When I off-road I swap between hybrid, electric and eSave to be silent when I want and run the engine when I don’t care. If my battery gets depleted, I run in eSave with the battery charge option to save up enough battery to use for the next place I want to run silent. Love the options the 4xe provides.
@David Carrico. I’m getting conflicting information. When you deplete the batteries in all electric mode, are you able to charge the batteries by driving in gas mode?
@@thelast929 you can. You have to be in e-save mode, and there are two different e-Save settings for it in the hybrid settings, you need to make sure it’s set to ‘charge battery’ and not ‘maintain battery’. For daily driving I have it set to maintain because charge has worse gas mileage, but for off road, I set it to charge.
@@thelast929 Yes, but it's not a consistent process. It doesn't charge constantly like an alternator does to a 12V. From a low battery state, stop and go traffic, I've seen 10-15% recharge in about as many minutes. Meanwhile, I've been on the highway and seen it barely budge a few percent in an hour.
Brad, ceramic won’t prevent scratches, but it will protect the paint from environmental damage and make it easier to keep clean. What you need is PPF paint protection film in the areas that get scratched.
PPF or vinyl wraps will not protect against scratches and will just tear, I know from personal experience. PPF is expensive and not really realistic to keep having replaced every time a branch or rock skips across it.
Ceramic sits on top of the clear coat and is measurably harder. So, it can resist some light scratch or act as a sacrificial layer above the clear to an extent. That being said, PPF or vinyl would be much more suitable for trail riding in brush. It's not completely Impervious to scratches but certain PPF are highly resistant and offer self healing abilities.
@@optimusoff-road2770 a good PPF will protect from branches, prevent small rock chips. It’s not going to prevent scratches from boulders or canyon walls. It wouldn’t cost him that much to have someone apply it to affected areas, we’re not talking a full PPF on a Ferrari here.
We bought a 4xe in November and love it! It’s my wife’s daily driver and is basically an electric car for her. It’s nice to not have to worry about charging on a road trip, but have the ability to. We don’t have a level 2 charger yet, but so far haven’t really needed it, it fully charges easily overnight.The hill climbing in this is awesome with all that torque. We’ll be taking it to Moab this spring to hit some trails. Can’t wait to see how it does.
I hit 6 trails in Moab, got free charging overnight where I was staying, got 8-11 miles each day on electric. Like Brad I'm not a fan of the automatic switch into Hybrid mode when using manual mode on the transmission, but using max regen removed the need for using hill descent control as well.
@@vibhuiyer6984 The hybrid system has been in the Chrysler Pacifica for over 3 years, so this is not new, it's just new to a Jeep Wrangler, the only problem I had was on the engine, and completely unrelated to the fact that it's a hybrid, but with the 10 year 100k warranty on hybrid system go get one.
Brad enjoyed your electric trip very much. I have 8500 miles on my 4xe Rubicon since delivery in May of 2021. Let me mention a few of my findings. My 4xe, Rubicon with factory steel bumpers, loaded out and with a full tank of gas, and no driver or passenger, straight from the dealer, weighted 5360#, split evenly, front to back, 2680# on each axle. Adding a winch, lights, skid plate and Hotzhead headliner, added 300#. I live in Prescott, Az, at 5280’ elevation, with significant elevation change from my house to town. We get 22 miles on an electric charge and I use the Max Recharge all the time. One thing we love is the “one pedal” driving. One thing you will find out is that the 4xe is ALWAYS a Hybrid drive EV. All that changes is the computer profile for gas vs electric use. If you are in electric and step hard on the gas, the engine will come on to help. In e-save it will preferentially use the engine and will actually help to charge the battery. I like to run my engine to get it hot, before I get on a trail, that Will help the engine share the load already warm, and not from a cold start. That might be why the engine sounded funny to you, because it was doing a cold start. Yes, the MPG is bogus. Assume the rubi gets on gas, 20 MPG, you use a couple of electric charges, you will be getting 24 MPG, all it is doing is adding the miles to the numerator and leaving the denominator the same, thus the higher cumulative MPG. Our normal ride to town and back is about 25 miles, if we make several trips on electric, without much use of gasoline,, we have seen as high as 37 MPG….In a Rubicon….imagine that….One caveat, you are using “fuel” in any mode on the 4xe. In electric mode, the generating plant is using solar, wind, gas or coal to generate electricity. You are not using “gasoline” when in electric mode. We have solar panels, our (using round numbers) 15kW full charge is 30 cents. So we spend $0.30/22 miles = 1.4 cents per mile. If you buy electricity at 12.5 cents per kW, then a full charge would be $1.88 for 22 miles, at a cost of 8.5 cents per mile. Using gasoline, at 20 MPG. Assuming $3.80 per gallon, your per mile cost is 19 cents. So yes, electric mode does save you money, particularly if you do a lot of short trips, with a chance to charge in between. Last thing I’ll mention is my Jeep is White and it has a ceramic coating on it. It helps tremendously in keeping dust, dirt and mud off the exterior. Makes the Jeep look clean longer and is definitely shinier. But, It doesn’t help prevent pin stripping. Sorry….. We think Jeep hit it out of the ballpark with the 4xe. My wife is now thinking of buying the Grand Cherokee 4xe when it comes out. Looking forward to more interesting articles from you on the 4xe.
Thanks Vic B this is what I was looking for on gas/ electric cost . I live in hills and travel 45 min to work one way and think this would save me as I have to fill up every week or sooner.
@@tuckerbeach7278 divide the difference between the cost of a 4xe and the cost of a comparable gas Wrangler and then divide that number by your price of gas per gallon. This is approximately how many times you would have to charge it before there is a return on investment. Another thing to consider is if the 4xe was the exact same purchase price as the comparable gas Wrangler then you would have to charge it at least once every 125 miles to break even since eventhough the 1st 25 miles are free, the next 100 miles are at 20mpg instead of 25mpg becasue of the hundreds of pounds you are carrying in battery weight.
I’ve got 4xe 3.5 lift, 37s, Fox suspension - love it. I don’t miss my v6 Rubicon. Great vehicle. Mid chassis battery weight is equivalent to mid engine control. Love it!
Great video! I've had my 4x e since April of last year and taking it through the paces in the mountains of Colorado and on the beaches of Padre Island. So far it's done a lot better than my 2013 Wrangler. Loving the fact that I only fill up once a month if that. And I'm definitely spoiled with the one pedal driving with the max regen on. So far there's nothing it won't do.
The 4xe is a great option for a lot of people. I’d think the majority of people don’t drive more than 20-30 miles a day. Some people will complain about range, but maybe it just means another Jeep is a better fit for them.
I don’t think you need a Wrangler Rubicon to do 20-30 miles daily city commuting and grocery pickup. Unless you live in Russia or Ukraine, but even there it probably makes more sense to get a Lada Niva lol
@@kayak77 Spot on, the majority of jeep owners never leave paved road and are daily driver. We have two, my wife loves her 2 door Sahara and uses it daily, to and from work. Maybe grocery shopping. She likes the turning radius and how easy it is the parallel park. And it never leaves paved road.
@@bb5242 Well, 30 miles a day is $11,000 miles a year. That’s like 611 gallons of gas assuming 18 mpg. At $4.50 a gallon, that’s $2750 a year. So, not going to break the bank, but not exactly cheap I’d say…
Great video as always Brad. Ceramic won’t help scratches at all and in fact will make it more of an issue to get out once you get them. I HIGHLY recommend MEK magnet armor to protect your jeep. We have it on our JLUR (they are the only ones I know of that make something that works for the aluminum JLs), it works awesome is very easy to use and the owner is beyond awesome! She really stands behind her products and makes sure her customers are happy!
Thank you for addressing the real-world use cases for daily driving and fuel savings!! So many want to dump on this vehicle and the EV only range without really thinking it through. I only see it getting better! Great video as always!
Love love LOVE the 4xe - it would be perfect for me because I could basically eliminate fuel for the day to day trips yet I still have the range for my road trips. What a great vehicle and I can't wait to see how jeep improves it in the next generations
Don’t be fooled. I thought that too until Jeep made it so I cannot use electric when the weather is below a certain temp. All summer I used one tank of gas. In the winter, a tank of gas every week. And they won’t tell you.
@@davidgrove5525 I haven't had that experience in near zero degree weather in Colorado. It does affect battery life a little bit, but only a mile or two in my case.
@@jhr2112 John. I am so frustrated. It only starts in ice and my dealer tells me it’s normal and was an update. I know this is a lie. It changed its behavior overnight. I don’t know what to do. Warranty means nothing when the company that you buy the warranty from won’t acknowledge the problem. Are you saying you can run full electric and stay there even when it is cold? Mine says cabin cooling or heating, electric not available. Let me know so I can forward to my dealer.
