Driving the 2026 Jeep Cherokee Laredo

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Compact SUVs are among the many best-selling autos in America, passing the title of best-selling class forwards and backwards with midsize SUVs some months. There are at all times upstarts transferring into the category and stalwarts which have by no means left it. Names you’ve identified for many years.

The Jeep Cherokee is such a basic that you simply may not even notice it disappeared for some time. Jeep dropped the compact Cherokee from its lineup after the 2023 mannequin yr, although it stored the bigger, equally named Grand Cherokee all alongside.

For 2026, the basic returns, up to date. The 2026 Jeep Cherokee steals a web page from Toyota’s playbook – it’s obtainable solely as a hybrid.

That’s a logical step. Toyota’s RAV4, in any case, has been the best-selling automobile of its variety for years. Can Jeep steal a few of its thunder by resurrecting the legendary Cherokee identify with an all-hybrid compact SUV?

In a phrase, sure. I spent every week driving Jeep’s new Cherokee round Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, residing with it as a household automobile however not venturing off-road. I discovered so much to love, together with some considerate on a regular basis touches that may make you take pleasure in this yet another than its competitors.

The new Cherokee isn’t clearly the most effective mainstream compact SUV, nevertheless it ought to make the RAV4 and Honda CR-V nervous, even when it’s not exactly what you count on from Jeep.

Which Trim Level

Jeep builds the 2026 Cherokee in 5 trim ranges, together with the limited-edition 85^th Anniversary Edition. The firm loaned me the Laredo trim – one step up from the bottom mannequin, or step two on a five-step ladder. It featured fabric upholstery, heated entrance seats, a 6-speaker sound system, and 18-inch wheels. More premium fashions get bigger 20-inch wheels, however these reasonably-sized 18-inch fashions provide you with extra sidewall, which might imply a extra forgiving trip over bumps and potholes.

Favorite Feature

The Cherokee’s finest function is on the window sticker – an EPA score of 37 mpg in mixed driving. In a yr of chaotic gasoline costs, a household SUV with a good mpg score is a sensible funding.

But my favourite function is the one you spend most of your time touching – a fats, squishy, practically octagonal steering wheel.

Spend time with automotive journalists, who drive dozens of automobiles yearly, and also you’ll discover divided opinions on the best steering wheel. But I really like one that offers a bit once you squeeze it, with a flat prime and a flat backside, so it interferes little along with your view of the devices. Jeep designers nailed this one (although it does intrude along with your view of 1 small factor – extra on that in a second).

What It’s Like to Drive

Under the hood of the 2026 Jeep Cherokee sits a 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine mated to a pair of electrical motors. The mixture makes 210 horsepower – greater than aggressive with the remainder of its section. Power goes by means of a repeatedly variable computerized transmission (CVT).

It has loads of low-end acceleration, and Jeep claims it may possibly stay in all-electric mode as much as freeway velocity, although I by no means skilled that. Acceleration was greater than I wanted in any informal driving state of affairs.

You’ll by no means need for energy, however you might sometimes need quiet. I used to be shocked by how loud the engine may buzz.

The Cherokee would generally begin in all-electric mode, during which case, it’s a blissfully quiet automobile. But it might generally hearth up its engine immediately and at a reasonably excessive rev, presumably dumping energy into the battery. When it did so, the 4-cylinder would buzz prefer it was passing on the freeway even whereas backing out of a parking spot at a crawl.

I think you’d get fairly used to it and tune this out rapidly. But, having it for only a week, I by no means did.

Steering was a bit looser than I prefer it in Comfort mode, however tightened up properly in Normal and Sport. I checked this impression with colleagues who’ve additionally pushed the Cherokee, and all of us had the identical thought.

Loose steering is a bonus off-road, which is probably going why Jeep favors it at occasions. Every 2026 Cherokee is all-wheel drive (AWD), although I by no means took it off the asphalt.

Ride high quality was fairly comfy, and I think the 18-inch wheels of the Laredo trim contributed to a nice trip over tough sections of highway.

Brakes had been assured and unremarkable – precisely what you need.

Interior Comfort and Technology

Jeep, with its basic aesthetic and rugged repute, has each purpose to withstand the design traits widespread to 2026, which pull closely from electrical automobiles. But it hasn’t. The cabin of the 2026 Jeep Cherokee is clearly influenced by Silicon Valley’s automobiles.

An enormous central touchscreen controls most automobile features, although local weather controls stay separate buttons beneath. The door handles are electric-powered buttons, although Jeep says they preserve sufficient energy to work on their very own if the battery dies, and have mechanical backup levers in case of an accident.

The dashboard features a denim-like materials (grey in my tester’s gray-and-black design theme) that provides softness to the look. Two-tone black-and-gray seats in related cloth may put on higher over time than the pure black most rivals use. But no Cherokee trim affords true leather-based – Capri Leatherette is as shut as you will get.

The thick, 8-sided steering wheel feels great within the arms, however blocks your view of an oddly positioned quantity knob.

A shift dial, as a substitute of an upright shift lever, contributes to an open really feel.

Rear-seat passengers get their very own USB-C ports and separate air vents.

The primary 6-speaker sound system on this trim stage will get the job completed. Still, I think the most effective argument for getting a better trim stage is the upgraded Alpine sound system discovered on the 85^th anniversary and Overland editions.

Limitations

We’re used to domestic-made automobiles having a rear legroom benefit over imported rivals, however the Cherokee’s 38.5 inches within the second row is just a little small by class requirements. The headroom again there may be wonderful, however in case you fill the second row with adults or rising teenagers, it may be just a little tight at occasions.

Key Considerations

Most Jeep autos are fairly succesful off-road, even when most homeowners not often take them off the asphalt. That’s much less true within the Cherokee than in most of its stablemates. This one loses a floor clearance comparability to the RAV4 and the Subaru Forester. Jeep could introduce a trail-rated model sooner or later, however hasn’t confirmed that one is coming. For now, the Cherokee is probably probably the most Toyota-like Jeep product ever – a hybrid-only compact SUV meant largely for the highway and the car parking zone.

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