The 2022 Jeep Wrangler Is Exclusively a Plug-In Hybrid in Europe
A little different than in America, to say the least.
The 2022 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid is available in Europe. Thing is, that's the only way Europeans can get a new Wrangler at all now. Sales haven't been electrifying, even if the powertrain technology gradually has been, and Jeep hopes an uptick in electric-only range will help land drivers in these relatively huge four-wheel drives.
If the idea of a plug socket on your Jeep Wrangler gives you the horrors, look away now and don't move to Europe. Although the normal slew of options will be available to North American Wrangler purchasers, Jeep will only be offering the 4xe to European markets, with orders already open in a few countries—Italy, Spain, Belgium and Serbia, if you want to set your VPN and experience a car purchasing experience in a different world.
The 4xe's got a bunch of advantages, if you're trying to look green, like having 31 miles of all-electric range (admittedly, if you're careful) and being eligible for the few remaining PHEV-incentive schemes. Being a plug-in hybrid means it gets 'round a lot of emissions restrictions, like London's Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (the U.K. is still in Europe for Jeep sales purposes, even if not politically). And with those measures only set to increase in coming years, it tracks that Europe would be buying to fit them.
Not that Jeep is selling a whole lot of Wranglers over here (I'm in the U.K., for what it's worth). June, the best month in 2021 so far, saw 1,335 sales in Europe; January was the worst with just 252 sales being made. Across, like, 26 countries that Jeep sells to here, that's not exactly the kind of volume where an automaker thinks it needs to prioritize model diversity. The fact is no one in Europe—or at least, not very many people—is buying a car so big you can't drive it through most of our city centers. It's also pretty inconvenient that the standard length of a parking space here is 192 inches and that's only roughly three inches more than a four-door Wrangler measures.
Jeep's also now part of the Stellantis brand chimera which means it's no longer trying to challenge the PSA Group brands that are under the same roof. Over in the U.S., you guys will never get our Peugeots, but the Landtrek pickup and the 3008 SUV are probably roughly in competition with a Wrangler, at the same time as being more styled to the Euro market. Therefore, trying to force people to convert against their interests doesn't make any sense to the parent company.
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