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JAY

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It's obvious Sandy isn't very familiar with the 4xe. But, he has owned a Wrangler Rubicon for years. :like:

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Bren

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I really like Sandy's takes, but this is a disappointing video. He's a Jeep owner, and I've seen him wax poetic about his Rubicon in other videos. This is a guy that evaluates cars for a living and he chooses to drive home in a Rubi. He's also now torn down all of the major modern EVs, so I'm very interested in his insight on this vehicle. With that said, it's clear he knows absolutely nothing about this model yet, and so the video is a bit of a disservice. It's also a little late for a no-look first impression video, as this thing came out in March. By just pointing out the lack of EV range without addressing the cleverness and particularities of Wrangler packaging, and how tough it is to electrify a vehicle that has to maintain a certain status quo (convertible, removable doors, aftermarket compatibility, off-road capability, etc) kind of misses the point. I'll look forward to his more in-depth videos on this.
 

pablo_max3045

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I really like Sandy's takes, but this is a disappointing video. He's a Jeep owner, and I've seen him wax poetic about his Rubicon in other videos. This is a guy that evaluates cars for a living and he chooses to drive home in a Rubi. He's also now torn down all of the major modern EVs, so I'm very interested in his insight on this vehicle. With that said, it's clear he knows absolutely nothing about this model yet, and so the video is a bit of a disservice. It's also a little late for a no-look first impression video, as this thing came out in March. By just pointing out the lack of EV range without addressing the cleverness and particularities of Wrangler packaging, and how tough it is to electrify a vehicle that has to maintain a certain status quo (convertible, removable doors, aftermarket compatibility, off-road capability, etc) kind of misses the point. I'll look forward to his more in-depth videos on this.
He likes to constantly bitch that the Engineers at older car makers think they "know better" how to do something, even though, in his words, what they are doing is stupid.
Like the front trunk not existing on the Kia and Hyundai models. It feels like the entire episode is bitching about that and how Tesla has one and there is clearly no reason why they cannot do it also.
He never considers that those vehicles are sold all over the planet and in many of those countries they are sold as a hybrid. So, an engine needs to go in there as well. Just "this is stupid".
Overall though, they can be entertaining.
 

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alpha1847

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I only had the patience to skim through this video, but it seemed pretty pointless. Is this guy always this bad? It seemed like he was just pointing at things and saying they were different than his Jeep, which I presume was a JK? Well, thanks Brick for the breakdown 4 years after the actual change.

Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep Wrangler 4xe first impressions from Sandy Munro 1633522773279
 

Bren

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I only had the patience to skim through this video, but it seemed pretty pointless. Is this guy always this bad? It seemed like he was just pointing at things and saying they were different than his Jeep, which I presume was a JK? Well, thanks Brick for the breakdown 4 years after the actual change.

Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep Wrangler 4xe first impressions from Sandy Munro 1633522773279
Basically this. No, he‘s not always this bad. His insights are fascinating. His company specializes in automotive teardowns and he makes money selling reports about technology and manufacture techniques to other automakers. He tends to focus on cars that are technically innovative or novel, so I’m sure nobody was paying him to go tear down a vehicle that hasn’t changed all that much in 80 years, so it makes sense that he’s not up to speed on the JL (despite owning a JK).

His videos on the BMW i3, all Tesla models, Mach E etc are really fascinating. He was one of the early critics of Tesla, saying just how bad the build quality was - but has really changed his tune over the years as he has been more and more impressed with their lead in tech around batteries and computer hardware.

The most interesting stuff comes when he actually tears down these vehicles. He’ll point out specific parts, and show how or why they’re remarkable (impressive OR terrible).

As you can imagine, any video about Tesla generates a lot of interest, and I think Sandy stumbled onto this phenomenon with his early Tesla videos and now has introduces other types of videos to grow that online community. It leads to videos like this, which feel like a video team he’s hired asking him to do something but his comfort level with the format isn‘t great and he’d probably rather be doing other things. His authenticity is both a strength and a weakness in this way.
 
