Jeep Just Gave Us A Sneak Peek at the Gladiator 4xe Hybrid!
This will be the first plug-in hybrid pick up offered by Jeep. The electric powertrain will provide a 26% increase in power and 47% more torque.
Yes folks, the time is coming! Finally, we are going to see new power train options for the Gladiator pick up. Even though there are 11 different Gladiator models available for sale during the 2021 model year, all of them share the same lackluster 3.6L V6 Pentastar engine with no alternative option.
Sure, not everybody can throw a 1,000 HP supercharged V8 into their Gladiator to solve this issue. However, we can guarantee that engine doesn’t get 50 MPGe. What will? The new Gladiator 4xe- the first plug-in hybrid Gladiator ever.
The revealing photo – do you see it?
This news comes thanks to some very attentive folks on Jeep Gladiator Forum. Some peculiar details about a photo posted on the official Jeep Facebook page were discovered.
Seen in the posted photo is the interior of a Jeep (which at first may seem nondescript), however, once a bit of attention is paid to the nuance, some hints start to be revealed.
From first glance, the interior resembles that of a Wrangler 4xe. This is signified by the hybrid menu on the infotainment screen, the blue stitching seen along the entire interior trim, and 4xe logo along the passenger dash and driver’s center screen.
So what is the give away to inform us that this isn’t a Wrangler? First, when looking out the driver’s side door mirror, you will notice the roll bar is shaped to 90 degrees. This is a key trait of the Gladiator compared to the Wrangler’s 45 degree bars.
An immediate rebuttal to this fact was that the 2-door Wrangler also features 90 degree bars. However, there is no 2-door 4xe models because the battery packs are built to fit between the rear seats.
Another detail pointed out was 4 individual door switches as opposed to two, along with seat belt mounts, which are positioned for a Gladiator. Not convinced? When looking to the middle-left of the steering wheel you’ll find a cargo light button, a feature only found on the Gladiator.
More options is a step in the right direction
While this may not be an official debut per say, it still is reaffirming of fact we knew was bound to happen. One of our few gripes with the Gladiator was its lack of powertrain options like the Wrangler.
Now with this added 16-kWh battery pack, the Jeep pick up is in for a serious upgrade. The healthy 375 HP and massive 470 ft/lbs of torque coming from the 2.0 turbo-4 combine to make almost 100 more horsepower and over 200 more ft/lbs of torque over the dated V6!
Those are serious numbers that we like. While the same powerplant earns about 50 MPGe in the Wrangler, expect slightly less in the Gladiator due to a higher overall curb weight.
The plug-in hybrid will offer about 370 miles on a full charge, which takes about 2 hours on a level II charger and 12 hours on a level I household outlet.
We are excited to see this new upcoming variant most likely for the 2022 or 2023 model year. We will provide updates as more details come to light in the near future!
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