Just saw several news releases touting this for Q2. I think it's awesome, I would love to get one soon. The idea of driving trails in silence and still being able to go silly fast is perfect.
Just saw several news releases touting this for Q2. I think it's awesome, I would love to get one soon. The idea of driving trails in silence and still being able to go silly fast is perfect.
I can see them being a big seller based on the concept alone (and HOV lane sticker eligibility in California I believe), but Car and Driver's take on it was pretty lukewarm. Color me unsurprised that FCA's hybrids are lacking refinement compared to someone like Toyota.
Still, its existence alone bodes well for future development.
Electric power should be really good for offroad use that demands precision and a well-timed burst of torque, and a well-implemented hybrid should offer a nice mix of attributes. I'm not usually a fan of the VCR-DVD combo that is a hybrid, but on a vehicle with such widely varying use cases it makes sense if you think of it as an ICE vehicle that has some assist when needed.
Note that "well-implemented" is important. I'm not sure that's the case here, but of course C&D didn't get the tires dirty to see if the hybrid added anything offroad.
In reply to pointofdeparture :
Car and Driver has always hated Jeep Wranglers. The bias is palpable in every review.
My wife's company has Prius' and she hates driving them. Frankly, I've never been impressed with Toyota's supposed "refinement" and I'm pretty easy to please.
I'm excited about EVs, but since I prefer my fenders Flat, I'm clearly not in the target market for this thing.
I do look forward of hearing Fred Williams' impression of it though.
In reply to llysgennad :
As far as the C&D Wrangler review I didn't really get any sense of palpable hatred, just that the 4xe is a hard sell/questionable value against the other models in the lineup.
Whether you take or leave the Wrangler I feel like it's hard to deny that Toyota has been leading the pack in hybrid tech and refinement of the ICE/electric handoff for a while. Having driven a few Priuses along with a 2nd gen Insight and a Kia Optima hybrid the Priuses absolutely went about their business with the least drama and conflict between powertrains. I think the planetary gear transmission is a big part of what sets them apart.
They're not exciting cars but they're not supposed to be, they are damn good appliances and I have to respect them for that.
One thing that I find really appealing about PHEVs is the reliability and lack of maintenance. But when the PHEV has a direct injected, turbocharged ICE and it's all designed/built by a Chrysler/Fiat mashup I get a lot less excited about the potential reliability and cost savings.
I like the idea of something like a Gladiator PHEV down the line, which I'm sure is in the works, but I'd need to see some long term reliability data before I spent any of my money on one.
Even if it's not for me, I'm glad it exists and seems to be doing reasonably well even in a difficult new vehicle market.
llysgennad said:Just saw several news releases touting this for Q2. I think it's awesome, I would love to get one soon. The idea of driving trails in silence and still being able to go silly fast is perfect.
The trail has to be close to home to be silent as the electric motor is only for the first 25 or so miles. After that, it's gas.
Steve_Jones said:llysgennad said:Just saw several news releases touting this for Q2. I think it's awesome, I would love to get one soon. The idea of driving trails in silence and still being able to go silly fast is perfect.
The trail has to be close to home to be silent as the electric motor is only for the first 25 or so miles. After that, it's gas.
Like most PHEVs, the 4Xe has a "battery save/hold mode" that allows the user to select when the EV only range is used.
In reply to Steve_Jones :
Well obviously I would drive to the trail before engaging stealth mode. I doubt I would do a trail more than 20 miles long in one shot. But gas as needed, silence is a perk, not a requirement.
My point for this post was that it is outselling EVERY OTHER PHEV on the market. That is stunning.
The chip (and other material) shortage has made for some weird sales figures in the past few months.
It's good to see the Wrangler market embracing a bit of new tech, though. It's not exactly cutting edge, so if hybrids sell there they'll sell anywhere.
llysgennad said:My point for this post was that it is outselling EVERY OTHER PHEV on the market. That is stunning.
The Mustang Mach E recently outsold the ICE Mustang as well, and I'm just not sure what's useful data or just random noise considering how weird the new car market is right now with chip shortages and plant closures, etc. Looks like the PHEV Wrangler likely sold about 12k units in Q2 though, which is fairly strong for a new model in the current market.
The wrangler is a hard to understand sales thing.
All market research, when I was in Chrysler, said each successive model would sell less. I even was part of the advanved mfg planning to design to "be able to scale down" production based on demand.
But it has only gone up this century despite being the anti answer for any use other than medium to hard trails. Very odd but then I admit needing more than 150hp in any passenger car can be considered excess as well.
I am not too surprised that the ev wrangler sells, as my wrangler surprise was all used up at the turn of the century.
It's the four door. It turned the Wrangler into a vehicle with actual useable space inside.
llysgennad said:In reply to Steve_Jones :
Well obviously I would drive to the trail before engaging stealth mode. I doubt I would do a trail more than 20 miles long in one shot. But gas as needed, silence is a perk, not a requirement.
My point for this post was that it is outselling EVERY OTHER PHEV on the market. That is stunning.
I didn't realize you could do that, as the 2 people I know that own them, only mentioned it's electric, then gas. I agree, with the stealth mode, that's cool.
Jeep sales are odd as the Gladiator sold a bunch at release, then nothing for a year, then on fire 1st 1/4 of this year. I have a supercharged one, it's a fun truck.
The Wrangler has the almost unique honor of being one of those vehicles people buy because they think it's cool, even if they hate owning or driving the thing. It doesn't quite make sense, but they also keep getting more capable, so it's hard to complain.
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