LIKE many of my peers, my experience with Jeep products has been somewhat checquered, they have built some great vehicles, but sadly, they have also delivered some that have really struggled.
As one of the first to build genuine off-road passenger vehicles, Jeep has plenty of experience and ability in designing and building four-wheel-drive systems, and indeed, they have delivered some of the best, including the original Quadra-Trac driveline.
It is just that in more recent times, Jeep has struggled with on-board electronics, with a corresponding decrease in vehicle reliability.
But, when they get it right, they really get it right.
So, when we were offered the new range-topping hybrid-powered Grand Cherokee Summit 4xe, there was a certain degree of trepidation, undoubtedly, it would have the potential to be a great thing, but it could also have some challenges.
EXTERNALLY, not much has changed about the Grand Cherokee, it remains a large, well-proportioned station wagon, with rounded edges and corners softening the overall look.
Riding high on 21" rims, the Grand Cherokee offers plenty of ground clearance, enhanced by driver-selectable airbag suspension that can raise and lower the body through a range of preset heights.
Our test car was painted in the standard Bright White, with a contrasting gloss black roof, and looks good right off the bat.
The 'black over white' colour scheme works well to visually minimise the bulk of what is an otherwise big car, there is no mistaking its overall size, but it is well-proportioned and doesn't look overbearing or outsized.
There are other colours, but I find the Grand Cherokee always looks good in white.
The roof also houses a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, Jeep-speak for twin sun roofs, one each for front and middle row seats.
American cars have, in the past, sometimes been criticised for being gaudy and overloaded with chrome and general 'bling', however the Grand Cherokee gets it right, there are chrome touches, but they are appropriate, and work to highlight aspects of the car, rather than making it look overdone.
While I have criticised other aspects of Jeep vehicles, one area I give full credit is the fit and finish of the panels, they build a good, solid vehicle, with functional panel gaps that allow for practical use without leaving ungainly spaces for noise, wind and smells to enter the cabin.
INSIDE, the Grand Cherokee is imposing, but manages to blend high tech with high class, yes, there are big screens, but they work with the general surroundings, and don't look like they have just been dropped into the cabin.
Viewed from the outside, the cabin looks welcoming, with broad, leather-clad seats, and quality trims on the doors, pillars and the roof, unfortunately, looks can be deceiving.
I especially liked the black Palermo leather diamond quilted door trims and seat facings, they projected a feeling of quality and luxury.
Yes, those seats are big and wide, somewhat like my posterior, but they proved to be flat and unsupportive, with more than one person saying they felt like you sat on them, rather than in them, as though you are perched on a hard surface, not reclining in a luxury vehicle.
This was reinforced while driving, you never felt supported by the seats, and the Grand Cherokee's mass, so well masked by the external design, soon made its presence felt.
The chunky, big-rimmed steering wheel was more of the same, it felt as though it was twice the size it needed to be, and reinforced the feeling of not being part of the vehicle.
With plenty of high-end technology in evidence, Jeep has at least got the switchgear right, there were plenty of buttons and switches, and they generally provided positive feedback when you pushed, turned or flicked the controls.
Unfortunately, the placement felt haphazard, whether this was a product of the left-to-right conversion process, or just the need to find room in an increasingly crowded space, but there didn't feel like there was a logical approach to the design.
That is not to say it was all bad, just that it didn't feel like a welcoming space, where you can relax and enjoy the journey.
Some of the positive touches were the heated and cooled massage seats, for both driver and passenger, with a menu of functions to choose from, depending on personal preference.
Sorry, this did not include Sven, the Swedish masseuse, but there were plenty of other choices!
The cabin, as expected from a car this big, was large and open, again, another tick for the interior designers, where some cars are like a 'reverse TARDIS' - big on the outside, small on the inside, the Grand Cherokee made use of the available room to give every passenger their own personal space.
Also well done was the process of insulating the inside from the outside, once the doors closed, you were in your own private space, while you could see what was happening outside, there was enough separation that it didn't intrude on occupants, unless you invited it in.
I love my music, and have what I like to think are eclectic tastes, and so we made good use of the McIntosh 19-speaker audio system, to call it a 'stereo' just doesn't seem to do it justice.
Sound reproduction was excellent, even with the volume cranked, and coped well with a selection of Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and much more, playing through Apple CarPlay.
Some of the many features included a QI wireless charger, multiple USB chargers front and back, and a programmable ambient colour light show using LED strip lighting through the doors and the dash panel.
There is also a second in-dash display built into the glove box fascia, complete with HDMI input, this is a dedicated unit just for the passenger, while it looked good, we didn't have a compatible portable device to test how well it worked, and also how well it is shielded from the driver's view to prevent distraction.
Everything opened and closed with a positive action and a reassuring solidity, again, this is a Jeep specialty, especially on the Grand Cherokee range, it feels heavy-duty and long lasting.
ON THE ROAD, the Grand Cherokee was a bit of a mixed bag, with some genuine positives, but also quite a few frustrations, which leave you caught somewhere betwixt and between, as the old saying goes.
Under the bonnet is a 2-litre, four cylinder turbo petrol engine, boosted by twin electric motors, producing a hefty total of 280 kilowatts and 637 Newton-metres of torque.
The battery pack is 17.3 kWh, with an estimated electric-only range of between 40-60 kilometres, depending on driving style, road conditions and other factors.
Once this range is exhausted, the petrol engine is then activated to work with the electric motors to provide full power.
Unlike many other hybrid powertrains, the Grand Cherokee doesn't really work in 'cruise and collect' mode, where others we have tested will constantly harvest energy while driving, recharging the battery pack and allowing greater use of the electric drive motors.
As a result, particularly on longer highway runs, the Jeep would quickly deplete the battery packs, and they would struggle to recapture more than 10% of their capacity, often it was around 5% or less, meaning the petrol engine was doing more work.
