2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe long term rental

[SubieRubyRoo]

What Jeep is 34k? The 4x2 base starts at like 36 and would be very hard to find one if they even make it. The 4xe starts over 60

$34,695 is the price for the base 4x2 GC, checked it just before I posted this.

 

[meep]

No clue. This was the first PHEV I’ve rented.

@Torrid is right. The eTorque system is mild but also wonderfully integrated. It’s good for 2-3mpg but also executes a good stop/start system and aids in transmission tuning. I’d be happy to have it.

 

[OVERKILL]

Is it just me or are the new GC's HUGE?

Yeah, owning a WKII, they are LOT bigger!

 

[Brons2]

I’ve said before there are some ways PHEV/EVs make sense for people. Even I acknowledge people who live in the city and close to work can probably find some upsides with EV use, especially if their employers have free chargers.

However, the 4xe is essentially an additional $1000 per mile of electric range. It doesn’t charge the battery very quickly even when in E-save and max regenerative braking, which handicaps the hybrid and battery modes.

At the base model, $34k, you “may” be able to get over the clatter of the engine. But at $70k like this one, you’re up against the very best large SUVs in the market, and a jackhammer 4-cylinder just doesn’t cut it.

See, @Torrid? I gave the Jeep EV a fair shot. Still can’t justify the cost or shortcomings over a plain ol’ gas engine. This is a perfect example where the Hemi with MDS, or even a hopped-up 3.6 would be a much better premium option.

At $70K you can almost get into a Rivian SUV thingy, which would be no engine noise whatsoever.

 

[chris719]

So I rent about 90-120 days a year for work in any given year, and typically I either get German sedans (Audi, BMW) or large American SUVs (Expedition, Suburban, Grand Wagoneer, Explorer) depending on how far I’m traveling and what gear I have to take with me. Well, last week I got to the lot a little late so it was pretty well picked clean. They had a bunch of Nissan Rogues and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

Well, they did not mention all the Jeeps were 4xe models. Right off the bat, the battery showed less than 1% charge. Awesome, no EV or hybrid modes for me at least to start the trip. I don’t think there’s anything that needs to be said about the GC itself; it’s pretty well-known it’s a nice, well-appointed vehicle. This one had heated leather, the big moonroof, and the Alpine stereo (thankfully!) and the big infotainment screen. So that part of the rental was nice. Playing around on Jeep’s website, this is a ~$71k vehicle, for reference.

So, back to that >1% battery and the powertrain. As people likely know, I’m not a huge EV fan, since I have almost no “city” driving nor time to charge EVs when I’m on the road. The Jeep has a “hybrid”, “electric”, and teaser “e-save” mode that on-screen promises to save battery (but it LIES!). So, I thumb the E-save button and hit the road in sport mode, which is the only way to mostly disable the EV side, and also hit the button to enable max regenerative braking. After nearly 700 miles of city, local roads, and interstate, the battery had charged to 80%.

I decided to give the EV side a shot. With 81% battery, I drove gingerly, never exceeding 50% battery effort, for a 22 mile round trip, with the cruise set to 55. Upon arriving, the battery had fallen to just 7% remaining. So if I had this as only an EV, I could only make one trip to town and back on a full charge. Unreal IMO, to take the base price of a GC from $36,495 to $60,490.

On the engine side, the driving experience was fine power wise, about what you’d expect, but it certainly doesn’t accelerate like 375HP… even my F150 on the stock tune will smoke this thing. The issue was, the engine was NOISY, and sounded like a platoon of boot-making elves with hammers after ripping a few lines of blow. I have a video I may attach. If you’re even considering this vehicle, make sure you listen to it before purchase. It’s that bad.

In the end, it averaged 23.2mpg over 1650 miles that ranged mostly from 50-75mph. Not exactly going to save you any money if you thought a 4cyl PHEV is a fuel saver… the Grand Cherokee itself is a really nice vehicle. The powertrain IMO is an absolute disgrace, considering I’m currently sitting in a ‘24 Expedition Limited that has the same MSRP and is better appointed, and is getting 21.6mpg over similar driving, plus it can tow nearly 10k.

I’ll give the GC 3 out of 5 stars; the full 2 missing stars are because of the engine and silly PHEV choices Jeep made. They didn’t commit to either; and therefore, both choices suffer mightily.

This car sucks. I had one as a rental. Can’t believe how disappointed someone who bought one new would be.

 

[kam327]

I put 1,500 miles on one of these last week while vacationing in Grand Teton Nat'l Park. I liked it. Not enough to pay >$60k new, but looks like off-leases are going for the mid-$30's which seems more reasonable. I would be nervous about the reliability and would get an extended warranty.

If you live in a hilly / mountain area, it does a good job charging the battery using downhill momentum. You have the option of turning it on to be very aggressive. We went up and down the mountain pass every day to get to/from our cabin in Idaho. On the way up it would average maybe 10 mpg, but by the time we got down the other side the battery was up to almost 25% charge allowing us to run on battery only for about 5 miles in Jackson Hole. By the end of 5 days doing this I was averaging 27.5 mpg without ever plugging it in (well almost never, I plugged it in a couple of times for fun but never added more than 10% to the charge level).

Then after driving back to Salt Lake City and out to the salt flats at 87 mph (Idaho and Utah freeway speed limits are 80), economy dropped to around 23mpg.

One downside I noticed is while in electric mode it rolls backward excessively after coming to a stop on an incline, between releasing the brake and pressing on the accelerator. Like a manual transmission car.

Another downside is, while the 2.0t was pretty quiet overall (and the two cars I own are both turbo 4's), it would get "sewing machine"-y in certain situations. Overall it was hard to tell when the engine started to provide additional thrust, but in certain situations it was obvious.

For those comparing the price to a base GC, note that the 4xe comes standard with niceties like a panoramic sunroof and leather.

I saw probably over 20 of these while on vacation in Jackson Hole area. So these seem to be pretty popular with the rental fleets. I chose one of two identical ones at the rental car garage at pickup.