SPEAKER: We just bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe.
And here's why you shouldn't.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee, a favorite for those among us
who like to drive over stuff.
You might think you know the whole story
with the Grand Cherokee.
But this one is a little bit different.
It's got a plug.
And that is why we've added it to our Edmunds long-term test
fleet.
So we're going to show you our latest long termer.
We're going to tell you how much we paid for it
and walk you through the interior and the exterior.
And, of course, we'll tell you what
we have planned for it during our ownership experience.
So come on.
It'll be fun.
Whoop, almost forgot.
If you like what we do here on the Edmunds YouTube channel
and you want to see more, please like and subscribe.
You know we always appreciate that.
And if you're curious about the Grand Cherokee or any
of our other long termers, head over
to edmunds.com to see more.
Now, other than a Wrangler, obviously, this
is what I think of when I picture a Jeep.
It's a Grand Cherokee.
It's a little tough, a little rugged.
But this design is definitely an evolution.
It's not like it looks all that different
from the prior generation.
But you know what?
I think Jeep buyers are cool with that.
And something that's this simple is probably going to age well
over time.
Now, because this is part electric,
Jeep is not going to miss an opportunity
to put electric blue accent to let everybody know that.
However, because this is the entry-level model,
we miss out on some of the best stuff.
The Rubicon, for example, has these really cool
looking bright blue toe hooks that just pop.
You got to pay more money for that.
While I'm at it, these 18-inch wheels,
they look a little too rental car for my liking.
You got to pay more for some better-looking wheels.
Am I going to get in trouble for [BLEEP] on the car we
bought with our own money?
Under the hood is the Stellantis group's
2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine.
That's a tiny little guy for an SUV this big.
Look at all the extra space surrounding the block.
The horsepower with the engine is 270 and 295 pound-feet
of torque.
But that's not all, folks.
We also have a 17 kilowatt hour battery pack, which
adds a little extra juice.
Total output is 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet,
much better.
Obviously, the reason you're buying a plug-in hybrid
is to improve your fuel economy.
The EPA says the 4xe is good for 26 miles of all-electric range,
and that's before you use any gas.
And obviously, the more your keep it plugged in,
the better fuel economy you're going to get.
If the battery does die, you're good for 23 MPG combined
with just the engine.
Now, that is one--
one MPG better than the V6 model.
So yeah, you better keep this thing plugged in all the time.
Otherwise, you're just carrying around a bunch of dead weight.
And on that note, let's check out the interior.
So as I step into this car, the first thing that
comes to my mind, this is about $10,000
more than a fully loaded Kia Telluride.
This is nice, but it ain't that nice.
You get eight-way power on the driver and the passenger's
side.
But they're only heated.
You don't get ventilation.
You got to shell out more for that.
Same thing with real leather.
This stuff right here, fake.
I think the matte wood trim in here looks very Jeepy,
but if you touch it, it feels like plastic.
Actually, plastic is here.
It's also shiny black plastic in the middle.
The more I think about it, there's
more plastic in here than an episode of The Real Housewives.
Here is a big positive--
Uconnect 5.
And it comes with a very large 11.1-inch display.
It comes with wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto.
It's just bright.
It's easy to use.
The menus make sense.
This is something that Jeep and other Stellantis products have
always just done very well.
Love the infotainment in this car.
Then we get to the other screens,
because it's never just one screen anymore.
There's a digital dash that comes in front of you
as the driver.
The thing I do like is that there is a ton of information.
You can cycle through menus for days.
Not all of it's particularly useful,
but at least they give you the option.
Same thing with this passenger display over here.
It's good for controlling the rear-seat entertainment, which
we'll go over in a bit.
One other big plus when it comes to tech,
there are plugs all over the place.
You get four up here, USB-A and USB-C, which I love.
And there's two more in the center console, just in case.
That's 1, 2-- 6 plugs.
Do we have 6 phones?
I don't want to know what you do for work.
There's a lot to like here in this back seat.
First of all, this is only a two-row SUV.
So when it comes to reclining, woof,
you can recline all the way back,
and you have nobody to bother behind you.
The leg room is also great.
I'm sitting behind myself right now.
I'm 5 foot 8, not the world's tallest human being, but plenty
of legroom to go around.
Same thing with the headroom.
Tons of space to sprawl out back here.
You get heated seats on both sides of the back, which
is fantastic.
And you thought there were a lot of plugs up front?
You get four more back here.
And they also throw in an outlet so you
can plug in your charging brick-- really good stuff right
there.
This is the only interior option that we specced on this car--
$2,000 rear-seat entertainment package.
It's not just a screen like it used to be.
Now you get Amazon Fire TV built in.
So that means you can stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, all
that sort of stuff that keeps you really entertained
as a kid, not like me, where you had
to watch a VHS of The Sound of Music
on a road trip for eight hours.
Behind me, there are 37.7 cubic feet of space.
That is plenty for everybody's stuff.
However, if you need more, you can split fold the second row
down 60/40.
Well, we showed you what we got.
Now let's tell you what we paid for it.
The standard Jeep Grand Cherokee starts at $41,000.
This one, the 4xe plug-in, starts at $60,000.
Then we throw in some options.
We got $500 for the paint, $2,000
for rear-seat entertainment.
And that brings us to a grand total of just over $64,000.
And that's for the base model 4xe.
If you go nuts with options, you can work this thing up
to almost 80 grand.
Woof.
Now, right at the top of the video, the first thing I said
is that you shouldn't buy this SUV.
"We just bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe.
And here's why you shouldn't."
And you shouldn't.
You should lease it.
Admittedly, that's not always advice
that we give out here on the Edmunds channel.
But in this case, we just think it's too good to pass up.
Now, of course, these rules can change literally at any time.
But at least for now, we think that leasing is the right way
to get your 4xe.
And if you want the most up to date,
accurate information on federal incentives
for EVs and plug-ins, head over to edmunds.com.
We're just now getting started with our estimated 20,000
miles of ownership.
And we have a lot planned for the 4xe.
We'll of course give it the full Edmunds rating
and show you where it ranks on our list
of plug-in hybrid SUVs.
We'll range test its fuel efficiency
and all-electric capabilities.
And we're going to put it through its paces
both on and off road.
And if you have any questions for us on our Grand Cherokee,
or if you want to see us do something in particular with it
on the channel, just drop that below in the comments.
And, as always, thanks for watching.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[HONKING]
I forgot the first thing I was going to say.
[OFF-MIC VOICE]
Thank you.
For those among us who love to drive over stuff.
That was weird.
That's not the way I wanted to say that.
[LAUGHTER]