Grand Cherokee Trailhawk going hybid only for 2023

[Docwagon1776]

The Grand Cherokee "Trailhawk" trim level will now only be 4XE. I honestly don't get it. The Trailhawk is the off road version. I get, sort of, in on-road oriented trims. The Grand Cherokee is a reasonably popular soccer mom mobile and 25 miles of all electric range and the social justice cred of a hybrid to blather about over mimosas is probably a draw...but in your dedicated off roader? I had sort of considered a Trailhawk with a hemi, but ultimately I needed/wanted a truck so it doesn't actually affect me. I still find it a bit disappointing, though. Can't you at least shove the Hurricane in there? Or the Gladiator? A Hurricane equipped Gladiator Mojave would be a very compelling truck in my mind.

 

[Fatbob Frank]

My wife currently drives a 2018 GC Trailhawk
In March she ordered a new Grand Cherokee 4XE (still waiting for it BTW)
She was interested in the mileage, while I was more impressed by the HP and Torque numbers which equal the 5.7 and 6.4 Hemis respectively.
But I had to talk her out of another Trailhawk cause frankly all the extra offroad goodies on the Trailhawk she owns now are completely unused and therefore not worth the extra $10-12k...
But the people who are doing offroad testing are calling the 4XE the most capable Trailhawk yet.
Still, not sure how the anti-hybrid crowd will respond, but according to Motor Trend the Wrangler is still the biggest selling Jeep model and the new 4XE version of the Wrangler is outselling the standard versions.
And nobody argues the Wranglers offroad chops...

 

[Docwagon1776]

...and equally nobody argues that only a hand full of people, as your wife demonstrates, actually takes any of the Jeeps off road. Once the battery is drained you've got roughly the power of the 3.6L but a much heavier vehicle. If you're actually off roading any length of time, the battery isn't going to last the trip and you aren't going to be getting much from regenerative braking, so you'll have the drag of recharging on the motor as well.

I'm sure many folks will find it just peachy, but the Trailhawk should have kept the V8 option for those who don't want reduced power after a few hours on the trail and who don't want to pay the hybrid premium on top of the Trailhawk premium.