Jeep Grand Cherokee vs Nissan Pathfinder

What's the difference?

A wise man* once said "Being first can sometimes feel like being wrong" and perhaps that's how it is with the 4xe, but at least Jeep Australia is giving the large SUV hybrid realm a good ol' try.

* Former CarsGuide Big Kohuna, Glen Knowles.

The company's first plug-in hybrid, the Grand Cherokee 4xe, is not perfect by anyone's standards, however, it is a definite move in the right direction.

It's a quiet and refined drive, it retains the brand's renowned 4WD capability, and even its hefty price-tag likely won't dissuade Jeep loyalists from giving it a go.

It looks good, offers benchmark safety and combines strong engine performance with sure-footed traction, particularly on low-grip surfaces. There’s also a spacious, comfortable and practical cabin that can seat up to eight and it can tow up to 2.7 tonnes. Apart from its V6 thirst, based on our at-pump figures, there’s little we can criticise about the latest Pathfinder in Ti 4WD specification, which is certainly worthy of consideration for large SUV buyers.  

As with any vehicle, some will like it, some won’t, and some simply won’t care all that much. 

The 4xe certainly has a distinctive Jeep look to it.

A few exterior design cues hint at its PHEV leanings: the plug-in point on the front left-hand panel and a ‘4xe’ designation on the rear door.

The latest Pathfinder rides on a 2900mm wheelbase with an 11.8-metre turning circle. Although it's shorter in overall length with less frontal overhang than its predecessor, it has a wider stance (aka track width) for improved handling plus a height increase for more headroom. There’s also more leg and hip-room.

The sumptuous interior is a tasteful mix of leather accents, piano black and satin chrome with classy exposed stitching along numerous seams including the leather-wrapped steering wheel. It exudes a high-quality look and feel.

The 2/3/3 seating layout can theoretically cater for up to eight occupants, starting with seating for the driver and front passenger which is spacious and comfortable with ample adjustment.

For those in the grandstand-style second row, it also feels spacious thanks not only to the wide-opening doors and increased head and legroom, but also the flat floor with no transmission hump to restrict foot placement for those in the middle. The recline of the 60/40-split backrests can be adjusted for added comfort.

Second-row passengers also have access to their own control panel on the rear of the centre console that allows individual adjustment of seat-heating and temperature/fan speed for vents located under the front seats and in the roof.

The second row tilts and slides forward to provide access to the third row. This is designed to carry up to three occupants, but by our measure only small kids could manage that.

For adults, it’s really a two-seater and that’s only for short trips and only with the second row slid forward at least 100mm to provide adequate knee room.

Even so, the third row offers adequate headroom (even for tall people) and with large glass areas and overhead cooling vents does its best to minimise a claustrophobic feel.

So, we see it as either a seven- or eight-seater, depending on the kid-to-adult mix.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve 4xe PHEV retains the regular model’s level of functionality but adds a reasonably classy touch to everything.

All seats offer adequate comfort, support and room.

There are plenty of storage spaces, cupholders etc, and charging points - two USB-A and two USB-C plus a 12V socket in the front and two USB-A and two USB-C plus a 230V point in the back.

Controls are generally easy enough to locate and operate although some buttons are positioned in awkward places – including drive-mode buttons under the steering wheel – and it sometimes takes a few finger-stabs at the multimedia touchscreen to get to where you want to go in the operating system.

In terms of packability, the rear cargo area has a listed 1067 litres of space, and, with the second row folded and out of the way, that space opens up to 2004 litres.

The Ti 4WD’s 2044kg kerb weight (unladen and full of fuel) and 2750kg GVM (how much it can legally weigh when fully loaded) provides a load capacity of 706kg.

That limit could easily be reached or exceeded just by eight adults, before you could think about loading their luggage.

So, be mindful of combined passenger and luggage weight, particularly when planning a trip, to ensure you’re not over the GVM limit.

It’s also rated tow up to 2700kg of braked trailer, which is suitably large to cater for many recreational towing tasks.

However, as there’s no published GCM (or how much the Ti can legally carry and tow at the same time) we don’t know if it can haul its maximum payload while towing its maximum trailer weight.