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#diesel

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It will be interesting to see how far the new electric-only trucks can go on steep mountain trails on a single charge, compared to ICE vehicles.
Steep ascents appear to be absolute range killers, especially when hauling a jerrycan is not an option.
 

GATORB8

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This was painful to watch.

If anyone is wondering, these were his takes:

1. He hates brown
2. The SOT was his idea, except he wanted it manual, he likes it.
3. The SOT window bag would get thrown in his garage and stay there until he dies. Instead he would lay the windows in the back with styrofoam
4. The oil fill cap is too far for him to reach
5. The BFG KO2s are the same tires as the Goodyears on his JK?
6. There's not enough room under the hood to throw a squirrel in there.
7. He thinks the hood latches are too expensive
8. He doesn't like that the HV system turns off and turns on the ICE when he opens the hood with the Jeep running , because it might run him over.

Basically the same things your MIL would say if she had never seen a JL.
 

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jimim

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so if his rubicon doesn't have it. . . he doesn't like it? anyone notice he didn't know the button on the door handle was for proximity locks? really? every truck i have had for 10 plus years now has that button if it has proximity lock/unlock? was sky view his idea? sure seemed like it. "media . . . huh" translation. bla bla bla

this is what i got out of this whole video "i don't like. . . "
 

alpha1847

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It will be interesting to see how far the new electric-only trucks can go on steep mountain trails on a single charge, compared to ICE vehicles.
Steep ascents appear to be absolute range killers, especially when hauling a jerrycan is not an option.
What goes up must come down......at least electrified powertrains can recapture a good amount of the energy on the other side of the hill. I'd bet there is less dropoff than in a pure ICE. ICE's are least efficient (excluding diesels) at low load/low speed and under frequently changing power demands, which they often are operating in when going slow in low range. Electric motor efficiency is pretty static under all conditions.
 

pablo_max3045

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This was painful to watch.

If anyone is wondering, these were his takes:

1. He hates brown
2. The SOT was his idea, except he wanted it manual, he likes it.
3. The SOT window bag would get thrown in his garage and stay there until he dies. Instead he would lay the windows in the back with styrofoam
4. The oil fill cap is too far for him to reach
5. The BFG KO2s are the same tires as the Goodyears on his JK?
6. There's not enough room under the hood to throw a squirrel in there.
7. He thinks the hood latches are too expensive
8. He doesn't like that the HV system turns off and turns on the ICE when he opens the hood with the Jeep running , because it might run him over.

Basically the same things your MIL would say if she had never seen a JL.
So... Grumpy old guy does not like something that's different. Luckily there are no people on this forum who dislike "new" stuff. ;)
 

jimim

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So... Grumpy old guy does not like something that's different. Luckily there are no people on this forum who dislike "new" stuff. ;)
ya the whole time that was what i was thinking. radio. . . who needs an f'in radio. i don't listen to radio. people give him stuff to review? i don't know maybe i missed something.
 

Bmeister

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It will be interesting to see how far the new electric-only trucks can go on steep mountain trails on a single charge, compared to ICE vehicles.
Steep ascents appear to be absolute range killers, especially when hauling a jerrycan is not an option.
Yep. The way the 4xe was engineered, going PHEV without sacrificing what makes a Wrangler a Wrangler shows a tremendous amount of thought put into it.

It's amusing reading the misinformed (other media/forums) belittle the 4xe battery-only range. They mention the ~300 mile EV range of the competition forgetting that, when off road, that 300 miles might end up being 10-15 miles and then when the battery runs down, what will the EV-only off roaders do?

It would be interesting indeed to see the 11,000 Hummer climb a trail and have enough juice to then go home. Jeep did it right. We are a long way off from lightweight, high capacity endurance battery cells for off road.
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