My 4xe Rubicon is Thiccc 6040lbs … Feel free to point and laugh ;) [but it still averages 21mpg]

[Gazelle]

Not worried. 10 year/100k for '21s and 8 year/ 100k for '22s on. So far no indication of problems. It's a teeny battery pack compared to full EVs and it makes for the 2nd most powerful Wrangler besides the 392, with the same torque and only 100 less HP. They're trail beasts with the added bonus of not using any fuel for local driving. I'm honestly not sure why people are so threatened by this.

I'm not sure people are threatened as much as they're unable or unwilling to accept that this platform is perfect for so many people, 38% of all new Wrangler sales. I wasn't on any dial-up, Jeep BBS's (anybody else remember netnews?) when it happened, but I'd bet there were the same discussions about fuel injection systems vs carb's on older Jeeps.

I love a big, torquey V8, but hate buying all that gas (and I'm sure a 392 would cause me to put my traffic attorney back on speed dial). The diesel is a long-range, highway mileage champ, but the smell of diesel, its tendency to overheat when pulling long grades, and some of its own reliability issues make it an unacceptable choice to me. I suppose I could brew my own biodiesel from left-over french fry oil, but that brings its own complications...and neighborhood bears. The turbo 4 and V6 are both good motors, but neither offers the extra power of the 4xe.

I love my 4xe Rubicon, but I still have some concern about its reliability when well off road. It's possible to fix mechanical systems trailside, but given the intense computer control of so many systems, a sensor or module failure could mean a very expensive tow. Thing is...the same applies to all JL's and even JK's. I've only had one complete system failure on my '21 & luckily that happened a mile from home. Still, if I'm honest, I have a small modicum of doubt about reliability. Not enough to sell it, but it's there. I'll just make sure to bring my boots, snowshoes, and satellite communicator when out solo.

What frustrates me more about my 4xe, though, is the lack of ability to regear a '21 to anything past 4.5. Sounds like the '23's are able to reprogram, but us early adopters are stuck. Good thing the 4xe has so much torque; regearing isn't really needed up to 37's.

As for the original subject of this post: My Jeep with winch, Roam rock rails w/boatside skids, 270 awning, and 37's weighs in about 3040Kg (6690Lbs) according to the highway scales I've crossed. That's without recovery gear, compressor, chain saw, etc. I'm pretty sure I'm pushing 7000 when fully loaded for a trip.

Sponsored

 

[Slate]

that’s a dang heavy windmill of unproven technology and maintenance cost for a pretty measly gain.
and where was your fuel grown?

“fill at home”? all 22 miles worth?
sorry; but,BFD. just ain’t there yet.

Point on the photo where the 4xe hurt you.

 

[Slate]

Thank goodness you enjoy a less powerful and slower rig, these 4xe aren’t for everyone.

Did you know when you buy and drive a 4xe, they remove one testicle and paint your fingernails bright pink?? Somehow they also make the smell of diesel provoke a gag response and you will suddenly have a strong desire to drink oat milk - STRAIGHT FROM THE OAT!

 

[Slate]

I’m not knocking 4xes or anyone who chooses to get one. To each his own. But if someone’s concerned about MPG, Jeep probably isn’t the right choice of vehicle

I am living in high cotton. My '97 TJ gets about 13-14 MPG. (3.5 inch lift). My Ford F150 supercrew gets about 15-16MPG. My 4xe averages about 24-26MPG; of course when I am just on battery power, then I am getting infinity MPG since I am not using fuel. BUT when I go on long trips, I can still get 24-26 MPG.

I fall in the perfect use case for a 4xe, I still get to drive a badass jeep and most of my daily driving and errands to town are under the range of the battery. Uses more juice in the winter for the heater, but right now my avg MPG is 28 MPG and will go higher as I continue to use more battery over fuel.

There are videos of a Jeep engineer who very plainly talked why they settled on the range that they did, I mean lots of thought when into it. Plenty of other PHEV's (emphasis on the P) have a similar range (plus or minus) based on the research done on the average miles driven per day. People aren't making crap up.

No one will force you to buy it, at least not yet, but many people have an irrational fear over something that doesn't affect them. I mean it was the best-selling PHEV last year, so I guess ALL those people are ignorant sheeple?

To each his own. I love mine and I am glad I got it. Love driving it every day and we are in awesome weather time (before the humidity shows up in a few weeks), that popping the Sunrider back, rolling the windows down and just enjoying a nice ride!

 

[laroo]

Did you know when you buy and drive a 4xe, they remove one testicle and paint your fingernails bright pink?? Somehow they also make the smell of diesel provoke a gag response and you will suddenly have a strong desire to drink oat milk - STRAIGHT FROM THE OAT!

When I picked my 4xe, I developed a strong urge to switch from bourbon and beer to wine coolers. I obviously gave in to that urge, really had no choice. However, I moved back to Bud Light a few weeks ago for some reason. Gotta do what my choice of vehicle makes me do.