Part of the reason the engine sounded loud was that it was cold. So it idles at like 1250rpm until it warms up like any other gas engine. But after the silence of electric only, it sounds super loud. Also, your MPG was most likely including your drive there on gas.
Ok, I’m so glad to see this video. I’m a long time Jeep guy and I’m interested in the 4Xe the horsepower, torque, capability of the rubicon and the all electric mode are interesting to me. I’m leaning this way for my next wrangler. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these videos. Thanks for making them.
Bought a 4xe Rubicon and we absolutely love it. It has exceeded our expectations and it’s still a true Jeep, I can’t wait till they release the 4xe Gladiator.
Awesome! It sounds like you bought it. I’m glad there’s finally going to be quality 4xe videos! I would recommend the Wrangler 4xe Fans Facebook group for tons of solid 4xe info. I can’t wait to see which direction you’re going to go for this build. I have a white 4xe as well.
I just got my 4xe about 3 weeks ago and yours looks just like mine except I have ACC. One reason it may have turned the engine one was because you bumped the pedal quickly on the drop. It does turn on for various reasons and pedal velocity can do it. If you pop it into manual shift mode accidentally it will turn it on too. My experience with 4lo is it will hold the gear pretty nicely. And 10 miles doesn't sound like a lot to some, but look at how long it took. You wheeled and filmed for about 3 hours 45 minutes. One of the things I am looking at doing is taking just an inverter and hot plate, electric kettle, etc to cook on. There is some really interesting things that can be done with a large battery and a huge generator that also happens to take you to and from the trail.
I have a 2.5" lift and 37's on my 4xe Rubicon and get about 14-16 electric only miles per charge. But I didn't purchase for that, my main purpose to get this vehicle is the torque matches the Hemi and the cost is $20k less. My range in Moab was 8-11 miles per charge depending on how much up/down hill travel was on each trail.
Great video, thanks. Would you ever consider making a video about driving technique to minimize impact to the trail? I ask because there are strong forces working to limit access to trails, and a very common justification presented, is the impact we have on trails.
Brad, so happy you got a 4xe, and finally did a real world range test. I put a 2.5" lift on mine, but it was a struggle to get the rear installed as it's quite a stretch on the e-brake cables. What are your lift plans and I would be really interested in a 3.5" option as I'm planning on going MetalCloak but worry a bit about those cables based on how far mine stretch down at full flex.
Picked up our 4XE Rubicon in Oct. Love it. Works great for us. When the ICE kicks on its loud for the first two minutes or so until it warms up. I keep the E-Save mode in battery save (battery charge mode will use more gas ) and I always run it in hybrid 4HAuto. In hybrid it will not kick on the unless you really ask for the power then will kick on and back off a minute or two later. I'm getting about 31MPG in mixed driving. Check the fuse box. We had to snap in about 40% of our fuses on day 2. Thanks for all the great videos...
@@Blake_Jordan 40% of my fuses were loose from the factory had to open up the fuse box and snap them down. It’s common among the 4XE or at least in the 4XE forums and I’m glad I knew to check.
Hell yes, we just bought a 4xe Wrangler Unlimited Sahara and we LOVE IT. My GF and I are eager to see more videos about your build and customizations you make. One thing that really blew my mind was how much I would LOVE regen braking in a Jeep, it’s an absolute game changer for driving in snowy/icy conditions.
Brad, thanks for the review! I have a Rubicon 4xe and use the Electric mode off road a ton and love it! I just recently did a 200 mile trip (75 of which was off road) and only used around 1/4 tank of fuel total (about 4-5 gallons). I will mention there was a decent amount of downhill. There are a ton of tricks to driving it in order to achieve the most efficiency but once you start learning it becomes second nature. The nice thing about being able to switch modes is that you can save the battery and also recharge it as you are driving. I look forward to see what you do for a lift and tires on the 4xe.
I don't understand why people knock the range of the 4xe. I have one here in Austin, TX and 21-24 miles is more than adequate to get me to the store, kids to school, to work, and back to the 'burbs on a single charge. And, in a modern metro area like Austin, even if I did the long haul downtown, I'd be able to recharge with Austin Energy for $4/mo. I second your observations on ride quality both on and off road. With those two electric motors there are a series of clutches in the drive train. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the off-road+ modes when you try to crawl at 0.5 MPH. I found the hybrid drive to be a little jerky in 4 low. It was easier to control in either gas-only or electric-only -- when those clutches aren't switching up modes. Notice that, when your engine kicks on initially, it's fast idling at 1500 RPM and you can tell the engine is not connected to the drive train (that's why it sounded so loud). On the highway, the clutches will engage seamlessly but, off road, the throttle can feel indecisive. I don't think it'll be the overlanding beast the diesel Rubicon is but it's a great vehicle considering it'll spend 99% of its miles on-road. Hope to see you on the trail sometime!
I've driven my wife's Bolt EV quite a bit lately. I love it and my Gladiator feels like a dinosaur afterward. I think the sweet spot is 50-100 miles of EV range and 250-300 on gas. That seems ideal. Then you can go pretty far on electric, but can still get some good range on long distance trips. Show me I'm wrong!
First time Jeep owner and I went with a 4xe. A couple of new notes to add for the viewers: 1. The 4xe will only work in battery mode from 100% - 95%. This is a safety factor that Jeep put into the vehicle. Once the battery gets to 95%, then the driver can utilize the engine. So if you are going on a trail, put the vehicle in E-Save mode from the get go. The vehicle will respond in electric mode only and then once it gets to 95% battery, the engine will kick on so you can save the battery for the trail. 2. For some reason, the vehicle top level charging percentage is only 99%. It used to say 100%, but now it tops out at 99%. I brought this to Jeeps attention and am just waiting a response. Other than that, thanks for the video. Really enjoy watching all your non-subjective videos.
What people don’t understand is that the benefit of the 4xe exceeds the 21 mile electric range. If you’ve gone 60 miles, you’ve still averaged 27+ mpg between gas and electric which is great for a JLU (and yes, mpg isn’t really an electric measure but Jeep’s algorithm does incorporate a conversion of electric contribution into the mpg on the dash).
Brad, looks like you learned three things about the 4xe. First, you’ll get roughly half the distance per charge (11 miles vs 22-24 miles) when off-roading in your usual manner. Second, the “% charge remaining” display is much like a traditional fuel gauge - once you hit empty (or 1%), you still have a mystery amount remaining. Third, your distance calculator is not taking into account your actual usage, since it kept predicting roughly 2 miles per 10% remaining even though you were getting a fairly consistent 1 mile per 10% of charge used. So it seems your distance remaining is predicated on “if you got back on the highway right now” rather than actual off-road conditions.
I would mostly use it as a large golf cart, taking kids to and from school etc. but it would be a weekend to for me to. If you know anything about having kids in charter school. Pick up and drop of is crazy. I spend more time just sitting and waiting in a long line that hardly ever moves. So and EV like this would be perfect. Not using fuel when stopped and waiting etc. The Van and the Cherokee burn a lot of fuel sitting and waiting with the A/C running. I spend close to 5 to 6 hours a week just waiting to pick the kids up in a line of cars. 15 to 30 minuets in the morning and 30 to 45 minutes in the after noon.
Glad to see the diversity of content on your page. Thank you. I love my diesel Rubicon but I see a day where I own an EV Jeep. But I think it's still too early to adopt for me. When the range is doubled from what it is now I'll be looking very hard at it.
Hi, Brad! My wife bought her Jeep Wrangler 4xe Sahara on late June 2021. We took a trip to Lake Tahoe a couple weeks after buying the SUV and travel to/from about1400-1500 miles, given take going out for a drive around town. But the reason we bought it for taking are kids to and from school between 20-25 miles a day due to living in L.A., CA most accident prone area plus high gas prices. So far only maintenance was oil lube 5k-7k, recalls(backup camera guidlines goes in/out and 4 wheel-drive auto stablizer warning lights), and a black debri found in the tank that sensors giving warning lights. But lasted only for a couple of weeks then cleared out after taking to the dealers oncej, then road trip...! In a year or two, given take when tires wear-out I will probably change out the tires for T/A K02 but thinking either get rid of my 20" rims and go down to 17" with 2.5" lift or 3.5" for a more rugged road trip?
