The Jeep Wrangler 4xe is something of a sleeper hit as the plug-in hybrid variant reportedly accounted for 20.1% of Wrangler sales in the United States last month and made it America’s best-selling plug-in hybrid.
Jeep appears primed to cash in on that success as the company might be teasing a Gladiator 4xe on Facebook.
While the photo appears to show the interior of a Wrangler 4xe with the roof off, an eagle-eyed member of the JeepGladiatorForum noticed something unusual about the reflection of the roll cage in the driver’s side mirror. It has a 90° bend, unlike the 45ish° bend used on four-door versions of the Wrangler.
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Given this, the picture presumably shows a Gladiator 4xe. While some commenters have pointed out the two-door Wrangler also has a roll cage with a 90° bend, the Wrangler 4xe is only available in a four-door configuration and the picture clearly shows four window switches.
While everything seems to back up the theory this is a Gladiator 4xe, you have to admit it’s a pretty roundabout way to tease an upcoming model even when you factor in Jeep’s love of Easter eggs. It’s also worth mentioning this could simply be a photoshop gone awry as we’ve seen plenty of automakers put out questionable pictures over the years.
That being said, a Gladiator 4xe seems inevitable and it would presumably use a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, a 17.3 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and two electric motors. This setup gives the Wrangler 4xe a combined output of 375 hp (280 kW) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of torque, and enables the model to travel more than 20 miles on electricity alone.