Even so, it offers 205 litres of internal load volume with the second and third rows upright (ideal space for a supermarket shop), which expands to 554 litres with the third row folded flat and 782 litres with the second and third rows folded.

There are four cargo tie-down points and a surprisingly large bin hidden under the rear floor.

In terms of internal storage there’s a glove box, console box, overhead glasses holder and seat pockets plus a variety of bins, bottle holders and cupholders thoughtfully placed throughout the cabin catering for all three rows.

Nissan claims a total of 16 cupholders, but by our measure there are 18. Either way, there’s more than ample storage for drinks and personal items in this well-designed cabin.

Our test vehicle is the Ti 4WD, which sits one rung below the premium Ti-L 4WD on the local ladder.

Our example (like the Ti-L) is available only with a 3.5-litre petrol V6 and nine-speed automatic transmission for a list price of $71,490, plus on-road costs. Its 'Gun Metallic' premium paint costs extra.

It's generous with luxury appointments starting with unique 18-inch machined-finish alloy wheels and 255/60 tyres (but only a space-saver spare) plus a powered tailgate, roof rails, full LED lighting, heated door mirrors and more.

Inside is a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, heated front and rear seats, leather-accented trim on seats and doors, roll-up sun-shades for the rear passenger door windows, a wireless smartphone charging pad, a USB charging outlet for the third row of seats and a quality 13-speaker Bose audio system.

There are also steering wheel paddle-shifters, a driver’s heads-up display, tri-zone air con, plus five USB ports and two 12-volt outlets to keep a full crew charged and connected.

Central command for the multimedia system is a 9.0-inch touchscreen display including wireless Apple and Android connectivity and digital radio.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve 4xe PHEV has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-charged petrol engine, two electric motors (one on each axle) and a 17.3kWh battery.

Combined engine and electric outputs for power and torque are 280kW and 637Nm, respectively. The 4xe has it over any of its stablemates equipped with the 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol engine because that yields 210kW and 344Nm.

The 4xe has an eight-speed automatic torque-converter transmission and regenerative braking.

Drive modes include 'Hybrid' (with combined engine and electric motor providing “maximum instant torque and impressive acceleration”, according to Jeep), 'Electric' (“zero emissions”) and 'eSave' (aims to save battery power). 

There are a few options available when it comes time to charge the 4xe.

The 4xe vehicle has a Mode 2 charging cable so you can charge it at home in less than 10 hours, according to Jeep.

With a full charge, the 4xe has a claimed driving range, on electric charge alone, of 52km.

Jeep reckons a Mode 3 (wall box) single-phase electric vehicle charger will fully charge the 4xe in less than three hours.

If out and about and looking for a charge, a 4xe driver can use the onboard 'UConnect' system to locate an appropriate public charging station.

The Pathfinder is powered a lusty direct-injection 3.5-litre petrol V6. It produces 202kW at 6400rpm and 340Nm at 4800rpm.

It’s paired with a nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission which offers the choice of manual sequential-shifting using steering wheel-mounted paddles.

The full-time 4WD transmission offers seven different drive modes via a rotary-dial on the console, which optimises performance in each selected mode. These include 'Standard', 'Sport', 'Eco', 'Snow', 'Sand', 'Mud/Rut' and 'Tow'.

As mentioned, the 4xe has a listed electric-only driving range of 52km.

On our official test day, we drove just under 50km on a full electric charge and then the rest of the trip was courtesy of the good ol’ petrol engine.

Jeep's official figure for the combined cycle is just 3.2L/100km, but that's predicated on keeping the hybrid battery charged at all times. On fuel-only we recorded 11.6L/100km.

The 4xe has a 72-litre fuel tank (you need 95RON premium to fill it), so going by that on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect to get a driving range of about 620km out of a full tank.

Add an approximate electric range of about 50km on a full charge to that figure and you have a total estimated driving range of 670km.

Nissan claims combined cycle average consumption of 10.5L/100km and the Ti’s dash display was claiming 12.9 at the completion of our 213km test, which was mostly city and suburban driving with some limited highway running and from one to five occupants on board at different times.

