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balucipher

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Wouldn’t you also be able to get 6-7% off a non hybrid wrangler as well?
I was on board with getting a 4xe and was talked out of it with the reasoning I posted. I’d love a Bronco, would really love a hybrid Bronco, but maybe the wrangler will tide me over.
I think the difference between invoice and MSRP is higher on the 4xes

They also lease way better than a comparable gas truck. Good option if you can't take the full $7500 rebate on this year's taxes
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Pseudoko

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In Southern California about a month ago... 4xe were going above MSRP so it wasn't worth the price. I like the idea but also reading the 4xe forums.... it just seemed there were a lot of issues in comparison to what I have seen on the Bronco thus far. two different cars completely but I wouldn't want to get stranded on the road when the battery decides to crap out on you (or other issues). Also after sitting in a bronco and going for a drive, I am sticking with the bronco even though I am still going to be waiting for a bit.
 

Lakelife36

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That’s not an engine in the volt. It’s a generator because it doesn’t provide drive to the wheels. It only charges the battery… :)
Series hybrid. It's the way to go.
 

CT203

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Your noticing the structural crossbar overhead as an obstruction for tall people is spot on. I tried a 4xe and a Rubicon last week, and at 6'5", couldnt fit (headroom) in either of them. Bronco has no crossbar over the driver's head. Bronco also has an available electric/leather seat on some 4dr Broncos, which lowers more. Also, the Jeep seat seems smaller, and the cabin more cramped.
I'm 6'2 and feel like I'm about maxing out my '13 wrangler. 6'5 - your vehicle choices are limited as you know! The Bronco will be great for you when you can get it.
 

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UtahLars

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To all who buy a vehicle with a tax credit from all of us who don't - you're welcome.
 

Daktari

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I'm looking forward to my supposedly built BL, but if there'd been a hybrid option I would have most likely gone for that, my daily driving is maybe 5 miles, I'd not even have to plug in for the week. I'm gonna see how I like what I'm getting and were gas prices are going (seen just a tad over $5 for premium lately), I'd rather not buy an other car anytime soon, not something I enjoy all that much, my Taco is 18 years old, but if there's a good hybrid option showing up in a couple years I might switch. Fully electric would also be interesting, but not quite feasible for longer offroading trips, at least not yet. Maybe one day we'll see charging stations at trailheads, who knows. Electric cars are a lot of fun to drive, that's for sure.
 

Chrome_Pony

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either way good for you, just thought you might like to watch the TFL test of that...the electric portion last a whole 3 miles when they took it off road. Im not seeing the value in the electric For off road at all.



Even on the highway it maxes at 27 miles under perfect conditions.
I'm intrigued. I hadn't even really considered the fun/utility factor of a hybrid but that video really made the case for me, even with the shit offroad range.
 

RobC2

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I am really liking the Rubicon 4XE I picked up to drive while I wait for my order. I was finally able to sit in a Bronco this past weekend, a Wildtrak Lux with leather, and my first impression was that the Ford interior quality was a bit inferior. I have to wait a couple of months to drive the Bronco unless I can locate another demo with a shorter wait, so no input there. I am getting a Bronco no matter what since I have waited this long, but I do have to say that I don't have anywhere near the excitement I did 14 months ago. Unknown timelines and strong competition will do that.

And yes, I got a huge discount on my 4XE as well as the tax credit...
 

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skhubbard93

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I was considering that same Bronco/4Xe vehicle throw-down. Signed up for a Bronco back in 8/2020, but saw the 4Xe coming out and got a chance to try it this spring. Based on your assessment, I can only conclude that the one I tried must have been broken.

4Xe:
First, the steering had this very odd behavior where there would be a lot of body roll at first, and then it would seem to mostly re-level itself after a moment. That would be bad enough just rolling down the road, but when it happens while rounding a corner at speed it is completely unnerving. This alone was bad enough to make me consider cutting the test-drive short.

Second, the transmission was having difficulty finding the right gear. I mean, it was bad enough that it almost seemed as if the mapping was upside down. Or maybe hacked. High-gear starts with no power or torque and a lugging engine. Low-gear transitions at highway speeds bringing redline whines.

Third, the battery-only mode was not functional above about 22 mph, and switched to hybrid mode without fail... however, I will concede that the battery may have been low on charge. Call that a dealer problem, not a car problem, I guess.

And finally, there was the vehicle itself as a transportation device. I guess I was just non-plussed by the cramped cabin.
--
The last off-road vehicle I owned was a '95 Defender 90. It was like a Jeep * 1.5. Big. Slow. Lumbering. And able to go pretty much anywhere. The fact that it only had some 182 hp really didn't matter, because that wasn't the point of the thing. Even with its towering height (~6' 8" to the roll bar) and high CG, it still handled better - more predictably - than that particular 4Xe.
--
BRONCO:
So today I counted myself lucky to find a 4dr Bronco at a dealer that was available for test-drives. For those near Saratoga County, NY looking to test-drive, the blue 2.7 Big Bend at Greenwich Ford is the only unspoken-for Bronco I've found in the area, out to at least 30 miles.

