2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4xe: A Hybrid That Comes Up Short

YEE-HAH. Eighty years after the original Willys Jeep set the template, Jeep’s Wrangler compact SUV series is selling like there is no tomorrow, chalking up three straight quarters of record sales in the U.S., including 118,666 units in the first six months of 2021.

Unfortunately, prices are soaring like there was no yesterday. Our test vehicle, a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe, Jeep’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle in the U.S., arrived last week with what I considered a fairly staggering window-sticker price of $65,890. I might have peed a little, there in the driveway.