While the battery pack can be recharged using external power sources, even this was not straight forward, the charge port only allows 'light duty' chargers to be used, meaning recharge times are longer than other similar vehicles.
Jeep say the system can be charged in under 10 hours in Mode 2, while the heavier-duty Mode 3 still takes up to three hours, by comparison, full EV cars with 400-500 kilometre ranges can be charged in around 1-2 hours.
This really defeats the purpose of hybrid drive, which allows greater use of the electric motors, to reduce operating costs and tailpipe emissions of the petrol engine.
Given the extra weight and complexity of the electric system, including motors, battery pack and control modules, as well as the extra price, it does seem counter-productive, and certainly lagging behind many other manufacturers in the hybrid sphere.
Even the control button, used to switch between electric modes and to engage the regenerative braking system for maximum energy capture, feels like an afterthought, sitting above the central audio system cluster on top of the dash.
As a result, it took some time to find and activate the system, where other manufacturers place it in plain sight, often alongside or near the gear selector.
I appreciate this is Jeep's first go-round with hybrid drive, and hopefully they will improve with experience, but at the moment the system feels like an add-on, rather than an integral part of the vehicle.
That said, the Grand Cherokee was a reasonable performer, while it is unlikely to be a winner on the Willowbank drag strip, it coped with every day traffic, and had no issues keeping up, even in stop-start conditions.
Once it was out on the highway, where the focus is more on maintaining speed, rather than rapid changes of pace, the Jeep was relaxed, and loped along, while the seats were a let down, with their lack of support, the cabin was a pleasant place to while a way the time as we cruised between towns, heading west on the Warrego Highway.
This is probably where the lack of energy harvesting hurt the Grand Cherokee the most, many other hybrid vehicles are able to recoup power by diverting some of the rotational energy to generate electricity, topping up the battery pack.
In turn, this allows the electric motors to do more work, reducing demand for the petrol engine, making the car more fuel efficient and also lowering the tailpipe emissions.
Unfortunately, the Grand Cherokee, once the battery pack was depleted, often around 40 kilometres into the drive in highway conditions, was not able to use the electric motors as much, this is definitely an area Jeep need to work on for the next generation.
As previously mentioned, the Grand Cherokee is big, very big, while the designers did a good job minimising its size visually, the laws of physics have a different perspective, and they remind you of the car's bulk at every available opportunity.
While the Grand Cherokee handles reasonably well, and the ride height can be lowered via the air suspension, with automatic lowering above 80km/h, for better aerodynamic performance and reducing drag (and fuel consumption), it still feels top heavy.
As a result, anything resembling hard cornering produces a feeling of the car leaning over on the suspension, which has also been set slightly softer for passenger comfort.
This is magnified by the flat, firm, seats, there is no support or bolstering during cornering or braking, which leaves you feeling like you are slipping and sliding across the cabin.
Before anyone points out the obvious, this is a high-riding, 2-tonne plus, offroad wagon, not a stripped down roadster or sports car, I totally agree, and any kind of handling test should be modified to reflect the Jeep's design intent.
However, any road-driven car should be capable of turning a corner at low speed, and accelerate and stop to and from 60, 80 or 100km/h, without everyone sliding across the seats, or looking for something to hold onto under braking.
Jeep contribute to the problem by fitting the Grand Cherokee with 21" rims, wearing low profile tyres, which are clearly biased towards on-road grip for handling and cornering, rather than off-road work, and which necessitates a softer suspension tune to reduce bumps and potholes intruding into the cabin.
Even worse, for a car with clear off-road intent, thanks to the QuadraTrac II four-wheel-drive system - which adds further weight and complexity to the Grand Cherokee - there was no way we were venturing any further off-highway than a gravel road with those tyres and rims.
They offered minimal off-road ability, and with the air pressure lowered, there was a very real risk of blowing a sidewall, or having the tyre bead come off the rim, with catastrophic results for the tyre carcass.
While it can be argued the car is not aimed at 'serious' off-roaders, given its luxury fitout and price tag, then I would ask why fit all the off-road technology, why not do a luxury two-wheel-drive wagon instead, which would weigh much less, making it more efficient.
On the upside, the Grand Cherokee does brake well, the standard four-wheel-discs, with ABS, emergency brakeforce distribution (EBD) - which allows braking capacity to be redirected for faster emergency stops - and multiple traction control systems is boosted by the regenerative braking force of the EV system.
Jeep says the regenerative brakes provide another 0.25g of brakeforce to the wheel brakes, as well as generating and capturing electric power into the battery pack, all of which combine to help stop the Grand Cherokee in a hurry if needed.
However, as previously mentioned, the energy recovery from the system was minimal, especially the lack of 'coast and capture' energy harvesting, as used by other hybrids, leading to increased fuel burn.
Overall, the ride and handling was a disappointment, particularly for the price point, it felt too 'soft' for Australian conditions, while there was no expectation of a tautly-trimmed corner hugger, the lasting impression was a feeling of bulk and body roll.
SO, WOULD I have one?
No, this is not a car with a place in my 'dream garage', there are too many contradictions, it has the added weight and complexity of an excellent four-wheel-drive system, but you cannot make good use of them, given the Grand Cherokee's clear bias towards on-road driving.
If I was looking for an on-highway cruiser, why would I go looking for a two tonne (and more) wagon that struggles when driving on twisty roads, both in terms of dynamic performance and occupant comfort.
I had hoped for more, especially given Jeep parent Stellantis has plenty of experience with hybrid drive through FIAT, which I expected would have given them a head-start in developing the 4xe.
Hopefully the next generation will be better, and Jeep can come up with a car able to take the hybrid challenge up to its competition with greater success.
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