TRAVIS LANGNESS: Look, it's a Wrangler with a plug.
This is the all new Jeep Wrangler 4 by E
or 4 x E, or four bye.
Whatever you call it.
It's the first ever plug-in hybrid version
of the Jeep Wrangler.
And if you're thinking, it's more environmentally friendly,
and it's going to make you feel less guilty at the pump,
you may want to think again.
For this particular Wrangler to make any sense at all,
you have to be able to plug it in every single day.
Well, not every single day.
I mean it helps.
But what we're going to do in this video is take a closer
look at the 4 by E, we're going to see what its efficiency is
like, what kind of MPG does it get,
we're looking at acceleration and test results.
And we're going to see how this hybrid plug-in power
train affects it when you take it off road.
Is the Wrangler 4 by E for you?
Do you want a fully electric version?
Or would you just rather go with the 392 V8?
Let us know in the comments below.
And four more videos like this, click Like and Subscribe.
And to get a cash offer on your car today,
go to edmunds.com/sellmycar.
Pretty simple, right?
So there is the standard V6, then there's
the turbo charged 2 liter engine,
then there's the 392 V8, then there's the EcoDiesel,
then there's this, the 2 liter turbo charged four cylinder
with the plug-in hybrid.
That's five powertrains and that's
not even including the mild hybrid version
of the standard V6.
Who is this specific powertrain for?
The Rubicon we have here has all sorts of off-road goodies,
stuff like disconnecting front sway bar
and locking front rear differentials, big tires too.
It can go pretty much anywhere off road.
But in this configuration, it's priced closer to 60 grand.
And with all the options that we have here, it's over $65,000.
That is not cheap.
So how does it do at the pump?
Does it redeem itself?
Well, that's why I say you have to plug this in every day.
You get about 20 miles of electric range
before you start using this like a traditional hybrid,
like a Prius.
Just drives with the engine and batteries combined.
But after that, it's only rated at 20 MPG combined by the EPA.
That's the third worst rating in the entire Wrangler
lineup, beaten only by the V6 with the manual and the 392 V8.
Every other Wrangler you can buy is more efficient.
So you have to plug it in every day for it to make sense.
Thankfully, to offset some of the high price of entry,
the 4 by E is eligible for a number of tax rebates
and incentives, including the $7,500 federal rebate.
But those aren't price deductions.
They can depend on your tax situation.
So you won't see that discount up front.
So for this hybrid power train to work,
it's got to rely a lot on that electricity
if it wants to beat out the standard V6
or the turbo charged four cylinder.
And honestly, that little bit of range
is perfect for someone like, well, me.
So the distance from my home to the Edmunds office
is about 5 miles, which means five days a week
I could drive to and from work, even run a few errands,
without ever relying on gasoline.
I could do it on electricity alone
just plugging in and charging at night,
or realistically plugging in and charging at the office
because my apartment building doesn't have any charging
infrastructure.
Thanks a lot, Los Angeles.
Electricity isn't free, but for me it
would save me a lot of money.
I mean, these Wranglers aren't exactly fuel sippers.
The most efficient one in the lineup is the diesel,
and that's only ready to 25 MPG combined.
So if you want to save a little bit of coin
and feel like you're being environmental on the weekdays
and then take it to the trails on the weekends,
this might be the right powertrain choice for you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The 4 by E has to be more than a convenience.
It has to drive well too.
Apples to apples, when you compare an unlimited Rubicon
to this Rubicon with the 4 by E power train,
it's a $10,000 price difference.
And it's going to take you a lot of charges
to make up that difference when it comes to the cost of fuel.
So how does it drive?
Really well.
This thing has more power than anything in the Wrangler lineup
with the exception of the 392 V8.
And it's got the same amount of torque
as the V8, 470 pound feat.
That is a lot for a vehicle of this size.
Now the 4 by E weighs a lot more too.
It's 700 pounds more than our old long term Wrangler
unlimited Rubicon.
And it tops out over 5,200 pounds, which is really heavy.
But it has the benefit of calming down
the Wrangler's kind of wild steering that
wonders on the freeway.
And it gives it more stability, ironically,
makes it feel better when handling around corners.
There seems to be less body roll because those batteries are
mounted low and in the floor and that extra heft really helps
the way this vehicle drives.
Now it's hard for me to tell if there's more or less road
noise in this particular model because we've
got the optional convertible top, which is a $4,000 extra
by the way helping get this one to $66,000.
But it's pretty quiet.
At city speeds, you don't hear the turbo four grinding along.
It's not as noisy as the V6, especially not the V8.
And on the highway, really you're
not hearing the engine at all.
What you're hearing is wind noise over the top, wind
noise in the front, those are kind
of trademarks of the Wrangler.
And they're compromises you're going to have to make.
Up against much less expensive vehicles
like the CRV and the CX5, you're trading comfort
for capability in this case.
Obviously standard crossovers can't even
dream of going places the Wrangler can.
But when it comes to the pricing,
those are going to be around 35, maybe 40
when they're topped out.
This one goes into a whole different echelon.
And that has a lot to do with how many available powertrain
options you have, and just how capable this vehicle is.
