Jeep does currently offer a 5.7-liter V8 under the hood of the latest Grand Cherokee, but with 357 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque, it is bested on both counts by the 2-liter four-cylinder turbo-based 4xe plug-in hybrid version which makes 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. With numbers like that, it’s not hard to see why Jeep officials see the V8’s days as being numbered.
Sure, there are still force-fed V8s that make much more power than that, and Jeep makes some of the world’s most powerful, but even for performance applications, it seems many manufacturers are considering electrification. The next-generation Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG will reportedly be a plug-in hybrid with a 2-liter turbo that will be quicker and more capable than its predecessor thanks to electrification.
