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My 2019 JL Wrangler to 2021 4xe Rubicon Upgrade Experience

Thill444

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Just wanted to share my thoughts while they are fresh in my mind.. Bought my first Wrangler almost 2 years ago (2019 Wrangler Unlimited Sport S with tech, cold weather, Freedom hard top, and some other things). I had put aftermarket JK Rubicon wheels and 33" tires and swapped over Rubicon shocks/struts, and added control arms, etc. It had the 3.6L engine and we really enjoyed it. Averaged about 16.9mpg lifetime in 17K+ miles.

We purchased a hybrid Pacifica in Jan, and my wife fell in love with PHEVs. She drives 16-18K miles by herself a year and most of that is city. So when we heard about the 4xe we were pretty excited. When I got an offer from Zoom to sell our 19 Wrangler for almost $2K more than I paid it was the tipping point.

Ordered a 4xe Rubicon with premium soft top, cold weather, proximity, safety group, proximity, etc.

Okay so first impressions (picked it up Friday AM). It's so quiet when in electric mode. I mean all you hear is either the radio or the tires. The steering feel is improved over my 19 as well, it's not quite as sloppy but it also just feels more refined.

This thing has some serious torque. Doing some WOT accelerations from a 5mph roll, this thing feels like being on monorail ride at Disney. 5mph to 60mph happens very fast, but it's not full of a ton of engine and exhaust noise. It's very smooth and refined pull, and you speeds happen very deceptively. I find myself going 10mph over the speed limit and not realizing it.

We have a Level 2 charger and bought the vehicle out of state and the dealer agreed to deliver it to us so when we received it, it had about 140 miles and was at roughly 18.9mpg and it was just barely over half a tank. We have 300 miles on it now and it is at 22mpg average and are barely under 1/2 a tank. With frequent charging I expect us to get at least 500-600 miles on the first tank and I am hoping for mid to high 20's.

Overall we are super happy. My wife absolutely loves the electric motors and refined driving experience. Our Pacifica has 7K trouble free miles in 5 months of driving so hoping the 4xe is the same experience.
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4xeRubicon

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I did something very similar to you and am seeing similar results. I went from a 2019 JLUR to a 2021 Rubicon 4xe. They are almost the exact same builds, with the only options differing being the 2019 had a soft top and the 4xe has Sky One Touch top. And I added the front camera that wasn't available in 2019.

My main reason to buy was that I didn't like the back window situation on the soft top. My 2015 had a hard top and it never occurred to me how much of a pain it would be to not be able to quickly flip the back window up for full access to the cargo area. I figured if I need to undo that mistake, I might as well jump on the 4xe bandwagon and get the tax rebate.

I love the smooth, quiet acceleration and am at 21.5mpg on the dash after 3,000 miles. About 2,750 of that has been a couple of long weekend trips which aren't the ideal scenario for the 4xe, but are the reason I needed a hybrid and not a full battery powered vehicle. My daily driving is mostly within a 5 mile radius at low speeds, so that is perfect for the 4xe.

I'm still messing around with what the ideal settings are for max battery usage, but I'm leaning toward what several people who have done extensive testing say, which is to always run hybrid mode and leave max regen off, but be aware of how your braking style is registering on the electric usage/charge guage.
 

Echo4papa

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Damn guys, I'm closing in on 1k miles and sitting at just above 27mpg. Though, to be fair, I'm also about to absolutely destroy that with a drive from Daytona Beach to Baltimore and Back for a family emergency.
 

aug0211

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Similar story and experience - 2018 2.0, sold off lease for $10K profit, went for 2021 Rubi 4xe leased with the rebate.

Love the electric torque and peacefulness. Still living with a level 1 for the time being and I imagine a level 2 will be a game changer.
 
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Thill444

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Damn guys, I'm closing in on 1k miles and sitting at just above 27mpg. Though, to be fair, I'm also about to absolutely destroy that with a drive from Daytona Beach to Baltimore and Back for a family emergency.
Well I am up to 23.5mpg already and climbing. That's already better than the 16.9mpg average I had in my previous JL by a fair amount.
 

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Thill444

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Similar story and experience - 2018 2.0, sold off lease for $10K profit, went for 2021 Rubi 4xe leased with the rebate.

Love the electric torque and peacefulness. Still living with a level 1 for the time being and I imagine a level 2 will be a game changer.
Level 2 is a total game changer. You can usually go from 1% to 75% in about an hour so we use electric a ton. My wife can usually get 1500 miles or more on a full tank of gas in her Pacifica Hybrid. I don't think the Jeep will go as long between fillups because it has a shorter electric range, but I think 1200 miles or so between fillups is doable.
 

MaskedRacerX

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Level 2 is a total game changer. You can usually go from 1% to 75% in about an hour so we use electric a ton. My wife can usually get 1500 miles or more on a full tank of gas in her Pacifica Hybrid. I don't think the Jeep will go as long between fillups because it has a shorter electric range, but I think 1200 miles or so between fillups is doable.
Yeah, the other day I was taking it to score some takeout, battery was a little low, so I plugged it in.

Then got the order sorted out with the family, placed it online, order was scheduled for 45 minutes out - tracked down shoes, my phone, disconnected the charger in about 30 minutes, and I picked up plenty of charge + the existing so get up and back (~12 miles round trip), totally on battery with room to spare.

