Jeep Wrangler 4XE: that cheerful brunette next door ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and 1/2
Emotionally, ain't life great when u can enjoy all of it - the fast moments, the slow moments, the top of moments, and moments with friends?
1) fast moments: 370hp/470lbft ... but even with the 150hp EV mode you can rip Oak/Granville street right lane passes. Drive over a curb to get to that empty left turn lane? LFG
2) silly moments: send it sideways in the rain, trail brake it into a corner, crank the steering and it turns great when it settles
3) slow moments: 1 pedal drive it in traffic and hyper mile the thing from 30km of range and get 45 instead. hear the birds chirp while you're in traffic with the top off.
4) friends: who doesn't want to ride in a Jeep ... and Toyota/Honda could never produce a factory sound system this good
ok but how bad is the wrangler shit?
A) road noise blah blah blah ... a Camry / RAV4 way louder once you're above 100kmh
B) does this thing skip over the road ... yeah and it's extremely sketch in the rain on mud terrain tires on the Willys, drove it in 4AUTO. Sahara is fine on its Bridgestone Alena's.
C) The 2.0 was silent at 145kmh in the Grand Cherokee but the 33s, brick aero, top off, and 5300 lbs of Wrangler on a hill got that thing sounding like a blender.
D) rear seats don't fold flat at all with a hump
Intellectually, these are leasing at 250 USD A MONTH
My stats:
Vancouver Weekend Driving: 168km electric, 69km gas, 5h54, 6.3L/100km
Seattle City Driving (8 days): 270mi electric, 336mi gas, 7.5L/100km
Overall: 1288 km, 426 mi electric, 379 mi on gas,
7.4L/100km
More cheap: $14 in charging for 600km
Free L1/L2 charging at night, paid L2 at gym (2CAD/hr), work (50c/hr), and various paid parking in DT Vancouver ($1.5 more than parking without charging)
You could get a plain jane RAV4 Prime and use half the fuel, a 392 wrangler would make all the right noises, or a Bronco would drive better/offer a stick...
but IMO none of them will be as enjoyable overall and easy to live with as that cheerful brunette next door.
This is America's best selling plug-in hybrid for many many good reasons.