Our own figure, calculated from actual fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, came in higher again at 14.5L/100km which exceeds the usual 2.0-3.0L/100km discrepancy between manufacturer figures and our own.

In other words, it drinks more than a diesel but is about average for a powerful six-cylinder petrol engine of this size under test conditions.

So, based on our ‘real world’ driving and at-pump consumption figure, you could expect a driving range of around 500km from its 71-litre tank. And it requires premium unleaded.

We’re all time-poor, right? So, why should I take up your time and rattle on about the 4xe for a thousand words when I can get the essence of it across to you, the reader, in a few sentences? Call me, Mr Thoughtful.

This is generally a big, quiet and refined, easy-steering large SUV, but it feels bulky at times and tends to be quite fussy on irregular surfaces, exhibiting a jittery ride on even brief sections of light corrugations on dirt tracks.

The 4xe’s PHEV set-up is smooth and highly responsive on-road and you can switch between the aforementioned drive modes to suit the circumstance.

Driving range on electric only is listed as 52km. I only recorded a total distance of just under 50km, and it’s a very quiet and smooth drive while relying on electric power.

It regenerates power rather quickly down big hills and via braking, but we’d exhausted all electric charge by the time we’d reached our 4WD test track.

As expected, this Grand Cherokee tackled every off-road challenge without any strife. 

The air suspension, set to full off-road height, is a bonus.

Our 4WD test track consists of difficult set-pieces, including one small steep rocky hill that I’ve seen heavily modified vehicles struggle to conquer and, to the Jeep’s credit, it climbed the incline, no sweat.

The 4xe’s efforts were only ever hampered by its 'all-season' Continental CrossContact tyres (275/45R21) which are much better suited to blacktop driving and the fact the 4xe costs upwards of $129,950 and I didn’t want to risk any damage to it.

The 4xe has a listed wading depth of 610mm but our test track was dry so I never had the chance to do any water crossings. 

The Grand Cherokee has a solid enough rep as a towing vehicle but, take note, the 4xe is rated to tow 2722kg.

A good example of its comfort range is that I’m 186cm tall and my wife is only 165cm, yet we both managed to find comfortable seating positions. However, she said that ideally the range of seat-height adjustment could be a tad higher given her smaller stature.

Even so, she liked the Ti and found it easy to drive, particularly in negotiating busy shopping centre car parks with its various cameras, parking sensors etc.

She also appreciated how easy it is to fold down the trio of headrests on the third row of seats when not in use, to provide a clear view through the rear window.

We encountered heavy rain at times during our test, when the superior traction of its 4WD system was most noticeable and appreciated when cornering.

It also ensured no wheelspin from standing starts, which is reassuring given the V6 engine’s vigorous low-down response. This engine has excellent performance.

We also liked the ride quality, steering feel and braking, along with the nine-speed automatic thanks to its near-seamless shifting and good all-round response. We did try manual-shifting using the paddle-shifters for a more ‘engaging’ driving experience at times.

It also makes a comfortable highway cruiser given its low engine, tyre and wind noise and suitably long gearing, that requires only 1500rpm from the V6 to maintain 110km/h and optimise fuel economy.

The Pathfinder boasts a maximum five-star ANCAP rating (awarded 2022) and is loaded with passive and active safety features, starting with nine airbags including side-curtain airbags covering all three rows and a front-row centre airbag.

There’s also the full 'Nissan Intelligent Mobility' safety suite packed with active safety features including AEB, plus Nissan’s semi-autonomous 'ProPILOT' system for use with the adaptive cruise control.

There’s also 360-degree and reversing cameras, front/rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring and more.

In the second row there are ISOFIX anchorages on the two outer seating positions and top-tethers for all three positions, plus an additional set of ISOFIX and top-tether fixtures in the third row.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve 4xe PHEV has a five-year/100,000km warranty and a lifetime roadside assist service.

Servicing is set at 12-month/12,000km intervals and capped price servicing keeps what you pay for each appointment at $399 for the first five.

Nissan covers the Pathfinder with a five-year/unlimited km warranty including five years roadside assist.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km whichever occurs first.

Capped-price servicing for the first five scheduled services is $2581 or an average of $516 per service.