Fancy a plug-in hybrid Jeep Gladiator? You’ll have to wait a while longer.
Jeep’s ute reportedly isn’t getting the brand’s new 4xe plug-in hybrid powertrain until a mid-life update for the 2024 model year.
Mopar Insiders reports the current-generation Wrangler SUV is due for an update in the 2023 model year, with the Gladiator following a year later.
It’s not clear what changes will be made for this update apart from the addition of the 4xe powertrain for the Gladiator.
Gladiator Rubicon
While Jeep has yet to confirm the Wrangler 4xe for Australia, Jeep’s global boss Christian Meunier says he wants to bring more electrified vehicles here.
“I am going to push for electrification as a leader and not a follower,” said Mr Meunier earlier this year.
“We’re not going to be after the others, we’re going to be first, and we’re going to do everything we can in all the [APAC] region.”
Mr Meunier says markets like Australia, Japan, and Korea “are going to become very quickly electrified”.
Wrangler Rubicon 4xe
An undisclosed source from Stellantis told Mopar Insiders the Gladiator 4xe will be powered by the same plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain that’s currently used in the Wrangler 4xe.
This 4xe powertrain mates a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors and a 17kWh battery pack mounted beneath the second-row seat.
Jeep claims a total system output of 280kW of power and 637Nm of torque and an electric-only range of 40km.
The first electrified Jeep in Australia will be the Grand Cherokee 4xe PHEV in the second half of 2022.
Like the Wrangler 4xe, the Grand Cherokee 4xe uses a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and has a total system output of 280kW and 637Nm.
At Stellantis’ EV Day presentation in July 2021, Mr Meuiner announced each of the brand’s vehicles will offer an electrified 4xe variant.
Grand Cherokee 4xe
The automaker already offers the Renegade and Compass 4xe models in Europe and Grand Commander-e in China.
Not-for-Australia Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs are set to don 4xe badges as well.
By 2025, Jeep plans for 70 per cent of all its sales to be electrified vehicles, ranging from mild-hybrid to all-electric.
The automaker also used EV Day to preview features it may offer in the future, like vehicle-to-vehicle charging, drone pairing and biometric recognition, as well as something decidedly simpler: front seats that fold flat to form a bed.
It also suggested it could roll out autonomous off-road driving capabilities by 2030, as well as a function that could allow you to send your Jeep off while you tracked it remotely.
The Jeep Gladiator 4xe PHEV will have tough competition if it ever makes it to Australia as Ford is working on an electrified version of its all-new Ranger.
A Ford Europe spokesperson previously confirmed the Blue Oval’s commercial vehicle range, including the Ranger ute, will be “zero-emission capable” by 2024.
We understand Ford is considering a PHEV option above a regular hybrid to capitalise on a vision of true zero local emission motoring.
This is likely to go above and beyond what Toyota will offer with its HiLux ute, which is expected to be a closed-circuit hybrid.