 

[lindaspins]

Did you know when you buy and drive a 4xe, they remove one testicle and paint your fingernails bright pink?? Somehow they also make the smell of diesel provoke a gag response and you will suddenly have a strong desire to drink oat milk - STRAIGHT FROM THE OAT!

Well, I've never had any testicles and I hate pink. Also diesel exhaust makes me sneeze. Honestly, I was considering a diesel because the torque on our JKU wasn't making me happy- but then the 4xe came out, so here we are. 2nd year in a row that my 4xe (stock Rubicon) has been leading trails for a Jeep Jamboree event and I am thrilled with how capable it is. Now if I could just afford the lift and tires I want!

 

[C.Sco]

i confess; i don’t “get” the 4xe.
seems like it just isn’t ready for prime time yet considering my coworkers with them are lucky to get a couple dozen miles out of a full charge.

The 4xe is an oddity for sure, both in the Wrangler world and in the PHEV world as a whole. It's very niche, which is funny because it's the best selling PHEV in the country, but it does have a pretty specific use case that I don't think most of its buyers really fit into. Most PHEV's are meant for fuel economy. But the 4xe is not. It's meant for V8-like power, with "okay" MPG compared to its V8 brethren. Despite this, it still gets a federal rebate which is a hilarious abuse by Jeep of the spirit of the rebate program

The diesel is probably what most 4xe buyers should have bought, it's probably better for most things, for most people. But the reasons I opted for 4xe are:

1. More horsepower = faster
2. $7500 rebate = free money for Jeep upgrades
3. Electric AC/heat = no drain on the powertrain when running AC, and instant-on heater in the winter
4. Regen braking = less work work for the disk brakes
5. Nearly silent offroading; not necessary by any means, but its a pretty cool experience
6. Great parking spots at the airport

Saving money on gas wasn't really a factor for me at all; and its easy to understand why people who were hoping for outrageously good MPG or electric range would be underwhelmed by the 4xe.

 

[PatriotX]

1) Moral argument is a Strawman
2)We don’t know what we don’t know. Amazing insight.
3)Doesn’t apply, PHEV
4) Much cheaper than gas here. You’re right! Electric better!

You posted almost identical post in thread here: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-‘disposable-car’.113028/page-12#post-2352378

did you not get enough attention there?

My goodness the haters are getting desperate.

 

[ag4ever]

For sure!

It makes sense with that MPG. Especially if someone only drives 20-30 miles per day.

I’m just not sold on EVs at all and this is after owning a Tesla.

1) Lithium mining is a very non environmentally friendly process. So it’s not as “green” as it’s being sold.

2) The tech is to young to know how this plays out long term. In reliability and maintenance.

3) Charging is an issue. Not enough chargers out there (even Tesla) and takes forever. Until there’s a charger on every corner (like gas stations) and it takes 5 min to charge up to at least 50%, it’s useless to me. Not to mention places like CA don’t have infrastructure to support their current A/Cs and they want everyone to have electric cars in a few years? What could possibly go wrong?

4) Charging isn’t free. Yes it’s considerably cheaper then gas. Right now. But wait until the masses go electric. All of a sudden electric goes from .07 per KW to $3 lol. Basic supply/demand. As demand increases, prices go up.

Even Toyota thinks that EVs isn’t the future

So although I’m putting in the ability to charge a car in my garage, in the house I’m currently building. (Just in case) I plan to always own a gasoline powered car.

Great you hate EVs and by extension, PHEVs. We get it, you want everyone to agree with your impeccable opinion.

Sorry, but, nothing to see here, move along.

(Btw, there are plenty of chargers for EVs if you have one at your house, if you have a house. Most EVs have plenty of range to suffice for everyday driving. PHEVs have a gas engine when the electric range is insufficient.)

 

[zouch]

the DEF Emissions Subsystem is a pretty small part of the overall technology of a Diesel compared to the entire electric driveline.

First mass produced hybrid 1997, diesel def and emissions 2010...unproven technology indeed

 

[zouch]

let's back up here,... you start a post that literally says "feel free to laugh and point", so try not to get bent when people actually do what you suggested.

we can probably agree that there are a lot of things we like about our various equipment. but when you come to a forum of enthusiasts, you couldn't have possibly (reasonably) expected they would all love your choice as much as the one they made for themselves.

back to the numbers (on the chance that's what this is really about);

i'm seeing the kind of mileage you posted in the title of your thread on our moderately built loaded rig; we're not even talking about the 28+MPG we were getting before a lift and other mods. (range in stock trim was nearly 500+ miles/tank.)
haven't heard yet about any 4xe's performance turning 37s,.. could be we're using these things for different purposes?

