The plug-in hybrid powertrain within the Grand Cherokee consists of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine making 270bhp and 295lb ft, two electrical motors and a 17.3kWh (15.0kWh usable) battery pack.

The predominant motor is a 134bhp, 195lb ft unit mounted inside the eight-speed computerized gearbox, between the clutch plates and the gears. This is what drives the automobile when you choose EV mode and permits gearchanges and swapping into the low set of ratios simply as if you have been driving on petrol.

Then there’s a 48V built-in starter-generator on the entrance of the engine, making 39bhp and 44lb ft. It’s  obtainable to spice up low-end torque however primarily to start out and cease the petrol engine and cost the battery when the automobile is stationary and in gear.

With a full battery, efficiency is powerful. With whole outputs of 375bhp and 470lb ft and the principle electrical motor pitching in from relaxation, the 0-62mph time is simply 6.3sec. Sometimes, although, the motor and petrol engine take a second to resolve who’s doing what, so the latter will spin up audibly, and typically on again roads it’s preferable – and never unsatisfying – to take management of the gears your self. If you do go for a full-on burst of acceleration, you’ll be able to anticipate pretty coarse engine noise too.

However, even with 1 / 4 cost within the battery, efficiency is degraded noticeably. The coarse four-cylinder turns into a relentless presence, revving excessive and infrequently, returning solely common efficiency and MPG figures within the low 20s. The gearbox turns into fairly clunky too.

Off-road notes

The Grand Cherokee’s off-road credentials are fairly spectacular, as you’d anticipate. On all variations besides the entry-level Limited, there’s air suspension as normal with 5 totally different peak settings and as much as 275mm of floor clearance. Its most strategy angle is 28.2deg, breakover angle 20.9deg and departure angle 30deg – much like the Discovery.

Jeep has a path score for its automobiles: the three-door Wrangler scores the utmost 10, the Grand Cherokee six or seven, relying on the variant. It’s additionally an affordable tow automobile, with a most braked trailer load of two.2 tonnes (2.3 tonnes for a drawbar trailer), however the Range Rover Sport PHEV and Mercedes GLE PHEV will each tow usefully extra.

Off street, it’s terrific. The pretty factor is which you can stick it in EV mode and do all of your driving that method. Because the motor is on the gearbox facet of the clutch, it pulls off extremely easily and with out hesitation, plus with all of its obtainable torque from relaxation.

And as with most correct 4x4s, you’ll in all probability run out of bravery – particularly at this value – earlier than it runs out of skill. We had it on a facet slope exhibiting greater than 30deg, and if there wasn’t a Jeep bod on standby telling me that was high-quality, we might have satisfied ourselves it was going to tip over. In different phrases, a winter shoot or the typical horse yard treacherousness are issues that the Grand Cherokee will deal with simply high-quality.