Hey Brad. I bought one last year and had the first one in CO Springs. Loved it and did several honor badge trails. I went 6 weeks without using the gas during the summer. Then everything changed and now it’s telemetry has changed it only starts in ice mode with gas and then let’s me use electric on occasion when it desires. The buttons don’t work, electric is now unavailable. I think there is something wrong but instead of Jeep owning up to it, they say they changed it. Never told me, just changed it with a download. Now I have to fill it up every week and it sucks. I don’t have a choice. Why?, because Jeep realized the battery won’t last or it’s too small for the vehicle. It’s a real shame as I have driven new ones and they don’t drive like mine. Jeep won’t own this. What a shame after spending $70k.
While the miles driven was not exceptional, it was impressive to see you had been on battery (if I saw it correctly) for over 3 hours. As I also sure you are aware of many people are disconnecting the speakers when they are off roading to enjoy even more of the silence.
I owned the Chrysler Pacifica plug in minivan. On short trips I would get about 30 miles of pure electric, however on trips to the cabin I would get a total of 50 miles electric. This means once the engine kicked on it charged my battery enough to give me an extra 20 miles without burning gas. So you’re right to ask that question.
Love re-gen in EV's, you actually add more miles to your range. Hopefully those steep down hills will add a few more miles range. Keep on wheel'in. P.S. Nice conclusion Brad.
The best part about regen isn’t even the extra rage it gives you. It’s the fact that it’s saving your break pads. I’ve owned 5 BMWs and all of them burned through the pads about every 30k miles (they are soft to provide good performance), my current BMW 530e (plug-in hybrid) has over 63,000 miles. The mechanic told me at the rate I’m wearing them down, I shouldn’t need to replace them until about 120,000 miles. That’s another thing, I’ve only needed 2 oil changes. The computer did warn me I’ll need my 3rd oil change soon though (another 600 miles from now).
Hopefully there will be breakthroughs in battery and charging technology at some point. It would be pretty cool to have an all EV with the car paint acting as a huge solar panel, charging as we drive or when the vehicle is parked. I think I’d rather have a 100% EV over a hybrid, but I can see the benefit with a hybrid where if you run out of gas, you may have enough battery to get you back to civilization, or vice versa if you run out of battery juice.
I had a Overland built GX470 with an exhaust, and now I have a Diesel ZR2. In between ownership of these two vehicle I rented a RAV4 Hybrid, threw on my IKamper tent, and went on a trip late on a Friday after work BOY I was shocked at how much I embraced the silence of rolling up to camp late and barely disturbed other people. I felt like a trail ninja. I’m excited for the future of hybrid and eventually electric. We’re not there yet, but give another 5 years for the pinnacle of hybrid and 15 years for the pinnacle of electric vehicles.
Brad, what you’re going to love about regen isn’t so much how much range it puts back to your Jeep. What you’ll love is not needing to replace your break pads as often 🤟. You’ll also start freaking out at not needing as many oil changes.
Nice review. I have 21,500 miles on my 4xe Rubicon. I love it. I’ve found that my off road gas mileage is really good. I went from Green River, Utah through Canyonlands National Park to Hite, Utah and got 15.4 MPG. I’ll be at Easter Jeep Safari and hope to see you there.
@@derek6947 Ahhh…I missed the “off road” part. I should read closer before typing! I blasted through Zion NP & Bryce on Utah 12 after spending the night in St George. I’ve not actually checked my off road mileage. I had been hitting some trails in Death Valley with my brother and was on my way back to Missouri.
I went in a back way to great sand dunes national park in mine. Driving in soft sand in electric mode is awesome. I also went in the Wicks tunnel up in Montana and the crunching rocks sounded great.
This is super exciting, I’d love to see how it goes towing with the 2.0l engine. Our OPUS is roughly 3300lbs loaded the way we load it so we’re close the the max even for our diesel. My wife use the diesel as a daily to take kids to school and back so electric is perfect for that distance but I’m a little concerned for that 2.0 towing. Would be great if you can do a video on that please. I highly doubt Jeep will let me borrow a 4xe to test towing lol.
Hi Brad, Love your videos, very well covered topics and points of interest. When describing the fuel/ battery consumption of this hybrid, and specifically explaining the recharge of batteries time and cost, many overlook that your household electric bill will go up. I understand people are excited about saving gas or diesel but rarely is household electricity cost added to total costs of operation. Maybe you can go into more detail of this difficult itemization in your future videos? Thank you for your service!
THIS! I keep forgetting to mention this in my conversations with friends and coworkers. I'd have to go back and rewatch the video but I think he mentioned eleven kilowatts. That can't be right... I've only used 2,400 kilowatt hours this past billing cycle on my electric bill... How many kilowatts does this thing use? If you add in fuel charge and service costs and all that, I pay around 15 cents per kilowatt hour. So given that, what would this thing cost need to charge fully about seven times per month, assuming I never used the engine to do it? I only have a ten mile round trip to work every day and the grocery is along the way so that's not a separate concern.
Here I am today, in Canada we hit $2.00/L for fuel, about $5.60/gal US. I am now looking at this option with my 5km commute to work. Never thought me going to a phev/electric vehicle would be this quick in my life, but yet here we are.
It looks you were actually in first-gear going through the rock garden (20:30). The dash shows D1... I think. Maybe the electric mode starts in first. If I remember, the 3.6 and 2.0T both start in 2nd for low range.
We just bought our Rubi 4xe last month and love it so far. Ours has 35” tires on it and still get about 26mpg on average per tank with a commute of 70 miles per day to work and a full charge every night. Not too bad for a vehicle that can take you just about anywhere. Can’t wait to see more videos of this 4xe in the future! :)
Brad, I do agree that electric vehicles are here to stay and will replace the combustion engine. It’s one of the reasons I bought a diesel wrangler before it isn’t available.
Nice! I understand that Jeep is already increasing the battery range to sell in Europe. In another 5 years, we are probably looking at new battery technology which will really improve the EV experience. With off-roading, a hybrid holds many advantages over an EV only. Imagine trying to do the Rubicon and running out of battery! How long will it take solar panels to recharge the vehicle? Whereas the hybrid always has the gas mode to fall back on. Regarding ceramic coating, there is ceramic coating and then there is ceramic coating. Anything combined in a wax or spray is not a true ceramic. Yes, the ceramic can resist the scratches more, and often a heat gun or hairdryer can make some scratches in the ceramic go away. When a friend of mine bought a new Jeep, we washed it in Dawn to remove the wax, clay barred it, wiped it with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, and then applied Avalon King's Armor Shield IX ceramic coating. This was recommended by a detailing pro (YT Channel - Pan The Organizer - he shows how to apply the ceramic coat as well). It has held up extremely well for over 2 years now. I know everyone will have their own recommendations, but it's a really nice kit with everything we needed. But, as in most things, it will be your prep work that makes the difference. Looking forward to seeing more of the 4xE.
When I got my JLUR I experimented with ceramic coating and PPF. If I were to do it again I'd get the entire broad side and front grill done in 3M PPF and the hood and roof in ceramic coating. The PPF is more expensive but provided considerably more protection from pin striping. I would go with the 3M version because it is intrinsically hydrophobic making car washing a whole lot easier. In my opinion the hood and roof aren't worth PPF (unless you have excessive disposable income your looking to spend) but is worth ceramic coating because I appreciate the thought of having some extra protection against UV damage and bird droppings, plus the benefits of the hydrophobic coating.
I’d opted for PPF (clear bra as it was called at the time) on my MINI Cooper when purchased new in 2010. 12 years later it was still doing its job as advertised. Sure you could see a little yellowing and minimal delimitation, but I’m sure today’s products have improved vastly. Just sold that MINI, so we’re down to two, perhaps there’s a Jeep in my future.
Thank's Brad, quite good Performance for this heavy PHEV. I think 10 Miles are great in this partly rough Trial. I like the 4e very much, look forward to your next Trip!!
Brad, I love to watch your videos in particular when you say where you are since it gives my wife and I another place to explore (we are new to living in the western states). Sometimes you say the name of the place you are so fast that I can’t catch it. I love it when you provide the coordinates at the bottom of the video so I can check it out on a map. Kudos on the excellent video. Cheers.
Nice review, 10.7 not bad in ideal condition - when it gets cold range will dramatically reduce - plus if you lift and add 35 or 37 + that will have a large impact as well - interesting. Still sold on the diesel - after some mods the limiter is not engaging when hot, but no way to get rid of the DEF at this time without a major MOD, but there is a way, just pricey.
Really enjoyed your video and investigative comments! Thank you for sharing your experience and discoveries on the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe. I'm considering in purchasing a Jeep 4xe, however I'm still conducting more research to justify my purchase. I'd appreciate more of your videos on the topic! Thanks again + stay awesome.
