Jeep Enthusiast
BY MATTHEW GUY
The recently introduced Jeep Wrangler 4xe, a plug-in hybrid with a battery pack large enough to permit some all-electric off-roading, may soon be joined silently on the trails by its pickup truck cousin.
A fan of the brand with sharp eyes noted that a short-lived cover photo on the company’s Facebook page strongly hinted at the existence of a Gladiator 4xe, a machine that currently lives only in the theoretical realm. After posting the picture on a Jeep forum, rabid nerds brand fans quickly dissected the photo and determined that maybe — just maybe — it was of a Gladiator 4xe.
What are the clues? Well, the cabin’s blue stitching is a dead giveaway, just in case anyone blessed with the gift of sight happened to miss the enormous ‘4xe’ logo moulded into the passenger grab handle. Internet sleuths then pointed out the 90-degree bend in the rig’s roll cage reflected in the driver’s side mirror. Four-door Wranglers do not have this design detail … but Gladiator pickup trucks certainly do.
A few pedants pointed out that the two-door Wrangler has a rear section of their roll cage in this shape, but were quickly slapped down by adults in the room who pointed out the four power window switches on the vehicle’s centre stack. Add it all together, along with the fact that Gladiator and Wrangler share much in terms of powertrain, and there’s a solid case to be made that we’re looking at an honest-to-Ohio Gladiator 4xe.
Also hastening this conclusion is that, not long after these theories appeared, the photo vanished from Jeep’s page on Facebook.
The new Wrangler 4xe is powered by the tag team of a 2.0L turbo four-banger and electric motor that essentially replaces the torque converter between the gasoline engine and 8-speed automatic transmission. This combination is good for a robust 375 horses and 470 lb-ft of torque. In certain conditions, the rig can glide silently on electric-only power for about 35 kilometres.