"less powerful and slower"?
442 lb/ft of torque has been quite adequate for me. 'more' isn't always better, and as un-Amerikun a concept as it may be, sometimes 'enough' is enough. (note; again, 442's the stock number; a check to Mr Banks or any of a number of tuners easily gives you torque numbers that start with a '5'.)
"slower"? how fast do i need to go in a J**p? we're all cruising nicely at speeds in the 80s for hours at a time. if you meant "quicker", i have no idea; i'm not interested in jackrabbiting off of a stop, though the 100% torque @ 0 RPM of an electric motor would be nice in certain situations.

checking the weights listed for our vehicles, i was surprised to see that the 4xe only weighs less than a half-ton more than our diesel when stock, and that the payload rating is still as close to the diesel as it is. still, that's weight i can't justify for what i get.
i was also surprised to see the 4xe trailing by as much as it does in cargo capacity, and on points like turning radius, Angles of Approach and Departure; these are all important to me.

(maybe not the best references, but what i found in a few seconds of looking
ref:
Jeep Wrangler 4xe Specs
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon FarOut Diesel Specs

i'm not going to go any deeper into where our fuel/energy comes from, or the environmental impacts, or the issues with non-domestically produced batteries and solar components since don't seem to be considerations that matter to everyone... but they all mattered to me.

i'll admit the image of cruising silently through the woods with the roof off is lovely, but that's still more marketing than practical reality.


in light of all the above and including the ability to refuel(/recharge/re-energize) to full range in less time than it takes me to clean the windshield and lights, i think i've made the right choice for me.

Thank goodness you enjoy a less powerful and slower rig, these 4xe aren’t for everyone.

 

[JLeco2022]

the truth is some people just don't care where the item they bought was made or came from, they say they buy things for XYZ to justify it. moral arguments aside lets just hope when the battery is needed to be replaced, they still make them.

 

[PatriotX]

let's back up here,... you start a post that literally says "feel free to laugh and point", so try not to get bent when people actually do what you suggested.

we can probably agree that there are a lot of things we like about our various equipment. but when you come to a forum of enthusiasts, you couldn't have possibly (reasonably) expected they would all love your choice as much as the one they made for themselves.

back to the numbers (on the chance that's what this is really about);

i'm seeing the kind of mileage you posted in the title of your thread on our moderately built loaded rig; we're not even talking about the 28+MPG we were getting before a lift and other mods. (range in stock trim was nearly 500+ miles/tank.)
haven't heard yet about any 4xe's performance turning 37s,.. could be we're using these things for different purposes?

"less powerful and slower"?
442 lb/ft of torque has been quite adequate for me. 'more' isn't always better, and as un-Amerikun a concept as it may be, sometimes 'enough' is enough. (note; again, 442's the stock number; a check to Mr Banks or any of a number of tuners easily gives you torque numbers that start with a '5'.)
"slower"? how fast do i need to go in a J**p? we're all cruising nicely at speeds in the 80s for hours at a time. if you meant "quicker", i have no idea; i'm not interested in jackrabbiting off of a stop, though the 100% torque @ 0 RPM of an electric motor would be nice in certain situations.

checking the weights listed for our vehicles, i was surprised to see that the 4xe only weighs less than a half-ton more than our diesel when stock, and that the payload rating is still as close to the diesel as it is. still, that's weight i can't justify for what i get.
i was also surprised to see the 4xe trailing by as much as it does in cargo capacity, and on points like turning radius, Angles of Approach and Departure; these are all important to me.

(maybe not the best references, but what i found in a few seconds of looking
ref:
Jeep Wrangler 4xe Specs
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon FarOut Diesel Specs

i'm not going to go any deeper into where our fuel/energy comes from, or the environmental impacts, or the issues with non-domestically produced batteries and solar components since don't seem to be considerations that matter to everyone... but they all mattered to me.

i'll admit the image of cruising silently through the woods with the roof off is lovely, but that's still more marketing than practical reality.


in light of all the above and including the ability to refuel(/recharge/re-energize) to full range in less time than it takes me to clean the windshield and lights, i think i've made the right choice for me.

The diesel was actually my first choice, but timing forced my hand into the 4xe.

The diesel is the better choice for many people, and annualized may have been more economical for me over 7 years, depending on how many long trips I take a year.

Even with the RTT, my last tank was 31.6 (Fuelly) and best is 42.6.

The reason for the lower average is that I treat this like a Jeep. Sometimes on trips I won’t charge for 2 weeks. Headwinds crossing Kansas or Nebraska? 15mpg. I accelerate briskly, enjoying the 470lb/ft often.

My wife has a vehicle with similar setup, 2.0 turbo backed with a zf8 hybrid trans totaling 400 hp. She has a lighter foot and more aero, hers is averaging 32+ lifetime. In a 5000+ pound SUV with a much larger tank and 400-plus mile range before refueling.


Most will report far better lifetime mileage than I, but there’s no compromise here. I wheel it hard, drive it as fast as I want, and have been happily surprised by the returns.

Sponsored