DAMN BRAD! Another Jeep, and an expensive one at that! Lol, great stuff brother, always a pleasure to see you out there leaning forward in the foxhole. Keep it coming, proud of you brother HOOAH!
The max regen hurt your range there actually. It's best used for on road use, but with off road you actually manually control the breaks more, so you end up getting more regen vs letting the jeep "auto" regen when you remove your foot from the accelerator. Additionally you would be able to let it's weight add to the regen when coming down from obstacles. You should try this again with the regen off, might be surprised how much further you get.
I took my 4xe on Wildomar in California and Bulldog Canyon in Arizona in January. The torque from the electric is so instant and I did them both in 4high...many situations my JK needed 4low, I just used 4 high.
I think they are interesting, especially when tax incentives are involved. They would not be useful for me because almost all of my Jeep miles are highway miles getting me to Utah or Colorado. I would like to see people be truthful about things like how long before you have to replace batteries, how much the batteries cost, how long it takes to recharge at the average recharge station on the road, what this costs, etc.
The battery pack has a 8 year 100,000 mile warranty, so does it really matter what the current price of a replacement battery pack really is? That is likely to decrease as battery technology improves. How long to recharge on the road? Why bother, it has a 17.2 gal gas tank, for road trips you just refuel like any ICE vehicle. Electricity costs vary as much as gasoline prices, so it all depends. I pay .12 per kw on my home electricity, costs less than $2 to recharge the 4xe. Takes about 2hrs 20mins to charge from empty to full on a 32amp Level 2.
Love the channel. What is the main fuel source for electricity production in the USA? Life expectancy of the batteries, less than 10 years, cost to replace and are they recyclable?
Great video Brad. As you said I think the range is adequate for running around town or getting back and forth to work without using the engine. I looked at one in a dealer show room and was very surprised by the added height of the rear seats due to the battery placement. I’m 5’11” and my head is above the roll bar. The salesman had now idea there was a difference but he went and looked it up and confirmed my suspicions.
Wow, that sells me off of the 4xe. I'm 6'0" and insist on having room for myself in the back (as a consideration for any passenger I might have, if there's room for me there's probably room for them).
Your message at the end is on point about EVs. People with resistance to hybrid or EVs or any newer tech annoy the shit out of me. Great job on the video.
What people forget about plug in hybrids is even if your commute is longer than 21 miles you can still see a benefit. I had a daily driver that was a plug in with only about 53 miles of range. I owned that vehicle for like 16,000 miles and averaged 150 mpg since a lot of days I would use 0 gas. Some days I would have a long like 110 mile commute and would use like 1 gallon of gas. Or even used it for road trips. So with a 4xE if someone had a 50 mile daily commute they are basically saving 1/2 the gas.
Thanks for the great content! I am new to Jeeps. This might be my next car as I just sold my 2013 ford mustang and I am ready to pick up a new car and a hobby! Your videos are very easy to follow with a lot of insights about the car and 4wheeling! keep up the good work!
Thank you for the range test offroad. I just bought a (striped LOL) Sahara 4xe 2 weeks ago. I can go from home to work, drive to lunch and back to the office then back home without using gas. As you can see from my profile picture, my old 2007 JK is built pretty good. So far for the Sahara I have a front/and rear bumper (arrived) and a specific Mopar 4XE 2in lift on the way. The other things I'm going to do is a rear locker, and real rock sliders. Then is should be ready for most 4x4ing. I'll do everything in my driveway, just like my JK was done.
I'm quite excited about PHEVs. I'm apprehensive about EVs. And this is largely because of lack of charging infrastructure. Right now it seems the pace of EV vehicle development is way ahead of the infrastructure. PHEVs bridge the gap and have their own set of compelling features. The increase in performance and ability to possibly go entirely electric for daily or in-town driving are awesome. And if you're on a long trail or simply in a quite rural area you don't have to worry there's not a charging station nearby.
Hi Brad, I bought my 4XE this past August and I really enjoy driving it! I'm curious if you are planning any upgrades on your 4XE, such as a lift kit or larger tires? I'm curious to see how larger tires will affect gas milage on a 4XE.
Brad, I searched the comments and didn't see anything regarding using manual mode and electric power. So wanted to inform you there is a way. I came across a video of some guys testing the capes of the 4X4 systems on the 4Xe, and they were operating in manual mode under electric power only. They had the Crawl Control button selected and were able to use manual mode in electric mode. My apologizes if this is second hand info now.
I can see rocking this as a second vehicle as a daily if you still wanted that Jeep style to and from errands and work and could mange two Jeep’s. Would love to see my other half drive this she only does 22 miles to and from work or less.
Watched a video. Where you were in the 4XE, then all of a sudden all the bells and lights were going off. We just bought one of these and we were curious what caused all the excitement. Enjoying the content. Thank you
The best thing about the 4xe silent mode is that you can hear the sweet sound of Marco's 392 Hemi just behind you ;) Seriously, thx for showing the 4xe some love. My wife and I went shopping for a Wrangler largely because of this channel. We chose the Sahara 4xe because it was simply a better fit for us. But I will always regret not getting the Rubicon because I do want a more capable off-road vehicle. I mean do i dare tackle Holcomb or John Bull in a Sahara? I'm anxious to see how you will outfit the 4xe for overlanding and what considerations weight will impact those decisions. Will you figure out a way to remove the back seats and cover the battery to protect it. Will you add racks in the rear of the jeep especially considering it is not level because of the battery under the back seat. Keep up the great work. Oh and btw, my wife refuses to go camping unless you we're in your group. Give me a hollar if you want an off-road newbie to tag along. Think of the great video you could make showing the mistakes of us Jeep newbies.
When I off-road I swap between hybrid, electric and eSave to be silent when I want and run the engine when I don’t care. If my battery gets depleted, I run in eSave with the battery charge option to save up enough battery to use for the next place I want to run silent. Love the options the 4xe provides.
That is exactly what I was envisioning. Nice to hear someone doing that in real world.
@David Carrico. I’m getting conflicting information.
When you deplete the batteries in all electric mode, are you able to charge the batteries by driving in gas mode?
@@thelast929 you can. You have to be in e-save mode, and there are two different e-Save settings for it in the hybrid settings, you need to make sure it’s set to ‘charge battery’ and not ‘maintain battery’. For daily driving I have it set to maintain because charge has worse gas mileage, but for off road, I set it to charge.
@@thelast929 Yes, but it's not a consistent process. It doesn't charge constantly like an alternator does to a 12V. From a low battery state, stop and go traffic, I've seen 10-15% recharge in about as many minutes. Meanwhile, I've been on the highway and seen it barely budge a few percent in an hour.
Brad, ceramic won’t prevent scratches, but it will protect the paint from environmental damage and make it easier to keep clean. What you need is PPF paint protection film in the areas that get scratched.
would a vinyl wrap protect the paint underneath? not sure if branches will just tear through it?
PPF or vinyl wraps will not protect against scratches and will just tear, I know from personal experience. PPF is expensive and not really realistic to keep having replaced every time a branch or rock skips across it.
Ceramic sits on top of the clear coat and is measurably harder. So, it can resist some light scratch or act as a sacrificial layer above the clear to an extent. That being said, PPF or vinyl would be much more suitable for trail riding in brush. It's not completely Impervious to scratches but certain PPF are highly resistant and offer self healing abilities.
@@optimusoff-road2770 a good PPF will protect from branches, prevent small rock chips. It’s not going to prevent scratches from boulders or canyon walls. It wouldn’t cost him that much to have someone apply it to affected areas, we’re not talking a full PPF on a Ferrari here.
@@chorn74 sure would!
We bought a 4xe in November and love it! It’s my wife’s daily driver and is basically an electric car for her. It’s nice to not have to worry about charging on a road trip, but have the ability to. We don’t have a level 2 charger yet, but so far haven’t really needed it, it fully charges easily overnight.The hill climbing in this is awesome with all that torque. We’ll be taking it to Moab this spring to hit some trails. Can’t wait to see how it does.
How is the reliability, the 4xe is a good choice, just worried about reliability
I hit 6 trails in Moab, got free charging overnight where I was staying, got 8-11 miles each day on electric. Like Brad I'm not a fan of the automatic switch into Hybrid mode when using manual mode on the transmission, but using max regen removed the need for using hill descent control as well.
@@vibhuiyer6984 The hybrid system has been in the Chrysler Pacifica for over 3 years, so this is not new, it's just new to a Jeep Wrangler, the only problem I had was on the engine, and completely unrelated to the fact that it's a hybrid, but with the 10 year 100k warranty on hybrid system go get one.
@@anthonymarkley2921 Yep... I had to have the battery heater replaced(100% covered). But other than that, I'd had zero issues in my 11k miles.
