This week on EV Rider we’ve got a long-term road test of the 2021 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4xe, which is Jeep’s first plug-in hybrid here in the U.S. The Jeep we’re profiling has more than 21,000 miles on it.
Unfortunately owner Jake Fuchs is currently dealing with a fairly serious recall situation due to the possibility of a battery fire being triggered while charging. “As far as I know, there’s been 9 instances of battery fires,” said Fuchs.
Jeep’s parent company Stellantis confirmed in November that it had documented eight vehicle fires. All the fires occurred when the Jeeps were parked and turned off, with six out of eight connected to chargers, according to Stellantis.
The recall affects 32,125 Wrangler 4xe PHEVs. Owners can check for updates on the recall by plugging their VIN number into this mopar.com webpage.
At the time of this post’s publishing Fuchs had not received a fix from Jeep yet. “They’re supposed to be issuing a software flash that you take it to the dealer for. They run the software flash on it and if it throws a specific error error code then they have to replace the the battery pack.”
In the meantime Jake is charging his 4xe outside, away from his house as a precaution. Jeep is advising owners not to charge the impacted vehicles at off and park them away from structures.
Despite the bad news about the recall he’s been generally happy with his 4xe, saying he choose it because he wanted an off-road capable convertible.
Other vehicles he mentioned in the category included the Hummer SUV EV and Ford Bronco. Fuchs decided against the Hummer because of its large size and cost. He wanted the feel of an EV, which ruled out the Bronco since it isn’t offered as an EV or PHEV.
Fuch’s Wrangler has the Sky One-Touch Power Top option, which will run you just under $4,000 on the 2024 model. A 2024 Rubicon X 4xe can be optioned to top $76,000.
Fuch’s 2021 has an EPA rated electric-only range of 21 miles per charge. That EV-only range estimate hasn’t changed with the 2024. Fuch says hes seeing roughly 20 miles of EV-only range per charge.
The 4xe uses a standard Wrangler’s 2.0-liter turbo I-4 turbo engine coupled with an eight-speed automatic transmission. It has two electric motors and a 17.3-kWh battery under its rear seat. That’s good for 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque.
Jeep claims a 0-60 time of just under seven seconds for its Wrangler 4xe. The 2024 Jeeps got a bit of a refresh and now come with a 12.3 inch infotainment display.
With that brief overview as a setup be sure to watch this week’s episode at the top of this post for the full long-term review of Fuch’s 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited. If you enjoy the video please give it a like and subscribe to the EV Rider YouTube channel.