New Jeep Grand Cherokee goes PHEV and adds a dose of ‘Merican luxury

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee is revealed with familiar looks, more upmarket interior and powertrains including a plug-in hybrid.

Jeep can certainly hold its own with Land Rover in the offroading stakes and, especially with more recent models, actually perform better in some cases as Land Rover focuses more on on-road.

But where it’s never really competed, especially against Range Rovers, is interior quality and luxury, but it’s having a proper stab at that with this, the new 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Ourtised, the looks are familiar with a trademark slatted grille and butch demeanour, but it’s inside where Jeep looks to have made the biggest changes.

Not only does posh wood and luxury leather proliferate, but there’s much screenage too, with a digital instrument cluster and big infotainment screen, as well as a plethora of tech toys, including adaptive cruise, lane keep, McIntosh Sound, Fire TV, Alexa and parking camera, as well as optional stuff like night vision and passenger display on the list.

Engine options are a pleasingly lazy 5.7-litre V8 with 350bhp and a 3.6-litre V6 good for 290bhp, although which, if either, arrive in the UK remains to be seen.

But the powertrain that appeals most will be the plug-in hybrid version – badged 4XE – which uses a 2.0-litre turbo four-pot, an electric motor between the engine and gearbox (just like the Defender PHEV) and 17kWh battery, delivering 375bhp and 470lb/ft of torque and a claimed electric range of 25 miles.

The Grand Cherokee also comes with a choice of AWD variants – Quadra-Trac I, Quadra-Trac II and Quadra-Drive II – with increasingly more complex abilities; power to the front or rear axle with the Quadra I, low range added on the Quadra II and two-speed transfer case and electronically limited-slip diff on the Drive II.

Although the new Jeep Grand Cherokee is going on sale in the US before the end of the year, it’ll be in to 2022 before Jeep gets it to the UK, by which time they’ll have decided on prices and which engine options the UK will get.