Why the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Will Be an Engineering Marvel

Lots of brands have plug-in hybrids, Jeep is engineering the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee to be an off-road leader as well as a hybrid.

As part of its EV Day, Stellantis and Jeep released pictures of its all-new electrified 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. The new 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee follows on the heels of the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe which has gotten great reviews. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is an incredibly popular vehicle for Jeep. Seven million Grand Cherokees have sold world-wide over the last thirty years. Jeep needs to hit it out of the park and by all indications, it will.

2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe

Jeep did not confirm details of the Wrangler 4xe until production was underway. Jeep plans to unveil the fifth generation of the Jeep Grand Cherokee during the New York Auto Show, which runs August 20th-August 29th, 2021. We may see the unveiling on press day August 19th. That would suggest that much like the Wrangler 4xe production is close or underway and the final bugs have been worked out.

Plug-In Hybrid

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe will be a plug-in hybrid. Final numbers haven’t been announced but the vehicle will travel for a certain distance on pure electric before switching over to a gasoline engine. It will be similar to the Wrangler 4xe which gives drivers a choice on when to use the electric power. The driver can wait and use the pure electric when off-roading or whenever they choose. Having the gasoline engine means that range anxiety is never a concern.

Why The Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Engineering is so Complicated

Other brands make plug-in hybrids. However, Jeep is known for its legendary off-roading capabilities. The Grand Cherokee has four different 4x4 systems. It has an incredible crawl ratio. It has best-in-class towing. A Stellantis insider told me that it was paramount for Jeep to devise a way to go electric and keep its reputation as the off-road leader.

The insider told me that it was incredibly complicated for engineers to create different calibrations for the 4xe vehicles to perform regardless of whether the vehicle was in 4-high or 4-low. Adding to the complexity, engineers had to create different calibrations for the 4xe’s different drive modes, pure electric, hybrid or E-Save. E-Save is the setting that allows the driver to wait and use the electric motor when they want to. Jeep was insistent that their vehicles outperform other brands, maintaining its legendary status, no matter what mode the driver was using.

By all accounts, Jeep was very successful at preserving the Wrangler’s legendary qualities and incorporating them into the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe. My colleague, John Goreham, was very impressed. Read his review, Review: Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4Xe - PHEV For The Win.

You can expect that the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe will perform in all of the categories that made the vehicle famous. The Grand Cherokee is the most-awarded SUV in history. Jeep has too much riding on the Grand Cherokee’s reputation, to not have it excel off-road.

Jeep is expanding its electrification and funding the installation of charging stations at some of the most popular trail heads in the nation. With that in mind, you can expect the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee to be a performance leader out on those trails.

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