Steering? Pushed it in a traffic circle. YES it leans. But it doesn't destabilize like the 4Xe I tried and doesn't lean as precariously as the D90 did.

Transmission? That one had the 10sp (it was a 2.7), and it was one of the smoothest auto transmissions I've driven. No hunting. Smooth, quick transitions. Good gear choices. It did just what I wanted it to do. I'm currently signed up for the stick, and this experience won't change that because I like having that greater control over both the engine speed and the wheel power just as I did with the 5sp in the D90. But having driven the I4 2.3 Explorer and Ranger over the summer (both with auto trans), I can only conclude that this 10 speed was at least as good - meaning that its programming was reasonably well-tuned to the engine and vehicle. The engineers did their homework.

Power? I do wish the Bronco had an option to come with the same hybrid as the Explorer, because recovering the kinetic energy from a 2.5+ ton vehicle as you bring it to a stop can save a heck of a lot of gas around town. But when it comes to acceleration, the 2.7 was more than adequate to the task. You can easily chirp the tires and lurch your passengers turning onto a road and accelerating from a stop. It made that old D90 with its 3.9L V8 feel like a school bus in comparison. I recognize now that I can't judge the 4Xe because it needs a charged battery to produce torque up to its full potential. But as tested the combo of low-power and bad trans made it spasmodic in comparison.

The vehicle itself? Less claustrophobic than the Jeep. Far less expansive (Hummer-like?) than the D90. A lot of plastic around the cabin. And when you examine further? Yet more plastic! More in-your-face plastic than I realized before seeing it in-person.
This vehicle is NOT large, being more a mid-size on a similar scale to the Ranger and Explorer than something larger like an F-150 or Expedition. I used to have a Highlander, and the Bronco seemed substantially smaller than that in both width and interior space. It also wasn't as tall as I expected (non-SAS), but then again my D90 had me looking down on the rooftops of Expeditions so my expectations may have been skewed. The Bronco 4dr felt like a manageable size which is frankly better than the alternative. In short, RIGHT-sized.
--
Finally, comparing to an old Bronco Sport from circa 1973: Power? MUCH better. And without the fumes. Steering? Perhaps 1% as much play. From 90 degrees in the '73 down to < 1 degree in the '21. Trans? Not really a contest going from 3 gears on the column to 10 with a manual-select option. 4wd? I didn't get to test it, but I'm looking forward to locking the front and rear from the comfort of the cabin of my upcoming BL, rather than crawling in the mud to lock the hubs as was necessary in the '73. Safety? Umm... well, the '73 DID have a lever to switch between tanks, so that you wouldn't run out of gas while on the trail. It also had a lot of exposed metal sheet and metal fasteners that are particularly fun on the trail. The '21 just has the dash that tells you how much gas and how many miles you have left. And airbags. And BLIS. And... forgiving Plastic!
Styling? The '73 had a retro cachet that the '21 simply can't hope to achieve for at least another 30 years, because it looks outdated, an anachronism of steel proportions. But the '21 has its own charms, so as long as you are looking at it for what it is and not for what once was there's plenty to be pleased about.

(Edited order month, and removed a few extraneous commas)
 
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mikeheel

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Interesting experience with the 4xe, @skhubbard93 . I guess either I got lucky with the one I tried or you got unlucky with the one you tried. Either way, thanks for detailing your experience and impressions with both of them. I'm looking forward to the 2.7L.
 

ccameron511

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either way good for you, just thought you might like to watch the TFL test of that...the electric portion last a whole 3 miles when they took it off road. Im not seeing the value in the electric For off road at all.



Even on the highway it maxes at 27 miles under perfect conditions.
Yeah, I've seen that and agree the 4xe hybrid setup is not really useful for off-road. It's the power and convenience for local daily driving that I like about the 4xe. I'm really curious to see what hybrid options the Bronco eventually has.
I will say, that's a somewhat poor representation of the all electric range off roading because it's all a steep incline. You'd get 3-5 mpg in a Rubi in those conditions for gas anyway. I took Usal Road in the Lost Coast last week with my 4xe JLUR and between the uphill and downhill sections got 23 miles of offroad driving in electric mode. And the electric drivetrain does make it a more enjoyable experience: more torque, smooth acceleration, only the sound of tires rolling. The power noticeably drops off if you switch to gas mode. The range certainly varies based on terrain but just wanted to make sure that TFL video isn't the only data point out there!
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