We're at 835 miles and have used about 1-1/2 tanks, my current tank, just under the top mark I filled up 3 weeks ago :rock:
 

Jocko

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Damn guys, I'm closing in on 1k miles and sitting at just above 27mpg. Though, to be fair, I'm also about to absolutely destroy that with a drive from Daytona Beach to Baltimore and Back for a family emergency.
Not exactly on topic, but best wishes to you and your family.
 

Dryver

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Was up to about 37 mpg per the computer, but a couple recent long trips have me back down to about 21.5. Doing 79 mph on the highway for a 600 mile round trip kills the mileage. About 3000 on the odo now.
 

Snazzy4xe

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Have about 600 miles on my 4XE...34 mpg and climbing...only average about 20 miles a day so very rarely use gas...biggest mpg killer was driving back from dealer in Annapolis...The pickup when you get on it is awesome(last Jeep was a 2015 JKU and might as well been dragging a deer behind me)
 

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Echo4papa

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Not exactly on topic, but best wishes to you and your family.
Thanks.


Noticed something interesting tonight while dropping my wife off at the airport (yes, she gets to fly to Maryland early, while I drive up later)...

Drove to the airport with no AC and the windows down, but home with the windows up and the AC on and I seemed to get better mpg on the way home. Of course, this wasn't scientific, but it's something I might pay attention to and try to capture on my drive up and back to Maryland.
 
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Thill444

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Thanks.


Noticed something interesting tonight while dropping my wife off at the airport (yes, she gets to fly to Maryland early, while I drive up later)...

Drove to the airport with no AC and the windows down, but home with the windows up and the AC on and I seemed to get better mpg on the way home. Of course, this wasn't scientific, but it's something I might pay attention to and try to capture on my drive up and back to Maryland.
Safe travels to/from Maryland and hope all is well.

It's funny you mention this because I noticed the same thing in terms of better MPG with windows up, top up, and air on (it's been exceptionally hot here for June). I think aerodynamics and wind resistance play a big role when your driving a tall brick around :)
 

MaskedRacerX

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Similar story and experience - 2018 2.0, sold off lease for $10K profit, went for 2021 Rubi 4xe leased with the rebate.

Love the electric torque and peacefulness. Still living with a level 1 for the time being and I imagine a level 2 will be a game changer.
Yeah, we have our DD/RT being picked up tomorrow by Carvana, too late for them to buy it directly off the lease (some issue under 30 days), so we simply purchased it outright, and by the time the title showed up (took like 6 weeks), the Carvana offer had gone ++up++, even with 6 more weeks and we used it for about 500 more miles. Making ~$9K off of it vs. just handing over the keys :)

The quiet was in full effect the other day at the beach, it was later in the afternoon, weekday so not too many people around, and not so windy - all we could hear was the surf, and the tires squeaking in the sand a little, just amazing.
 
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Thill444

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Yeah, we have our DD/RT being picked up tomorrow by Carvana, too late for them to buy it directly off the lease (some issue under 30 days), so we simply purchased it outright, and by the time the title showed up (took like 6 weeks), the Carvana offer had gone ++up++, even with 6 more weeks and we used it for about 500 more miles. Making ~$9K off of it vs. just handing over the keys :)

The quiet was in full effect the other day at the beach, it was later in the afternoon, weekday so not too many people around, and not so windy - all we could hear was the surf, and the tires squeaking in the sand a little, just amazing.
Used car deals are crazy.. I am trading in my Camaro for $9K more than I paid new towards a Supra next week. New car discounts are harder to come by, but I got the Toyota dealer to agree to $4K off MSRP.

I went on a little trail a few days ago, and and totally agree. Top down, windows down, and all you hear are the tires and birds chirping and wind blowing.
 

CarolinaGirl26

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Similar story and experience - 2018 2.0, sold off lease for $10K profit, went for 2021 Rubi 4xe leased with the rebate.

Love the electric torque and peacefulness. Still living with a level 1 for the time being and I imagine a level 2 will be a game changer.
I did something very similar to you and am seeing similar results. I went from a 2019 JLUR to a 2021 Rubicon 4xe. They are almost the exact same builds, with the only options differing being the 2019 had a soft top and the 4xe has Sky One Touch top. And I added the front camera that wasn't available in 2019.

My main reason to buy was that I didn't like the back window situation on the soft top. My 2015 had a hard top and it never occurred to me how much of a pain it would be to not be able to quickly flip the back window up for full access to the cargo area. I figured if I need to undo that mistake, I might as well jump on the 4xe bandwagon and get the tax rebate.

I love the smooth, quiet acceleration and am at 21.5mpg on the dash after 3,000 miles. About 2,750 of that has been a couple of long weekend trips which aren't the ideal scenario for the 4xe, but are the reason I needed a hybrid and not a full battery powered vehicle. My daily driving is mostly within a 5 mile radius at low speeds, so that is perfect for the 4xe.

I'm still messing around with what the ideal settings are for max battery usage, but I'm leaning toward what several people who have done extensive testing say, which is to always run hybrid mode and leave max regen off, but be aware of how your braking style is registering on the electric usage/charge guage.
I also have a similar story. Purchased my first wrangler in 2019. A 19 JL and I just ordered a 4xe rubicon and after reading everyone’s comments here I am so excited to change over to the 4xe!
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