrid or HEV. But the idea of a PHEV is to give it electric only range. Like some others have said, you can force a blended hybrid mode by pulling the shifter over. It will spread the battery use across around 70 miles.

The nice thing is, in one of my conversations with Dan Fry in the Ask The Expert series I did on YouTube, he said he and his team were really intrigued with how many people would like to see a blended mode made available in future models. The information they are gathering from the Jeep 4XE Fans group on Facebook is making it back to the design conversations. So a blended hybrid option might just be on the white board of a future design session.

 

[4xeRubicon]

No more untrue statement has ever been posted here.....

A PHEV is not, and will never be, a Tesla

Curious what you find to be untrue about the statement. In a discussion about gas mileage in various driving modes, isn't it true that driving on all electric will use less gas than any other mode?

 

[Chris Hall]

It's actually weirder than that. The 4xe seems to apply some sort of gas equivalent value to miles driven under electric only, like the opposite of how mpge is done, for the mpg number in the dash. But 100% agreed that it's a largely useless number.

Yeah, it's a weird, dirty MPG number. I have yet to figure out the math. If you manually figure your MPG using only the miles driven when the engine is running, it doesn't equate to the MPG on screen 5. If you calculate all miles driven and fuel used, it still doesn't add up. I've reset both trip odometers and reset screen 5 at a fill up then driven out a tank and just can't figure out how it's coming up with that number on screen 5.

 

[Chris Hall]

No more untrue statement has ever been posted here.....

A PHEV is not, and will never be, a Tesla

I don't see in his words where he made a comparison to a Tesla. He merely stated that the way to make the most of the hybrid system is to plug in as often as you can. That's how PHEVs work. Not everything has to be a comparison to a Tesla. I would likely own a Model 3 if the 4XE hadn't come out. I wanted to electrify but I also wanted a Jeep. It's possible to make the most of what electric range is possible. I managed 1345 miles on my last tank by doing what @bjm00se said.

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