#Wrangler

Always seeking to give a nod to the desires of their fan base, Jeep is returning to a particularly colorful well with a popular paint option for the revised 2024 Wrangler.

The annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab will kick off later this month, meaning we’re in for a deluge of teaser shots for whatever the mad scientists have cooked up in the Jeep labs ahead of this year’s gathering.

If you’ve been putting off picking up a new Wrangler just because Jeep doesn’t offer the Xtreme 35 Tire Package on two-door models of the Rubicon and Willys, you have officially run out of excuses.

Following eight reports of vehicle fires, Jeep has decided to recall 32,125 examples of the Wrangler 4xe PHEV in the United States. The vehicles come from the 2021-2024 model year, with roughly 13,000 being situated outside the U.S. While parent company Stellantis has said the vehicles can continue being driven, it's advising customers against charging them and has likewise recommended parking them outdoors away from anything you might not want burned.

The first thing you should know about the 2023 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Rubicon is that aside from the powertrain, the experience is pretty much the same as it would be with any other Wrangler.

In other words, if for some reason the idea of a PHEV Wrangler bothers you, relax.

Owners of late model Wranglers and Gladiators can now jack their rides skyward courtesy of a new kit from the official Jeep Performance Parts catalog.

Hey, it beats sketchy wooden logs and some hockey pucks.

It hasn’t been too many flips of the calendar since Jeep rolled out their 4xe sub-brand, a moniker that denotes rigs as having a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Whilst more than one dusty corner of the internet figured Jeep-type customers would turn up their noses at such a proposition, recent sales numbers suggest the effort is actually doing quite well.

So long as one frames those numbers through a very specific lens, of course.

Jeep has issued a recall encompassing roughly 58,000 examples of the 2020-2023 Wrangler. Problem vehicles described in the relevant NHTSA documents were reportedly constructed with a frame stud that's allegedly superfluous and that can cause fires in the event of a crash. It’s kind of a weird recall campaign, as they typically don’t involve a vehicle having too many parts but rather totally absent or poorly implemented ones. 

I spent the past few days behind the wheel of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe.

Notes? Oh, I have notes.

This year’s Auto Show in Detroit is notably light on introductions compared to its heyday in the ‘90s and 2000s when Cobo Hall was packed with announcements and bombastic reveals. Still, some hometown players are showing off new wares – including Ford with the Mustang later tonight – and Jeep with the pair of machines shown here.

The idea of a plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler intrigues me. Wranglers that run exclusively on dead-dino juice have never been terribly fuel efficient. That’s true of recent efforts, too, despite overall improvements in automotive technology/design/engineering that have helped even the thirstiest of gas guzzlers become, well, less thirsty.

So it makes sense that a Wrangler that can run at least part of the time on electrons would pique my interest. Even if the alternative powertrain underhood changes little else about the Wrangler experience.

No one needs a V8 in a Jeep Wrangler. But sometimes brands do things just because they can. Which is the case with this particular Jeep – there’s a freakin’ Hemi underhood, for no other reason than Jeep can do it.

Well – there’s one other reason. The company can rake in some serious cash.

Every year, gearheads at Jeep make a pilgrimage to the off-road mecca that is Moab, bringing along a yaffle of concept vehicles. Some of these rigs point to a future model, others too-cool restomods, and a few are tremendously bonkers one-offs.

We’re not entirely sure into which category today’s teaser will fall but, knowing Jeep, there’s a decent chance they’ll be putting this terrifically overpowered off-roader into production.

Jeep Grand Cherokee Ls face another recall — headlights might stop working due to an incomplete software update. This could cause one or both lights to stop working.

If you’re an off-road fan looking to plunk money down on an electrified Jeep with an open pickup bed, you might be hanging onto your cash longer than anticipated. Despite the brand heavily hinting at its existence during presentations earlier this year, rumors have cropped up that the Gladiator 4xe may have been pushed to the back burner in favor of other, more pressing projects.

Like updating the Wrangler to better compete with the Bronco, for instance.