It's definitely the most comfortable version
of the Wrangler I think, this 4 by E.
But that doesn't make it comfortable in the class.
Sure, it's closer to crossovers.
But it's still a Wrangler, which I kind of like.
Now the interior is pretty much as you'd
expect from a Wrangler.
It's not a lot of different stuff on the 4 by E. Sure
you get some blue stitching to match the blue stickers
on the outside.
There are a couple of buttons to control the EV functions.
But really, everything is what you'd expect in here.
It's big chunky knobs.
It's the feeling that this interior could hold up
to abuse over time.
It's not luxurious, or plush.
But there are nice materials.
The steering wheel feels nice and chunky.
It's made out of good material.
There's soft touch points for your elbow.
Static, the Wrangler is not an uncomfortable vehicle.
It's just when you get it out on the highway
and get it going a little bit that things get
less comfortable than average.
How it drives on the highway is all well and good,
but really this is a Wrangler.
So you know what it's time to do.
It's time to take it off road.
Look.
It's a place with dirt.
And it's really windy today.
Ah, the feeling of home for the Wrangler, right?
It's a place with dirt, and obstacles,
and it's not just home for the Wrangler but for me too.
I like dirt.
Look, whatever.
The Wrangler likes it out here.
And the question is does the 4 by E
have the same capability as other Wranglers?
In short, yeah.
It does.
Ziggurat?
Duh.
Or if you just want to leave the campsite without waking anybody
up, you can do that in V mode too.
Sleep tight, animals.
I love you, animals.
Can you put it two wheel drive mode and drift it?
Hell yeah you can.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
If you want to know what the Wrangler in Rubicon trim
can do, I mean pretty much watch any
of our other Rubicon videos, the Diesel, the regular Rubicon,
the 392.
This is one of the most capable off-road vehicles
that money can buy.
And while it is lacking in comfort on road, off road,
it actually has more comfort than you would expect.
It soaks up bumps better.
You just air down the tires a little bit
and you can go over pretty much anything.
And the 4 by E has an interesting kind of leg
up on some of its powertrain competitors.
The 470 pound feet of torque talk
means you can crawl over big obstacles really easily.
It basically just, you take your foot off the brake
and you go over big rocks.
It's not hard.
And that kind of slow speed stuff,
while at first it's a little bit hard to modulate,
it's hard to get used to compared to the V6, especially
the V8 or the regular turbo 4, once you get used to it,
it performs really well.
And then when you go over the big stuff,
it just acts like a regular old Rubicon,
bounces along, and soaks up all the abuse.
Now one thing you're going to want to be aware of,
or concerned with maybe, is range.
So you think, the plug-in hybrid.
It has once it's a regular hybrid, more
range than average.
And it doesn't really.
The diesel is by far the best engine in the lineup for range.
And this one's kind of middling.
It's under 400 miles of total range,
even when you've got it plugged in with full EV power.
And honestly, I wouldn't pick the 4 by E
if I were doing big long overlanding trips.
The Diesel is the one for that job.
There is a small difference between the 4 by E
and the other Wrangler power trains when
it comes to departure angle, but a lot of that
has to do with tires.
The 392's riding on bigger tires.
And really the ground clearance, the approach angle,
the brake over, they're all the same.
And you're going to be having to go over crazy obstacles to even
reach those limits of the approaching departure angle.
And they still put the Rubicon stamp on this thing.
I have full faith in the fact that this Jeep could
traverse the Rubicon Trail.
It's got no problems there.
And off road, it's a pleasure to drive.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's easy to think of the 4 by E as environmentally friendly.
I mean, hell, they even painted the tow hooks blue.
Super tech friendly, right?
And they made the E on 4 by E a lowercase.
It's like the iPhone of Jeeps.
But the 4 by E isn't really more efficient
than the rest of the regular lineup,
not when you're driving it on combined power
and you haven't plugged it in.
It has to meet at a very specific crossroads
to be a successful Wrangler.
It's got to have enough range to get you to and from work.
It's got to have a ton of power to be a hoot to drive.
And it meets at those crossroads.
It is a hoot to drive.
SPEAKER 1: A hoot, huh?
TRAVIS LANGNESS: Yeah.
Hoot, hoot.
Like an owl.
SPEAKER 1: Oh, cut.
TRAVIS LANGNESS: This is more powerful than anything
in the Wrangler lineup with the exception of the 392 V8.
And it shows in the driving capability and the fun of it.
I mean, Stellantis and everybody under that umbrella
has been doing this for years.
We saw it with the Ram TRX and the Hellcat engine.
I mean, maybe that's what we can have in here next, a Hellcat
Wrangler.
Or maybe we can do an all EV Wrangler, or I don't know,
put a weird rotary engine in there,
or a three cylinder, maybe a turbo charged and supercharged
Jeep Wrangler.
Ooh, I know.
Get one of those sweet jet turbine engines
that Jay Leno has in his motorcycle.
For more videos like this, click Like and Subscribe below.
To get a cash offer on your car today,
go to edmunds.com/sellmycar.
And if you're looking forward to buying the 4 by E,
let us know in the comments below.
[MUSIC PLAYING]