FORM doesn't bother me, since I'm not buying a 4xe expecting it to be a BEV (and I already own another PHEV and am used to the tradeoffs). I'm only after the torque and better in-city efficiency. Being cold in the cabin with a toddler and wife would be a major issue, on the other hand.
Yep. Hence my recommendation to avoid it in cold climates. It won’t behave like any other PHEV. I work closely with our Fleet department. We have plug in hybrids (Fords, Mitsubishis), none of those behave so radically different in winter than my 4xe. Parts failures, bizarre driving restrictions. Just not a consistent experience.
I drove a 4xe up in NH during winter and it wasn't problematic, but there's definitely the "It's a Jeep Thing" component to parts failures, sounds like you've been hitting them all. When you're not having a coolant system issue, how's the cabin in winter? My experience was fine, but just want to make sure I'm not missing something.
While you may have had real issues, it’s certainly not the norm.
Yeah. After reading everyone's comments, I am not ready for the "4Xe experience." Especially given that I live in a cold climate, and a lease would have me stuck with it for three years.
There is cold, and then there is cold.
This only happens when slamming on the gas pedal on a cold engine which isn't normal driving.
This.
How do your fords and mitsubishis behave? We have a Tuscon PHEV. I prefer how the 4xe handles heat. The Tuscon uses the ICE in the background for the heater in any temps under 50. It pretty much runs the whole time even when I'm in "ev mode". Worse since its used only for heating not propulsion it never gets up to running temps. I hope Hyundai built in some sort of FORM feature or oil dilution will be an issue with these. Luckily I get ours up to running temps at least once a week so it shouldnt be too much of an issue. In my 4xe, I can drive in electric, turn off auto climate and set the blower to the lowest setting and still not have the ICE turn on. Sure my range is less but still I can drive without using any gas and have heat.
I had a sneaking suspicion you'd do this after reading all of the horrible things that happen to 4xe's. It really does feel like a toss up on if you'll get a good one based on the forums and group pages littered with different gripes and bad experiences. Again, I've had 2 of them (both '21s, both Geckos); my first was perfect, my current one not so much. So on that basis I'm pretty 50/50 with it. On the one hand they are fantastic for what they are. Anyone that expected these to get similar kinds of hybrid experiences to something like a Toyota were delusional to begin with; it was never gonna happen considering how they made compromises to make sure at the end of the day it was still a Jeep first, hybrid second. On the other hand, it can be a real pain in the ass if something in the hybrid system goes wrong since it's not exactly DIY friendly to work on those components.
It means it will not be included.