Brad enjoyed your electric trip very much. I have 8500 miles on my 4xe Rubicon since delivery in May of 2021. Let me mention a few of my findings. My 4xe, Rubicon with factory steel bumpers, loaded out and with a full tank of gas, and no driver or passenger, straight from the dealer, weighted 5360#, split evenly, front to back, 2680# on each axle. Adding a winch, lights, skid plate and Hotzhead headliner, added 300#. I live in Prescott, Az, at 5280’ elevation, with significant elevation change from my house to town. We get 22 miles on an electric charge and I use the Max Recharge all the time. One thing we love is the “one pedal” driving. One thing you will find out is that the 4xe is ALWAYS a Hybrid drive EV. All that changes is the computer profile for gas vs electric use. If you are in electric and step hard on the gas, the engine will come on to help. In e-save it will preferentially use the engine and will actually help to charge the battery. I like to run my engine to get it hot, before I get on a trail, that Will help the engine share the load already warm, and not from a cold start. That might be why the engine sounded funny to you, because it was doing a cold start. Yes, the MPG is bogus. Assume the rubi gets on gas, 20 MPG, you use a couple of electric charges, you will be getting 24 MPG, all it is doing is adding the miles to the numerator and leaving the denominator the same, thus the higher cumulative MPG. Our normal ride to town and back is about 25 miles, if we make several trips on electric, without much use of gasoline,, we have seen as high as 37 MPG….In a Rubicon….imagine that….One caveat, you are using “fuel” in any mode on the 4xe. In electric mode, the generating plant is using solar, wind, gas or coal to generate electricity. You are not using “gasoline” when in electric mode. We have solar panels, our (using round numbers) 15kW full charge is 30 cents. So we spend $0.30/22 miles = 1.4 cents per mile. If you buy electricity at 12.5 cents per kW, then a full charge would be $1.88 for 22 miles, at a cost of 8.5 cents per mile. Using gasoline, at 20 MPG. Assuming $3.80 per gallon, your per mile cost is 19 cents. So yes, electric mode does save you money, particularly if you do a lot of short trips, with a chance to charge in between.
Last thing I’ll mention is my Jeep is White and it has a ceramic coating on it. It helps tremendously in keeping dust, dirt and mud off the exterior. Makes the Jeep look clean longer and is definitely shinier. But, It doesn’t help prevent pin stripping. Sorry…..
We think Jeep hit it out of the ballpark with the 4xe. My wife is now thinking of buying the Grand Cherokee 4xe when it comes out.
Looking forward to more interesting articles from you on the 4xe.
Thanks Vic B this is what I was looking for on gas/ electric cost . I live in hills and travel 45 min to work one way and think this would save me as I have to fill up every week or sooner.
Love the one pedal driving in my wife's Bolt EV. I gotta remember to brake in my Gladiator!
How much extra did you pay for the 4xe compared to the similar trim level all gas engine?
@@tuckerbeach7278 divide the difference between the cost of a 4xe and the cost of a comparable gas Wrangler and then divide that number by your price of gas per gallon. This is approximately how many times you would have to charge it before there is a return on investment.
Another thing to consider is if the 4xe was the exact same purchase price as the comparable gas Wrangler then you would have to charge it at least once every 125 miles to break even since eventhough the 1st 25 miles are free, the next 100 miles are at 20mpg instead of 25mpg becasue of the hundreds of pounds you are carrying in battery weight.
Please advise on manufacturer and alum or steel skid plates. Thanks
I’ve got 4xe 3.5 lift, 37s, Fox suspension - love it. I don’t miss my v6 Rubicon. Great vehicle. Mid chassis battery weight is equivalent to mid engine control. Love it!
Great video! I've had my 4x e since April of last year and taking it through the paces in the mountains of Colorado and on the beaches of Padre Island. So far it's done a lot better than my 2013 Wrangler. Loving the fact that I only fill up once a month if that. And I'm definitely spoiled with the one pedal driving with the max regen on. So far there's nothing it won't do.
I ordered a 4xe, then the 392 became available and I got one of those instead, no regrets 😊
Just ordered one myself. Can’t wait.
@@nickhodgson3873 I'm waiting for the 392 in the gladiator.
Wise choice!
I think I like the diesel better than the 392.
@@TexanUSMC8089 Me too.
The 4xe is a great option for a lot of people. I’d think the majority of people don’t drive more than 20-30 miles a day. Some people will complain about range, but maybe it just means another Jeep is a better fit for them.
I don’t think you need a Wrangler Rubicon to do 20-30 miles daily city commuting and grocery pickup. Unless you live in Russia or Ukraine, but even there it probably makes more sense to get a Lada Niva lol
@@vwlukas many of us buy a Wrangler for weekend fun AND daily needs. Is it that hard to realize that?
@@kayak77 Spot on, the majority of jeep owners never leave paved road and are daily driver. We have two, my wife loves her 2 door Sahara and uses it daily, to and from work. Maybe grocery shopping. She likes the turning radius and how easy it is the parallel park. And it never leaves paved road.
If you're driving that little you won't use much gas, either.
@@bb5242 Well, 30 miles a day is $11,000 miles a year. That’s like 611 gallons of gas assuming 18 mpg. At $4.50 a gallon, that’s $2750 a year. So, not going to break the bank, but not exactly cheap I’d say…
The “Mr. Rodger’s “ of 4wheeling. Super friendly off roading videos. 👍🏻
Great video as always Brad. Ceramic won’t help scratches at all and in fact will make it more of an issue to get out once you get them. I HIGHLY recommend MEK magnet armor to protect your jeep. We have it on our JLUR (they are the only ones I know of that make something that works for the aluminum JLs), it works awesome is very easy to use and the owner is beyond awesome! She really stands behind her products and makes sure her customers are happy!
100% agree on ceramic. You could also consider paint protection film for a stock look, though the armor would obviously be more durable.
Thank you for addressing the real-world use cases for daily driving and fuel savings!! So many want to dump on this vehicle and the EV only range without really thinking it through. I only see it getting better! Great video as always!
Love love LOVE the 4xe - it would be perfect for me because I could basically eliminate fuel for the day to day trips yet I still have the range for my road trips. What a great vehicle and I can't wait to see how jeep improves it in the next generations
Don’t be fooled. I thought that too until Jeep made it so I cannot use electric when the weather is below a certain temp. All summer I used one tank of gas. In the winter, a tank of gas every week. And they won’t tell you.
@@davidgrove5525 I haven't had that experience in near zero degree weather in Colorado. It does affect battery life a little bit, but only a mile or two in my case.
@@jhr2112 John. I am so frustrated. It only starts in ice and my dealer tells me it’s normal and was an update. I know this is a lie. It changed its behavior overnight. I don’t know what to do. Warranty means nothing when the company that you buy the warranty from won’t acknowledge the problem. Are you saying you can run full electric and stay there even when it is cold? Mine says cabin cooling or heating, electric not available. Let me know so I can forward to my dealer.
Part of the reason the engine sounded loud was that it was cold. So it idles at like 1250rpm until it warms up like any other gas engine. But after the silence of electric only, it sounds super loud. Also, your MPG was most likely including your drive there on gas.
Ok, I’m so glad to see this video. I’m a long time Jeep guy and I’m interested in the 4Xe the horsepower, torque, capability of the rubicon and the all electric mode are interesting to me. I’m leaning this way for my next wrangler. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these videos. Thanks for making them.
Bought a 4xe Rubicon and we absolutely love it.
It has exceeded our expectations and it’s still a true Jeep,
I can’t wait till they release the 4xe Gladiator.
Awesome! It sounds like you bought it. I’m glad there’s finally going to be quality 4xe videos! I would recommend the Wrangler 4xe Fans Facebook group for tons of solid 4xe info. I can’t wait to see which direction you’re going to go for this build. I have a white 4xe as well.
Jeep must REALLY love this guy, he's got 10 thousand of them!
Get it to 100 miles and add a 3.0 turbo and I'm in. Good video Doc.
I love the added reviews/direction of/on the channel. Bronco, Ram, 4xE, Diesel, JT... LOVE IT!
Ordered my rubicon 4xe two weeks ago I am so excited. I am glad too see you have one too and will be looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
I just got my 4xe about 3 weeks ago and yours looks just like mine except I have ACC. One reason it may have turned the engine one was because you bumped the pedal quickly on the drop. It does turn on for various reasons and pedal velocity can do it. If you pop it into manual shift mode accidentally it will turn it on too. My experience with 4lo is it will hold the gear pretty nicely. And 10 miles doesn't sound like a lot to some, but look at how long it took. You wheeled and filmed for about 3 hours 45 minutes.
