Originator of the SUV aims to claim a notable share of that market in the UK with this new PHEV-only Land Rover rival
MATT PRIOR @matty_prior
TESTED 20.4.23, MALAGA, SPAIN ON SALE JUNE PRICE £85,615
Jeep takes a curiously small portion of the British SUV market, given that it’s the world’s biggest 4x4 company. Selling only a few thousand cars here per year, Jeep CEO Christian Meunier refers to its 0.3% share as “virtually non-existent”.
However, it’s seeking to change that, with the super little Avenger electric crossover being followed by another all-new Jeep, albeit a more old-school one, in the shape of the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee – a full-size, premium off-roader.
It’s 4.91 metres long and 1.97 metres wide, so about the same size as the Land Rover Discovery. There’s an even longer, seven-seat version in the US, badged the L, but we won’t get that here.
The Grand Cherokee lands in the UK with only one engine option, a 2.0-litre plug-in hybrid badged 4xe, and only one trim level for now, Summit Reserve, which sits at the top of the tree in its homeland – as well it might, given that it costs £85,615.
The Grand Cherokee’s monocoque construction is derived from Alfa Romeo’s (now Stellantis’s) Giorgio platform, as used by the Alfas Giulia and Stelvio and new Maserati Grecale.
Versatile things, modern car platforms: the Giulia is a small, sporting executive saloon, while the Grand Cherokee is a massive, air-suspended, off-road-capable SUV that can tow 2.7 tonnes and wade through 610mm of water. Bagsy not trying that in a Giulia.
The rest of the Grand Cherokee’s off-road credentials are similarly impressive. There’s air suspension as standard with five different height settings and up to 275mm of ground clearance. Its maximum approach angle is 28.2deg, breakover angle 20.9deg and departure angle 30deg – similar to the Discovery. Jeep has a trail rating for its cars: the 3dr Wrangler scores the maximum 10, the Grand Cherokee six or seven, depending on the variant.
The PHEV powertrain is similar to the one that we tested in the Wrangler a fortnight ago. It’s a complex system that involves a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine making 270bhp and 295lb ft, two electric motors and a fairly generous battery pack.
The main motor is a 134bhp, 195lb ft unit mounted within the eight-speed automatic gearbox, between the clutch plates and the gears. This is what drives the car when you select EV mode and allows gearchanges and swapping into the low set of ratios just as if you were driving on petrol.
Then there’s a 48V integrated s
