Jeep Is Still Serious About Clean Off-Roading

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Things were pretty different in 2021, not only for Jeep and Stellantis, but across the whole automotive industry. Nearly everyone had ambitious plans for future EVs, including Jeep’s announcement at EV Day promising an all-electric vehicle in every segment (including the legendary Wrangler) by 2025. The sky was the limit for EVs.

Sadly, things didn’t go according to plan for anybody. EV sales didn’t grow as quickly as predicted, and mainstream media made it sound like EV sales were falling when they were actually still growing. It became apparent that EV charging infrastructure was in shambles, leading the industry to adopt Tesla’s charging port. Geopolitical concerns led to problems with battery supplies. Then, on top of all that, automakers begged for and received a reduction in fuel efficiency standards that would have led to more EVs, with the Biden Administration allowing for more PHEVs to satisfy requirements.

Today’s environment doesn’t look very hopeful. Now, with the Trump administration, EV plans for nearly every automaker are in disarray. You’d think with all of these obstacles and removed incentives that automakers would be focusing on other things, especially off-road brands like Jeep.

But, as I learned at a recent Jeep event in Moab, you’d be wrong.

Wrangler 4xe PHEVs Are Still A Big Focus

While on the Wipeout Hill trail, overlooking the famous Monitor and Merrimack rock formations, I saw firsthand what Jeep is feeding the media these days. And no, I’m not talking about the overly fancy wraps the catering company cooked at the trailhead. I’m talking about what Jeep wants the public to be aware of, which in turn gives you an idea of what the company thinks people will actually be interested in buying.

Out of the concept vehicles we were allowed to check out and drive on Wipeout, almost half were plugin hybrids and it was clear that Jeep isn’t embarrassed of the 4xe offerings in the crumbling Trump era.

The first vehicle we took out was the Sunchaser concept. It had a really neat yellow color scheme and a number of very nice accessories for camping and roadside vehicle repair (something that happens if you go wheel hard enough). The vehicle had extra storage boxes, a cargo rack up top, and an adjustable light bar that could turn to shine in any direction to serve most any lighting need. Perhaps most importantly, this light bar is available in a version designed to fit the Jeep 4xe (the charge port would get in the way of attaching the normal Wrangler version).

It’s also worth noting that I was able to drive all three 4xe Jeeps in all-electric mode on all of my trail rides. This shows us that Jeep actually went through the trouble of charging these Jeeps up before the media event and didn’t just assume that everyone was going to drive them in hybrid mode.

The next vehicle we checked out was the Blueprint concept. Jeep takes this vehicle out to events and trade shows to serve as a rolling catalog of upgrades and performance parts Jeep owners can pick up. Every accessory attached to the Jeep has a short description and a QR code next to it that people can use to check out the part and hopefully purchase one. Even the wheels are different on one side compared to the other so that people can shop wheels.

One very interesting feature I did a doubletake on was the vehicle’s snorkel. I forgot for a moment that the Jeep wasn’t fully electric and wondered “Why put a snorkel on an EV?” But, after I remembered it was a plugin hybrid, I thought about how interesting it is that the vehicle has a charge port on one side and a snorkel on the other. It’s a true omnivore.

The last vehicle we checked out was the Bug Out 4xe concept. It started life as a four-door Wrangler 4xe, but Jeep extended the body back to make it more like a two-door truck. The idea with this concept was to show that the Wrangler platform could be useful for the flexible needs of overlanders.

One big key to this concept was to call the Jeep’s battery an “aux port” of sorts, able to serve as a power station and generator for people camping off-grid. It had an off-road electric scooter mounted in the back (something I didn’t have time to ask about riding).

The Environmental Focus Is Still There

While I’d love to see some all-electric Wrangler models at next year’s Easter Jeep Safari (it’ll be the 60th anniversary of the first one), we have to keep something in mind: If the company had given up on electrification and the Jeep buyer base wasn’t interested in electric (I saw a TON of 4xe Wranglers around Moab), we wouldn’t have seen any of these concepts.

Building a concept vehicle on a 4xe platform is one thing, but it’s another thing that Jeep still seems proud of the electric power. They not only charged the vehicles up before media got to use them, but they also added little touches proving that the company is excited to share the benefits.

And yes, the benefits are very real. EV purists like to mock the vehicle’s 20ish mile EV range as useless, but that’s not at all what I found in my testing. With Level 2 charging in my driveway, I had no problem running nearly all of my local errands under electric power when Jeep lent me one for a week.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Jeep gave us all an environmental briefing before media got to start on the trail rides. A representative from the Moab BLM office (the Bureau of Land Management controls most of the land nearby) explained why we need to stay on trails, avoid busting up cryptobiotic crust, and to not get too close to cliff faces with any drones to avoid disturbing nesting birds.

Again, while I’d love to see some EV Wranglers in Moab, the dream isn’t dead by a long shot. Jeep is still chugging along the path to electric, even if more slowly than we’d all hoped.

All images by Jennifer Sensiba.