One of the things I am looking at doing is taking just an inverter and hot plate, electric kettle, etc to cook on. There is some really interesting things that can be done with a large battery and a huge generator that also happens to take you to and from the trail.
I'd be curious to see the range once you lift it 2.5 and run 37s. Probably be lucky to get 10 miles on battery power.
I get 22 miles out of mine on 35s
People have been testing it and have been only losing 3-5mpg for the e range at most with lift and 37s
I get around 15 miles with 37” KO2s and Mopar 2”(1”) lift.
How could it possibly get 10 miles on battery with a lift and 37's when he just got 10 miles on his stock 4xe?
I have a 2.5" lift and 37's on my 4xe Rubicon and get about 14-16 electric only miles per charge. But I didn't purchase for that, my main purpose to get this vehicle is the torque matches the Hemi and the cost is $20k less. My range in Moab was 8-11 miles per charge depending on how much up/down hill travel was on each trail.
Great video, thanks. Would you ever consider making a video about driving technique to minimize impact to the trail? I ask because there are strong forces working to limit access to trails, and a very common justification presented, is the impact we have on trails.
Brad! We need a coffee one take trailrecon vehicle fleet update!
I second that
Brad, so happy you got a 4xe, and finally did a real world range test. I put a 2.5" lift on mine, but it was a struggle to get the rear installed as it's quite a stretch on the e-brake cables. What are your lift plans and I would be really interested in a 3.5" option as I'm planning on going MetalCloak but worry a bit about those cables based on how far mine stretch down at full flex.
Picked up our 4XE Rubicon in Oct. Love it. Works great for us. When the ICE kicks on its loud for the first two minutes or so until it warms up. I keep the E-Save mode in battery save (battery charge mode will use more gas ) and I always run it in hybrid 4HAuto. In hybrid it will not kick on the unless you really ask for the power then will kick on and back off a minute or two later. I'm getting about 31MPG in mixed driving. Check the fuse box. We had to snap in about 40% of our fuses on day 2. Thanks for all the great videos...
What do you mean snap in fuses?
@@Blake_Jordan 40% of my fuses were loose from the factory had to open up the fuse box and snap them down. It’s common among the 4XE or at least in the 4XE forums and I’m glad I knew to check.
Hell yes, we just bought a 4xe Wrangler Unlimited Sahara and we LOVE IT. My GF and I are eager to see more videos about your build and customizations you make.
One thing that really blew my mind was how much I would LOVE regen braking in a Jeep, it’s an absolute game changer for driving in snowy/icy conditions.
Brad, thanks for the review! I have a Rubicon 4xe and use the Electric mode off road a ton and love it! I just recently did a 200 mile trip (75 of which was off road) and only used around 1/4 tank of fuel total (about 4-5 gallons). I will mention there was a decent amount of downhill. There are a ton of tricks to driving it in order to achieve the most efficiency but once you start learning it becomes second nature. The nice thing about being able to switch modes is that you can save the battery and also recharge it as you are driving. I look forward to see what you do for a lift and tires on the 4xe.
Thanks for the thoroughness. 10.7 miles but according to your trip counter, you got 3.75 hours of near silent offroading. That's a nice metric!
I don't understand why people knock the range of the 4xe. I have one here in Austin, TX and 21-24 miles is more than adequate to get me to the store, kids to school, to work, and back to the 'burbs on a single charge. And, in a modern metro area like Austin, even if I did the long haul downtown, I'd be able to recharge with Austin Energy for $4/mo. I second your observations on ride quality both on and off road. With those two electric motors there are a series of clutches in the drive train. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the off-road+ modes when you try to crawl at 0.5 MPH. I found the hybrid drive to be a little jerky in 4 low. It was easier to control in either gas-only or electric-only -- when those clutches aren't switching up modes. Notice that, when your engine kicks on initially, it's fast idling at 1500 RPM and you can tell the engine is not connected to the drive train (that's why it sounded so loud). On the highway, the clutches will engage seamlessly but, off road, the throttle can feel indecisive. I don't think it'll be the overlanding beast the diesel Rubicon is but it's a great vehicle considering it'll spend 99% of its miles on-road. Hope to see you on the trail sometime!
I've driven my wife's Bolt EV quite a bit lately. I love it and my Gladiator feels like a dinosaur afterward. I think the sweet spot is 50-100 miles of EV range and 250-300 on gas. That seems ideal. Then you can go pretty far on electric, but can still get some good range on long distance trips. Show me I'm wrong!
First time Jeep owner and I went with a 4xe. A couple of new notes to add for the viewers:
1. The 4xe will only work in battery mode from 100% - 95%. This is a safety factor that Jeep put into the vehicle. Once the battery gets to 95%, then the driver can utilize the engine. So if you are going on a trail, put the vehicle in E-Save mode from the get go. The vehicle will respond in electric mode only and then once it gets to 95% battery, the engine will kick on so you can save the battery for the trail.
2. For some reason, the vehicle top level charging percentage is only 99%. It used to say 100%, but now it tops out at 99%. I brought this to Jeeps attention and am just waiting a response.
Other than that, thanks for the video. Really enjoy watching all your non-subjective videos.
I got mine last May and love it , been off-road a bit with it not one issue has of yet @5500 miles , works for me I only work few miles when home !
What people don’t understand is that the benefit of the 4xe exceeds the 21 mile electric range. If you’ve gone 60 miles, you’ve still averaged 27+ mpg between gas and electric which is great for a JLU (and yes, mpg isn’t really an electric measure but Jeep’s algorithm does incorporate a conversion of electric contribution into the mpg on the dash).
exactly
Brad, looks like you learned three things about the 4xe.
First, you’ll get roughly half the distance per charge (11 miles vs 22-24 miles) when off-roading in your usual manner.
Second, the “% charge remaining” display is much like a traditional fuel gauge - once you hit empty (or 1%), you still have a mystery amount remaining.
Third, your distance calculator is not taking into account your actual usage, since it kept predicting roughly 2 miles per 10% remaining even though you were getting a fairly consistent 1 mile per 10% of charge used. So it seems your distance remaining is predicated on “if you got back on the highway right now” rather than actual off-road conditions.
Yes! Thank you for getting your hands on a 4xe. We love ours and our Power Wagon, such a good combo for our families adventures.
Nice Jeep! That’s the future ! Thanks for the video!
I would mostly use it as a large golf cart, taking kids to and from school etc. but it would be a weekend to for me to. If you know anything about having kids in charter school. Pick up and drop of is crazy. I spend more time just sitting and waiting in a long line that hardly ever moves. So and EV like this would be perfect. Not using fuel when stopped and waiting etc. The Van and the Cherokee burn a lot of fuel sitting and waiting with the A/C running. I spend close to 5 to 6 hours a week just waiting to pick the kids up in a line of cars. 15 to 30 minuets in the morning and 30 to 45 minutes in the after noon.
Glad to see the diversity of content on your page. Thank you. I love my diesel Rubicon but I see a day where I own an EV Jeep. But I think it's still too early to adopt for me. When the range is doubled from what it is now I'll be looking very hard at it.
What holds me back is the cost to replace the lithium cells every so many years. They need to make those last longer as well before I adopt.
Been waiting for this
Hi, Brad! My wife bought her Jeep Wrangler 4xe Sahara on late June 2021. We took a trip to Lake Tahoe a couple weeks after buying the SUV and travel to/from about1400-1500 miles, given take going out for a drive around town. But the reason we bought it for taking are kids to and from school between 20-25 miles a day due to living in L.A., CA most accident prone area plus high gas prices. So far only maintenance was oil lube 5k-7k, recalls(backup camera guidlines goes in/out and 4 wheel-drive auto stablizer warning lights), and a black debri found in the tank that sensors giving warning lights. But lasted only for a couple of weeks then cleared out after taking to the dealers oncej, then road trip...! In a year or two, given take when tires wear-out I will probably change out the tires for T/A K02 but thinking either get rid of my 20" rims and go down to 17" with 2.5" lift or 3.5" for a more rugged road trip?
Hey Brad. I bought one last year and had the first one in CO Springs. Loved it and did several honor badge trails. I went 6 weeks without using the gas during the summer. Then everything changed and now it’s telemetry has changed it only starts in ice mode with gas and then let’s me use electric on occasion when it desires. The buttons don’t work, electric is now unavailable. I think there is something wrong but instead of Jeep owning up to it, they say they changed it. Never told me, just changed it with a download. Now I have to fill it up every week and it sucks. I don’t have a choice. Why?, because Jeep realized the battery won’t last or it’s too small for the vehicle. It’s a real shame as I have driven new ones and they don’t drive like mine. Jeep won’t own this. What a shame after spending $70k.
Thanks for the honest post.
I have the same problem, hoping it’s just because the winter and it’ll kick back on when it’s not as cold (Alaska)
While the miles driven was not exceptional, it was impressive to see you had been on battery (if I saw it correctly) for over 3 hours. As I also sure you are aware of many people are disconnecting the speakers when they are off roading to enjoy even more of the silence.
I would love to have seen the trip home. Did it recharge any? What was your overall MPG for the trip. Thanks for all your hard work on these videos.
I owned the Chrysler Pacifica plug in minivan. On short trips I would get about 30 miles of pure electric, however on trips to the cabin I would get a total of 50 miles electric. This means once the engine kicked on it charged my battery enough to give me an extra 20 miles without burning gas. So you’re right to ask that question.
Love how this man says diesel. Im enjoying your reviews on this Jeep. Thanks.
Love re-gen in EV's, you actually add more miles to your range. Hopefully those steep down hills will add a few more miles range. Keep on wheel'in. P.S. Nice conclusion Brad.
The best part about regen isn’t even the extra rage it gives you. It’s the fact that it’s saving your break pads. I’ve owned 5 BMWs and all of them burned through the pads about every 30k miles (they are soft to provide good performance), my current BMW 530e (plug-in hybrid) has over 63,000 miles. The mechanic told me at the rate I’m wearing them down, I shouldn’t need to replace them until about 120,000 miles. That’s another thing, I’ve only needed 2 oil changes. The computer did warn me I’ll need my 3rd oil change soon though (another 600 miles from now).
Hopefully there will be breakthroughs in battery and charging technology at some point. It would be pretty cool to have an all EV with the car paint acting as a huge solar panel, charging as we drive or when the vehicle is parked. I think I’d rather have a 100% EV over a hybrid, but I can see the benefit with a hybrid where if you run out of gas, you may have enough battery to get you back to civilization, or vice versa if you run out of battery juice.
Love my 4xe! I am one of those people in that short commute category and have been averaging around 800 miles/tank with a few tanks over 1000 miles!
I had a Overland built GX470 with an exhaust, and now I have a Diesel ZR2.
In between ownership of these two vehicle I rented a RAV4 Hybrid, threw on my IKamper tent, and went on a trip late on a Friday after work
BOY I was shocked at how much I embraced the silence of rolling up to camp late and barely disturbed other people. I felt like a trail ninja.
I’m excited for the future of hybrid and eventually electric. We’re not there yet, but give another 5 years for the pinnacle of hybrid and 15 years for the pinnacle of electric vehicles.
Brad, what you’re going to love about regen isn’t so much how much range it puts back to your Jeep. What you’ll love is not needing to replace your break pads as often 🤟. You’ll also start freaking out at not needing as many oil changes.
Nice review. I have 21,500 miles on my 4xe Rubicon. I love it. I’ve found that my off road gas mileage is really good. I went from Green River, Utah through Canyonlands National Park to Hite, Utah and got 15.4 MPG. I’ll be at Easter Jeep Safari and hope to see you there.
Is that a typo? Did you mean 25.4 mpg? I got 15 through there in my ‘17 JKU!
@@KansasSlim64 15.4 MPG is correct. Was that your off road mileage? I was on dirt the entire trip.
@@derek6947 Ahhh…I missed the “off road” part. I should read closer before typing! I blasted through Zion NP & Bryce on Utah 12 after spending the night in St George. I’ve not actually checked my off road mileage. I had been hitting some trails in Death Valley with my brother and was on my way back to Missouri.
Brad, loved the video... The electric is changing my mind. Love your dedication to following rules.( Master Chief) and a steward of nature.
How amazing to be able to offroad in silence without the sound of the motor, just the tires crunching and nature.
I went in a back way to great sand dunes national park in mine. Driving in soft sand in electric mode is awesome. I also went in the Wicks tunnel up in Montana and the crunching rocks sounded great.
Can’t wait to see that tech get better and better a sweet spot for me would be 50 miles range on battery 🔋 on road and 20 off-road give or take.
I’ve had mine for less than 6 months but have put 21k miles on it. With a 2.5” spacer lift and 35s it’s a beast.
This is super exciting, I’d love to see how it goes towing with the 2.0l engine. Our OPUS is roughly 3300lbs loaded the way we load it so we’re close the the max even for our diesel. My wife use the diesel as a daily to take kids to school and back so electric is perfect for that distance but I’m a little concerned for that 2.0 towing. Would be great if you can do a video on that please. I highly doubt Jeep will let me borrow a 4xe to test towing lol.
The 2.0 tows fine , but with all the extra weight on the 4xe I’d bet it will struggle especially at 3300 lbs
Thanks for doing this, Brad! If they had this version when I got my Jeep, I would’ve gone the 4e route for sure. Excited to hear more about it.
Hi Brad,
Love your videos, very well covered topics and points of interest. When describing the fuel/ battery consumption of this hybrid, and specifically explaining the recharge of batteries time and cost, many overlook that your household electric bill will go up. I understand people are excited about saving gas or diesel but rarely is household electricity cost added to total costs of operation. Maybe you can go into more detail of this difficult itemization in your future videos?
Thank you for your service!
THIS! I keep forgetting to mention this in my conversations with friends and coworkers. I'd have to go back and rewatch the video but I think he mentioned eleven kilowatts. That can't be right... I've only used 2,400 kilowatt hours this past billing cycle on my electric bill... How many kilowatts does this thing use?
If you add in fuel charge and service costs and all that, I pay around 15 cents per kilowatt hour. So given that, what would this thing cost need to charge fully about seven times per month, assuming I never used the engine to do it? I only have a ten mile round trip to work every day and the grocery is along the way so that's not a separate concern.
Here I am today, in Canada we hit $2.00/L for fuel, about $5.60/gal US. I am now looking at this option with my 5km commute to work. Never thought me going to a phev/electric vehicle would be this quick in my life, but yet here we are.
It looks you were actually in first-gear going through the rock garden (20:30). The dash shows D1... I think. Maybe the electric mode starts in first. If I remember, the 3.6 and 2.0T both start in 2nd for low range.
How is the electricity made that is put into that battery ? ( Coal )
In 4Lo, use select speed on the 4xe for very precise control over obstacles.
We just bought our Rubi 4xe last month and love it so far. Ours has 35” tires on it and still get about 26mpg on average per tank with a commute of 70 miles per day to work and a full charge every night. Not too bad for a vehicle that can take you just about anywhere. Can’t wait to see more videos of this 4xe in the future! :)
Thank you for watching!
I’m driving 160 miles 3 times a week
Brad, I do agree that electric vehicles are here to stay and will replace the combustion engine. It’s one of the reasons I bought a diesel wrangler before it isn’t available.
Great Video Man! JEEP Wrangler Rubicon 4xe is a Awesome Vehicle! Hoping to see more and more videos about this amazing JEEP. Take Care, Ben.
Thanks! 👍
Nice! I understand that Jeep is already increasing the battery range to sell in Europe. In another 5 years, we are probably looking at new battery technology which will really improve the EV experience. With off-roading, a hybrid holds many advantages over an EV only. Imagine trying to do the Rubicon and running out of battery! How long will it take solar panels to recharge the vehicle? Whereas the hybrid always has the gas mode to fall back on. Regarding ceramic coating, there is ceramic coating and then there is ceramic coating. Anything combined in a wax or spray is not a true ceramic. Yes, the ceramic can resist the scratches more, and often a heat gun or hairdryer can make some scratches in the ceramic go away. When a friend of mine bought a new Jeep, we washed it in Dawn to remove the wax, clay barred it, wiped it with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, and then applied Avalon King's Armor Shield IX ceramic coating. This was recommended by a detailing pro (YT Channel - Pan The Organizer - he shows how to apply the ceramic coat as well). It has held up extremely well for over 2 years now. I know everyone will have their own recommendations, but it's a really nice kit with everything we needed. But, as in most things, it will be your prep work that makes the difference. Looking forward to seeing more of the 4xE.
When I got my JLUR I experimented with ceramic coating and PPF. If I were to do it again I'd get the entire broad side and front grill done in 3M PPF and the hood and roof in ceramic coating. The PPF is more expensive but provided considerably more protection from pin striping. I would go with the 3M version because it is intrinsically hydrophobic making car washing a whole lot easier. In my opinion the hood and roof aren't worth PPF (unless you have excessive disposable income your looking to spend) but is worth ceramic coating because I appreciate the thought of having some extra protection against UV damage and bird droppings, plus the benefits of the hydrophobic coating.
