Jeep’s Wrangler is right up there with apple pie, baseball and the flag—instantly recognizable as an American icon. And now it’s a partly-electric icon.

Said the Stellantis rep who arranged a test: “The Wrangler you’re driving is the 4xe, which is a plug-in hybrid, so it operates on both gas and electric battery. The charging station is above the front driver side wheel. Almost looks like a gas tank / square box. There are also three buttons to the left of the steering wheel that say Esave, hybrid, and electric. The driver can choose what mode they want to be in. That’s the benefit of the hybrid system!”

Armed with this knowledge, I test-drove my fluorescent green-yellow Jeep through the mountains of Los Angeles and its outskirts, dog in tow, and found the machine as thrilling, stylish and confidence-inspiring as the other twenty-two Wranglers I’ve tested and reported on. It’s even got better handling than other Wranglers due to its heavy battery, too. You know how Jeeps are “all over the road” when you first get yours, and you have to get used to it? None of that here. And combined mileage of 52/45 MPG when utilizing both the electric and gas rig is very sweet indeed.

What this latest hybrid does, along with Ford’s outstanding F-150 Lightning, is ease the minds of petrol-heads who came up in the 70s and 80s and who may not yet realize them days is over, but you haven’t been forgotten.

Let’s take a closer look.

That hybrid system

It’s not all good news. Firing on electricity alone will get you, say, to Target and back with its range of 20 miles. An all-electric is on the way but don’t get any ideas about range here on electricity alone.

The 4xe uses a standard Wrangler's 2.0-liter turbo I-4 engine coupled with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Two electric motors and a 17-kWh battery are on deck. Your real-world system output is 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque, making this a very powerful Wrangler indeed – only their Rubicon 392 is faster.

You can expect to achieve 0-60 in a little under 7 seconds, so it’s not a rocket, but Wranglers were never about besting people at green lights – more about grunting over trees and logs and through water. During this short test, we never got near any off-roads or similar, and it was just as well. In a town packed with sunglasses, 6-packs and people obsessed with outward appearances, it was nice to have a drive that was eye-catching.

When you run out of electricity, and you will, your mileage drops to a normal-Wrangler 22 or so MPG city/highway combined. For daily use and to save those precious gas drops, you need to charge overnight, every night, not a problem for those with home access. In cities, it’s a little tougher and you may be tempted to just forget the whole thing rather than cherishing those 20-or-so electric miles you squeeze from this ride.

Interior space:

It’s slightly smaller than a standard Wrangler, but not by that much, and it’s mostly in the cargo area - 28/67 cubic feet. As with any Wrangler, though, you can cram/stuff/fold/squeeze and off you go with your surfboard, skiis or camping equipment. Here is a comparison:

Off-road

For the environmentally conscious, taking the 4xe over the river and through the woods will be a less guilt-inducing endeavor. Put your powertrain in E-Save and crawl as you please, although you’ll only get 134 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque. But you will silently climb those rocks and belch no filth into the sky.

Safety

It’ll cost you to add Blind-spot monitoring, and front and rear parking sensors are available in one package, but automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control come in another.

Conclusion: It was a short but exciting test, and the good news is that the Wrangler 4xe more than pleased when compared to its gas-only cousins.