2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe: One part smooth, one part rough

2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve 4xe: Logs, leather, and ‘lectricity.

Price: $78,605 as tested. Advanced Protech Group IV added head-up display and night vision for $2,235; Luxury Tech Group V added $275. More noted below.

Conventional wisdom: Edmunds likes that it has “electric driving for short distances” yet “retains the off-roading capability of the standard Grand Cherokee, tows up to 6,000 pounds when properly equipped, PHEV power train does not reduce passenger or cargo space,” but not the “eye-popping price tag, barely more fuel-efficient than the standard model.”

Marketer’s pitch: “The legend, designed for the future.”

Reality: Mostly calm and cool, with occasional outbursts.

Competition: BMW X5 Drive45e, Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid.

What’s new: Jeep is carving a new trail with the Grand Cherokee 4xe, bringing a plug-in hybrid to the off-road-ready SUV. The Wrangler 4xe was a nice ride; how does this measure up?

Up to speed: The engine is a 2.0-liter turbo four, coupled with dual motors and 17.3-kwh battery offering 25 miles of range. Together the system creates 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. The vehicle gets to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, according to Motor Trend, a respectable number.

After having the vehicle for a couple of days, I was ready to report that the power train was smooth and quiet and felt like a V-8. But the next time I got in it, the vehicle made as much noise as an old Reliant pulling out from a standing start, as if it took bunches of effort just to get going. And during that drive, the quiet, smooth engine kept making 2.0-liter turbo-worthy noise.

Its power delivery didn’t ring any bells for Mr. Driver’s Seat, so it was nothing special over hills and passing.

» READ MORE: Jeep really blows the doors off with Wrangler 4xe

Shifty: As in all Jeeps and the whole Stellantis line, PRND happens with a dial. I’m getting used to it.

The eight-speed transmission had shiftability through paddles, and they seemed on the small side for a vehicle otherwise playing the role of a big honking truck.

Somewhere in the drivetrain lurked a balkiness when pulling out cold and sometimes when downshifting and slowing into corners. It even felt as if the truck were in four-wheel-drive mode as I was turning it around in the driveway and cornering, but it was not.

On the road — and off: The Grand Cherokee felt so big and wide that it could be hard to maneuver on narrow country roads. I never thought that I had a strong sense of where my vehicle ended and the shoulder began, probably something to do with the window line and relative seat height.

Highway and country road handling were mostly straightforward, fortunately.

The big tires of the Grand Cherokee tested ought to have been enough to make a large dirt road rut seem like nothing, but it sure felt like something. The curb entrance to the Sturgis family driveway also seemed more enhanced than it had in other vehicles.

Driver’s Seat: Since the 1980s versions of the Grand Wagoneer, Jeep has been skilled at making its luxury vehicle owners feel as if they’re in the saddle. The Palermo leather (part of the $4,480 Summit Reserve Group) in today’s model again offers just that certain version of tan most often seen on the range or a Chester County horse farm.

Plenty of wood surrounds the driver; there’s enough log in here to make Mr. Driver’s Seat feel as if he’s in a cabin. It’s a lot.

But it’s comfortable and has a great view, and the controls are pretty straightforward, as they are in most Jeeps.

Friends and stuff: Rear-seat passengers will not lack for space. Headroom, legroom, and foot room are all generous, although the center passenger will have some hump in the way.

The seat itself, though, is very flat and straight, without any of the plushness and contours that make the front seats so nice. The back angle does adjust, though, which at least makes it acceptable, and the rear seat was heated and ventilated (part of Summit Reserve Group).

Cargo space is a generous 37.7 cubic feet behind the second row and 70.8 behind the first.

Play some tunes: The 10.1-inch touchscreen is nice enough, but it could be balky, as well. I kept hitting different functions two and three times. The screen also seemed to reset frequently, a quirk I’ve noticed in other Jeeps.

The volume and tuning dials sit underneath the screen and face into the cupholders, making operation a little challenging.

Further, the row of buttons across the top of the screen — for non-infotainment functions — faced up to the windshield and were just as hard to read as the dials. The configuration also leaves out any resting place for your touchscreen hand.

Sound from the McIntosh system (another Summit Reserve Group feature) was not bad, about a B+, despite the 19 speakers working their hardest and the boost from a 950-watt amplifier.

Keeping warm and cool: The cooling and heating controls are nested in between the volume and tuning knobs, but it’s standard Jeep, so most buyers are probably accustomed to it. Buttons also heat and cool the seat, although the touchscreen offers the most choices here, as well.

Fuel economy: I averaged about 26-27 mpg, depending on how much Sport mode I used, with the vehicle plugged in a lot and kept within about 15 miles from home. This is a vast improvement over the 18 mpg I recorded in the Grand Cherokee L V-6.

Where it’s built: Detroit

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Grand Cherokee reliability to be a 2 out of 5, with no separate category for the 4xe model.

In the end: Because the Jeep is priced like a BMW X5 xDrive45e anyway, I’d probably go for the BMW.