I’d opted for PPF (clear bra as it was called at the time) on my MINI Cooper when purchased new in 2010. 12 years later it was still doing its job as advertised. Sure you could see a little yellowing and minimal delimitation, but I’m sure today’s products have improved vastly. Just sold that MINI, so we’re down to two, perhaps there’s a Jeep in my future.
Thank you for spending half of your time placing cameras here and there. Good production value is appreciated.
Thanks! Filming does not make for a quick day on the trail! LOL!
Thank's Brad, quite good Performance for this heavy PHEV. I think 10 Miles are great in this partly rough Trial. I like the 4e very much, look forward to your next Trip!!
Brad, I love to watch your videos in particular when you say where you are since it gives my wife and I another place to explore (we are new to living in the western states). Sometimes you say the name of the place you are so fast that I can’t catch it. I love it when you provide the coordinates at the bottom of the video so I can check it out on a map. Kudos on the excellent video. Cheers.
Nice review, 10.7 not bad in ideal condition - when it gets cold range will dramatically reduce - plus if you lift and add 35 or 37 + that will have a large impact as well - interesting. Still sold on the diesel - after some mods the limiter is not engaging when hot, but no way to get rid of the DEF at this time without a major MOD, but there is a way, just pricey.
4xe is a very good solution and you gave it the best use case scenario. Hope the batteries could have a good performance for a long time.
Thanks for posting this video. Fun joining you on this ride.
Love your videos brad. Can you please test 4xe with 35s or 37s. I’ve been wondering how far it’ll go with that setup.
Man, that horse can go places. My next vehicle for sure. that video seals the deal.
Really enjoyed your video and investigative comments! Thank you for sharing your experience and discoveries on the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe. I'm considering in purchasing a Jeep 4xe, however I'm still conducting more research to justify my purchase. I'd appreciate more of your videos on the topic! Thanks again + stay awesome.
DAMN BRAD! Another Jeep, and an expensive one at that! Lol, great stuff brother, always a pleasure to see you out there leaning forward in the foxhole. Keep it coming, proud of you brother HOOAH!
The max regen hurt your range there actually. It's best used for on road use, but with off road you actually manually control the breaks more, so you end up getting more regen vs letting the jeep "auto" regen when you remove your foot from the accelerator. Additionally you would be able to let it's weight add to the regen when coming down from obstacles.
You should try this again with the regen off, might be surprised how much further you get.
I took my 4xe on Wildomar in California and Bulldog Canyon in Arizona in January. The torque from the electric is so instant and I did them both in 4high...many situations my JK needed 4low, I just used 4 high.
Your gear tiedowns caught my attention. Stealing that setup forsure
as a new jeep owner I winced hard when you drove over the big boulders the scratched the rock guard and the wheels. hard.
I think they are interesting, especially when tax incentives are involved. They would not be useful for me because almost all of my Jeep miles are highway miles getting me to Utah or Colorado. I would like to see people be truthful about things like how long before you have to replace batteries, how much the batteries cost, how long it takes to recharge at the average recharge station on the road, what this costs, etc.
BRILLIANT questions!
The battery pack has a 8 year 100,000 mile warranty, so does it really matter what the current price of a replacement battery pack really is? That is likely to decrease as battery technology improves. How long to recharge on the road? Why bother, it has a 17.2 gal gas tank, for road trips you just refuel like any ICE vehicle. Electricity costs vary as much as gasoline prices, so it all depends. I pay .12 per kw on my home electricity, costs less than $2 to recharge the 4xe. Takes about 2hrs 20mins to charge from empty to full on a 32amp Level 2.
Brad, It looks like you have the sway bar connected at 17:00. Could have helped to have it disconnected there.
Love the channel. What is the main fuel source for electricity production in the USA? Life expectancy of the batteries, less than 10 years, cost to replace and are they recyclable?
Great video Brad. As you said I think the range is adequate for running around town or getting back and forth to work without using the engine.
I looked at one in a dealer show room and was very surprised by the added height of the rear seats due to the battery placement. I’m 5’11” and my head is above the roll bar.
The salesman had now idea there was a difference but he went and looked it up and confirmed my suspicions.
Wow, that sells me off of the 4xe. I'm 6'0" and insist on having room for myself in the back (as a consideration for any passenger I might have, if there's room for me there's probably room for them).
Your message at the end is on point about EVs. People with resistance to hybrid or EVs or any newer tech annoy the shit out of me. Great job on the video.
I cant wait to see how they hold up overlanding
What people forget about plug in hybrids is even if your commute is longer than 21 miles you can still see a benefit.
I had a daily driver that was a plug in with only about 53 miles of range. I owned that vehicle for like 16,000 miles and averaged 150 mpg since a lot of days I would use 0 gas. Some days I would have a long like 110 mile commute and would use like 1 gallon of gas. Or even used it for road trips.
So with a 4xE if someone had a 50 mile daily commute they are basically saving 1/2 the gas.
There’s a point if you drive a lot further it might not be worth it. But anything around 50 miles or less would be beneficial.
Thanks for the great content! I am new to Jeeps. This might be my next car as I just sold my 2013 ford mustang and I am ready to pick up a new car and a hobby! Your videos are very easy to follow with a lot of insights about the car and 4wheeling! keep up the good work!
Thank you for the range test offroad. I just bought a (striped LOL) Sahara 4xe 2 weeks ago. I can go from home to work, drive to lunch and back to the office then back home without using gas. As you can see from my profile picture, my old 2007 JK is built pretty good. So far for the Sahara I have a front/and rear bumper (arrived) and a specific Mopar 4XE 2in lift on the way. The other things I'm going to do is a rear locker, and real rock sliders. Then is should be ready for most 4x4ing. I'll do everything in my driveway, just like my JK was done.
I’m excited to see the off road range on full hybrid mode. And to see how it is with bigger tires and a lift too!
I'm quite excited about PHEVs. I'm apprehensive about EVs. And this is largely because of lack of charging infrastructure. Right now it seems the pace of EV vehicle development is way ahead of the infrastructure. PHEVs bridge the gap and have their own set of compelling features. The increase in performance and ability to possibly go entirely electric for daily or in-town driving are awesome. And if you're on a long trail or simply in a quite rural area you don't have to worry there's not a charging station nearby.
Hi Brad, I bought my 4XE this past August and I really enjoy driving it! I'm curious if you are planning any upgrades on your 4XE, such as a lift kit or larger tires? I'm curious to see how larger tires will affect gas milage on a 4XE.
Brad, I searched the comments and didn't see anything regarding using manual mode and electric power. So wanted to inform you there is a way. I came across a video of some guys testing the capes of the 4X4 systems on the 4Xe, and they were operating in manual mode under electric power only. They had the Crawl Control button selected and were able to use manual mode in electric mode. My apologizes if this is second hand info now.
Best part of Brad having a 4XE is now he can hear Marco's 392 loud and clear...lol
I bought mine here in Canada, and every day I love it more. ECO-overland its the future...
I can see rocking this as a second vehicle as a daily if you still wanted that Jeep style to and from errands and work and could mange two Jeep’s. Would love to see my other half drive this she only does 22 miles to and from work or less.
Great video. I have been back and forth on what I think of this vehicle but I will say this I would pick this over all electric any day.
Curious how the weight of the batteries impacts handling in steep climbs, etc.
Very cool vehicle; one of the few that I have found tempting.
I’ve gone up some granite slopes at about 33 degrees without any problems in mine.
I've had mine up about a 40° incline without any problem.
Watched a video. Where you were in the 4XE, then all of a sudden all the bells and lights were going off. We just bought one of these and we were curious what caused all the excitement. Enjoying the content. Thank you
Congrats on the new Jeep. I did have some abs warning lights that were acting up, but resolved itself after 24 hours.
The best thing about the 4xe silent mode is that you can hear the sweet sound of Marco's 392 Hemi just behind you ;) Seriously, thx for showing the 4xe some love. My wife and I went shopping for a Wrangler largely because of this channel. We chose the Sahara 4xe because it was simply a better fit for us. But I will always regret not getting the Rubicon because I do want a more capable off-road vehicle. I mean do i dare tackle Holcomb or John Bull in a Sahara? I'm anxious to see how you will outfit the 4xe for overlanding and what considerations weight will impact those decisions. Will you figure out a way to remove the back seats and cover the battery to protect it. Will you add racks in the rear of the jeep especially considering it is not level because of the battery under the back seat. Keep up the great work. Oh and btw, my wife refuses to go camping unless you we're in your group. Give me a hollar if you want an off-road newbie to tag along. Think of the great video you could make showing the mistakes of us Jeep newbies.