“Many people are confused and honestly frustrated.”

Over the past few months, Jeep’s new brand head Antonio Filosa vowed to reverse its slipping market share and make itself more competitive by cutting prices and offering better value across its model lineup. “Inflation was such a big negative hit for families and people here in the US, we needed to do something,” he told reporters in late February at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. All the while, Jeep parent company Stellantis has also cited inflation-related costs among its decisions to pull back auto show appearances, and ongoing supply chain woes through last year ostensibly changed its initial plan to offer its four-outlet “Power Box” device as a standard accessory on some of its updated 2024 4xe plug-in hybrid models.

TFL viewer Noah reached out after watching part of our initial 2024 Jeep Wrangler coverage, where Jeep Wrangler/Gladiator chief engineer Pete Milo said the useful Power Box accessory that allows owners to run four devices pulling up to 3.6 kilowatts (or 30 amps) combined off their 4xe’s onboard battery pack comes standard with the 2024-and-newer 4xe.

Here is Noah’s full message:

“I’m reaching out because in one of the 2024 jeep wrangler videos, the jeep rep said all 4xe come standard with the power box. Mine and many peoples’ online did not. When I asked jeep about this, they said it now only comes with certain trims, but never posted or shared a revision of that online, including their model brochures. 

I reached out to jeep and they were supposed to connect me with a marketing rep but that was almost 3 weeks ago now. Since they distributed false info on your guys’ page, I was hoping you could post a correction as many people online are confused and honestly frustrated. 

Please let me know if this is something you guys would be willing to do as I and many viewers trust you more than the brand itself. It comes across as false advertising on their part.”

So…what’s going on, exactly?

It doesn’t take much time to spot the frustration — especially if you check owners’ sites like JL Wrangler Forums. While Jeep expanded the 2024 Wrangler 4xe lineup to include more affordable Sport S and Willys models, those selfsame buyers relied on original documentation, reports and interviews (including ours) as reassurance that they would get the Power Box in the same manner as those who ordered a Sahara, Rubicon or High Altitude 4xe.

As of early 2024, that is not the case, and this response on a Power Box forum thread sums up the current state of affairs (from “Drewbacca” in August 2023):

“I finally heard back from someone. She told me that the Power Box is incompatible with the Willys and Sport S because they are not set up with bidirectional charging. This is what I know a lot of people feared. I told her it was horrible that they did a bait and switch since it was advertised as on all trims, even up until last week and people were making expensive decisions based on that information. I thought I remember seeing some Willys and Sport S owners on this forum saying that they got one, even though it wasn’t on their window sticker. They really need to make an announcement at this point to make it obvious, because there are a lot of interviews and press releases out there that say the opposite of what the situation truly is. People deciding between the 2023 and 2024 models need to know. “

Despite that specific owner getting some clarification, others continued to receive conflicting answers on the situation from Jeep’s customer support staff. Even in October 2023, owners cited the retail website in posts on the 4xe Forums, saying the Power Box still came standard on all 4xe trim levels.

What current press information reflects on Jeep Power Box availability

Another post on the 4xe Forums suggested a $250 “Vehicle to Load and Power Box Delete” rendered the whole vehicle unable to use the Power Box, regardless of trim. However, that is again not the case, as Jeep forced a delete option (coded as GF8 on order sheets) on the upper-trim Wrangler 4xe Power Boxes, omitting the option due to supply chain woes and giving buyers a discount instead. So, some owners also didn’t get their Power Box even on the higher trim levels if they ordered their Sahara-or-above Wrangler 4xe in late 2023.

Fast-forward to March 2024, and it seems the supply issue has abated for Sahara, High Altitude and Rubicon owners. Stellantis also updated its 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe press material with bullet points showing the Jeep 4xe Power Box is only available as a standard accessory on those three upper trims. The Power Box does not come standard (or even as an option) on the Sport S or Willys 4xe.

Why not? Well, that’s because the Integrated Dual Charging Module (IDCM), a module that combines a battery charger and DC/DC converter into a single more compact unit, does not support bi-directional charging on the lower-end 4xe models. Owners cannot then purchase a Power Box either from a dealer or second-hand from another Jeep owner because the physical hardware (namely the silicon responsible for monitoring bi-directional power transfer) behind the plug for the box to work does not exist. While you still get a J1772 port to charge the 4xe’s 17.3-kWh main battery, such models will not discharge from the battery to the Jeep Box, then on to other electronics you plug in.

Am I out of luck if I have a Sport S or Willys 4xe?

Unfortunately, if you did buy a 2024 Jeep Wrangler Sport S or Willys 4xe, there is currently no way to retrofit it to work with the Power Box accessory. The Grand Cherokee 4xe also does not currently support the Jeep Power Box, so don’t think you can use it with your family hauler, either.

If you’re in the market for a plug-in hybrid Wrangler with that accessory in mind, then you’ll have to spend the extra cash for the higher-end models. (Wrangler Sahara 4xe models start at $59,590 barring any available manufacturer, dealer and federal/state tax incentives).

Apart from looking at the trim, there is a way to tell by looking at Jeep’s build sheet. Use the following link and plug in a vehicle’s VIN after the equal sign: https://www.jeep.com/webselfservice/BuildSheetServlet?vin=

From there, I plugged in three random 2024 Jeep 4xe models, and found the Rubicon has a line item for “AC Power Box Inverter (PHEV)” that is absent from the lower-end Wrangler 4xe and the Grand Cherokee 4xe. The links follow through to random VINs currently for sale on dealer lots as of March 13, 2024:

• Wrangler Rubicon 4xe (that gets the standard Power Box, as originally advertised)
• Wrangler Sport S 4xe (does not have the AC Power Box inverter line item)
• Grand Cherokee 4xe (also does not have the Power Box line item)

One other matter that rings clear is the messy communication to current and prospective 4xe owners. Hopefully this will help straighten things out if you’re confused and frustrated, but what baffles me in researching the story and gathering more information from owners is the unclear and inconsistent answers from Jeep Wave Customer Care representatives. Some owners including Noah report waiting weeks to receive any answers about the issue, and the answers they do get contradict what they see from other people on forums.

Hopefully, this update will clear up the confusion and shed light on the understandable customer frustration surrounding the issues that fouled the Jeep 4xe Power Box’s launch. While some folks may want me to wade into the false advertising claims, this post is aimed to bring context to the situation and inform buyers to the current situation, so they can make an educated choice from there.

To that end, all the information above is a correction and clarification of statements on the Power Box made in the video below, so keep that in mind. That said, all the other discussion points in the video are good for you to use: