2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4xe PHEV: Road Trip Realness

When you find out you need to do a 6-hour round-trip drive with two tweenage boys to attend a judo competition, you want to make sure you have a vehicle that’s comfortable, efficient and has enough room to keep everyone happy and fit all necessary items.

Enter the 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4xe.

True, this particular trim is one of the more expensive of the Grand Cherokee lineup, starting at just over $80k, but with everything it offers in terms of amenities and performance, if you’ve got the pennies I say it’s well worth trading them in for one.

Grand Cherokee Goodness  

Let’s start with the exterior look of this midsize Jeep. While not the largest by far – park it next to the Wagoneer and it’ll look like a crossover, trust me – it definitely has a large presence on the road. Featuring that oh-so-iconic linear Jeep front grille, the Overland is sophisticated and classy in its exterior design. There’s nothing futuristic of “boat rocking” about the aesthetic of the Grand Cherokee – and that’s perfect. There’s something comforting about an age-old design that won’t get tiresome as it ages.

The only real difference between the 4xe and non-4xe in terms of exterior look is, obviously, the extra port door for the charge cable and the subtle, yet stylish, bright blue accents in the tow cables and in the 4xe badging. It’s a small touch, but I appreciate the effort Jeep took to set their 4xe models apart from the regular gas-powered only versions.

Inside, the sophisticated, classy aesthetic continues. Sure, everything is big and kind of boxy, but it works. And my God are those seats comfortable. After spending many hours in them, I have to say I may put the Cherokee seats at the top of my “most comfortable on the market today” list. It also helps that they were heated and offered up various massage settings too – great for staying awake and keeping muscle soreness at bay!

The centre stack is beautifully designed and well appointed. All buttons are where you expect and the onboard infotainment is a breeze to use and navigate. There is a practical charge pad, as well as plenty of USB ports for all passengers and driver to charge and connect. There is even the option to connect two phones to the front system via CarPlay or Android Auto. How? Well, the passenger has their own infotainment screen that appears just above the glovebox. Don’t worry though, it’s not visible to the driver so no worries about distracted driving if the front-seat passenger decides to connect an Amazon FireStick or another HDMI-capable entertainment port.

Speaking of which: the tweens in the backseat …

Road Trip Ready – Sort Of

While it was only a 3-day journey, with a two-night stay in Quebec City, it still required some serious packing skills and setting up the boys in the backseat to “endure” the 3-hour drive there, and back.

Immediately, the boys were ecstatic about having a screen each to themselves. This was met with immediate disappointment upon discovering there was no onboard hotspot and so the available NetFlix/Disney buttons on their remotes were useless. I did attempt to hotspot to my phone for a little bit in an attempt to let them login to Disney and watch downloaded movies, but within 5 mines my phone pinged that I had reach over 50% of data usage for the month (which is a total of 18G and had JUST renewed), and so was promptly disconnected.

Had I brought one of our Amazon FireSticks, the same thing would have ensued. And even my son’s Nintendo Switch base, which he technically could have plugged in as well, would have been rendered useless without wifi of some sort.

So, the screens stayed off and blank – which seems a shame. I didn’t explore it further, and perhaps the option is there, but you should have the ability to connect the car to a nearby wifi (thinking McDondald’s or a Starbuck) from the parking lot to properly connect to your streaming service and access previously downloaded content.

Besides that, the boys had plenty of space in the second row. Despite having to place a cooler there and a few small bags. The trunk is actually much smaller than you’d think, with just over 1,070 litres available. That sounds like a huge amount, but it somehow got eaten up very quickly by overnight bags, judo equipment and snacks for the weekend.

4xe Efficiency

Highway driving tends to be the most efficient type of driving for all cars, however, when you have a car that weighs nearly 5,000 lbs on its own and is fully loaded with gear and kids, that efficiency quickly dwindles.

However, such was not the case with the Grand Cherokee 4xe.

I did not spend much time in full-EV mode, although had I charged it more than the one time I did while having dinner in Quebec City, I would have had access to between 30-40km of full battery power after each full charge. Otherwise, there is a 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder under the hood that produces 270 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. More than enough for the Grand Cherokee to feel capable and steady. It’s not about being fast in a vehicle this size and stature.

The Grand Cherokee did super well in terms of fuel efficiency with an average of just over 11L/100km after the full weekend of driving. I often felt it flip from gas to battery while cruising, and it would regenerate power on its own.

My only gripe was the jerky cold starts. The Jeep had a hard time getting going each morning. Trust me, I know how it feels on a cold winter morning to get into gear, but I really felt it in the Grand Cherokee. Gears would stick, it would jerk violently when it would finally shift, and the engine noise was excessive until it had properly warmed up.

Suspension is wonderful, and while most Grand Cherokee Overlands will never see proper mud or rocks to climb, this Jeep has all the ability to do so when asked!

Weekend Warrior

Overall, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4xe comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect for the price it carries. Sure, it’s a lot of money, but it’s also a lot of vehicle. From nose to tail, the Grand Cherokee delivers on what it promises, and it does it well. The added bonus of an available EV drive also means that if you travel short distances throughout the day and have a charger at home, you’ll spend much less time and money at the pumps than your neighbour with the full-gas version (and all the same amenities).

~ by drivingmsmiranda on February 21, 2024.