It was just another sunny drive through the countryside, dodging cattle, fording streams and "hanging like a muppet" as I drove down a cliff.
Driving a new, electrified Jeep--Texas Style.
I get to drive a lot of new vehicles, and normally the best way to check them out is to take them on your normal routine. But, there's nothing normal about the Jeep Wrangler 4xe. Not only is it the most capable Jeep ever. It's the first jeep plug in hybrid going 21 miles in pure electric mode, then engaging a gasoline engine after that.
"If you take the roof down, take the doors, off you can hear the gravel crunch under your tires," says the vehicle's Engineering Integration Manager, Dan Fry. "You hear the birds chirp in the trees. It sounds a little cliche. It really does connect you more with nature."
When both work together, it's a monster on the trails. The electric power adds the torque needed to get over obstacles.
"It's a really good recipe, specifically for a Wrangler," says Fry.
But the only way to find out for myself was to take up Jeep on its invitation to bring me to Inks Ranch in Texas, which has some pretty extreme off roading trails.
Of course getting there was half the fun, and the ranch is nearly a two and a half hour drive from Austin.
We wound through city streets, getting re-acquainted with the concept of traffic. The silent electric mode was nice going through neighborhoods.
The battery, underneath the rear seat of the vehicle actually lowers the center of gravity and makes this the most stable I've ever found a wrangler on road. That has been a weakness of the Wrangler. But this version feels much more stable. I wouldn't use the word nimble. But for a Wrangler, stable is good.
The 375 horsepower is nice for on road driving as well.
City, turned into country which turned into cattle country. Being a midwestern city boy, I've never seen signs that say "Loose Livestock."
It was the full Texas experience, with cattle acting like they owned the road--they probably do--and slowly moving out of your way. They also like to stare at you. Maybe they like Jeeps. Maybe they know I like cheeseburgers. Either way, I'm not getting out of the vehicle.
But, if you think back roads are fun, wait till you go off road.
"This is a true Jeep," started the off road instructions from the brand's Vice President Jim Morrison.
"You're gonna be the first people to really tell the world how capable this Wrangler is, in a way you can only experience with a Jeep."
And the Wrangler is about being able to go just about anywhere.
"First thing we're going to do is to dump you in thirty inches of water. Yea. It's electric. We're going to run right through water because water fording is what makes part of our trail rated capability."
Actually it was so much fun, I kept going. I totally missed the turnoff, making the trail guides a little nervous.
Ooops. At least it wasn't an expensive messy oops. I backed up was ready to do some rock crawling.
For those of us who spend our lives on the pavement, crawling over rocks makes some sounds that are downright uncomfortable. But the skid plate below the vehicle took the punishment.
I kept saying to myself, "It's not my car, not my repair bill." But, again the shielding of the underside meant no repairs will be needed.
It was a 45 degree angle going up, a 50 degree angle going down. If that's meaningless to you, let me put it another way. You see nothing but sky out the front of your vehicle going up, nothing but ground going down. But you're too busy looking off to the side at your guide.
The Jeep team is experienced. They spent days laying out this course, and were able to precisely direct me with hand signals. In fact, my job was to follow instructions. You'd be amazed how happy you are to follow instructions when you're on top of a 100 foot rock, and the only way down is in your Jeep.
The Wrangler has all of the gear you would expect for extreme off roading, and I simply followed instructions on which button to push and when to push it. I went down one cliff with an automatic system helping me. I went down another with just my own pressure on the brake.
Nervous. No way. These people know what they are doing. But, I am glad I didn't see that they had an EMS person on standby until after I was finished.
The final crawl down a fifty degree incline was the most intense. Morrison promised to "hang you off our seat belts like you're muppets." And that thought was flashing through my head as I creeped toward the rocky ground below.
I walked away impressed at how electrification can be about more than being green. It can be about adding capability.
And it could even be a bargain as Jeep still has a $7500 tax credit. So, this may be the most affordable way to get into a fully loaded Wrangler.