Compact SUVs are among the best-selling vehicles in America, passing the title of best-selling class back and forth with midsize SUVs some months. There are always upstarts moving into the class and stalwarts that have never left it. Names you’ve known for decades.
The Jeep Cherokee is such a classic that you might not even realize it disappeared for a while. Jeep dropped the compact Cherokee from its lineup after the 2023 model year, though it kept the larger, similarly named Grand Cherokee all along.
For 2026, the classic returns, updated. The 2026 Jeep Cherokee steals a page from Toyota’s playbook – it’s available only as a hybrid.
That’s a logical step. Toyota’s RAV4, after all, has been the best-selling vehicle of its kind for years. Can Jeep steal some of its thunder by resurrecting the legendary Cherokee name with an all-hybrid compact SUV?
In a word, yes. I spent a week driving Jeep’s new Cherokee around Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, living with it as a family vehicle but not venturing off-road. I found a lot to like, including some thoughtful everyday touches that might make you enjoy this one more than its competition.
The new Cherokee isn’t clearly the best mainstream compact SUV, but it should make the RAV4 and Honda CR-V nervous, even if it’s not precisely what you expect from Jeep.
Which Trim Level
Jeep builds the 2026 Cherokee in five trim levels, including the limited-edition 85th Anniversary Edition. The company loaned me the Laredo trim – one step up from the base model, or step two on a five-step ladder. It featured cloth upholstery, heated front seats, a 6-speaker sound system, and 18-inch wheels. More premium models get larger 20-inch wheels, but these reasonably-sized 18-inch models give you more sidewall, which can mean a more forgiving ride over bumps and potholes.
New 2026 Jeep Cherokee Prices
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Retail Price
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Fair Purchase Price (92620)
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|---|---|---|---|---|
$36,995 |
$35,800 |
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$39,995 |
$38,600 |
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$39,995 |
$38,700 |
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$39,995 |
$38,900 |
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$44,995 |
$43,800 |
Favorite Feature
The Cherokee’s best feature is on the window sticker – an EPA rating of 37 mpg in combined driving. In a year of chaotic gas prices, a family SUV with a decent mpg rating is a practical investment.
But my favorite feature is the one you spend most of your time touching – a fat, squishy, nearly octagonal steering wheel.
Spend time with automotive journalists, who drive dozens of cars every year, and you’ll find divided opinions on the ideal steering wheel. But I love one that gives a bit when you squeeze it, with a flat top and a flat bottom, so it interferes little with your view of the instruments. Jeep designers nailed this one (though it does interfere with your view of one small thing – more on that in a moment).
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 electric motors. The combination makes 210 horsepower – more than competitive with the rest of its segment. Power goes through a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).
It has plenty of low-end acceleration, and Jeep claims it can remain in all-electric mode up to highway speed, though I never experienced that. Acceleration was more than I needed in any casual driving situation.
You’ll never want for power, but you may occasionally want quiet. I was shocked by how loud the engine could buzz.
The Cherokee would sometimes start in all-electric mode, in which case, it’s a blissfully quiet car. But it would sometimes fire up its engine right away and at a fairly high rev, presumably dumping power into the battery. When it did so, the 4-cylinder would buzz like it was passing on the highway even while backing out of a parking spot at a crawl.
I suspect you’d get quite used to it and tune this out quickly. But, having it for just a week, I never did.
Steering was a bit looser than I like it in Comfort mode, but tightened up nicely in Normal and Sport. I checked this impression with colleagues who have also driven the Cherokee, and we all had the same thought.
Loose steering is an advantage off-road, which is likely why Jeep favors it at times. Every 2026 Cherokee is all-wheel drive (AWD), though I never took it off the asphalt.
Ride quality was quite comfortable, and I suspect the 18-inch wheels of the Laredo trim contributed to a pleasant ride over rough sections of road.
Brakes were confident and unremarkable – exactly what you want.
Interior Comfort and Technology
Jeep, with its classic aesthetic and rugged reputation, has every reason to resist the design trends common to 2026, which pull heavily from electric cars. But it hasn’t. The cabin of the 2026 Jeep Cherokee is obviously influenced by Silicon Valley’s cars.
A big central touchscreen controls most car functions, though climate controls remain separate buttons beneath. The door handles are electric-powered buttons, though Jeep says they retain enough power to work on their own if the battery dies, and have mechanical backup levers in case of an accident.
The dashboard includes a denim-like material (gray in my tester’s gray-and-black design theme) that adds softness to the look. Two-tone black-and-gray seats in similar fabric might wear better over time than the pure black most competitors use. But no Cherokee trim offers true leather – Capri Leatherette is as close as you can get.
The thick, 8-sided steering wheel feels wonderful in the hands, but blocks your view of an oddly placed volume knob.
A shift dial, instead of an upright shift lever, contributes to an open feel.
Rear-seat passengers get their own USB-C ports and separate air vents.
The basic 6-speaker sound system in this trim level gets the job done. Still, I suspect the best argument for buying a higher trim level is the upgraded Alpine sound system found on the 85th anniversary and Overland editions.
Limitations
We’re used to domestic-made cars having a rear legroom advantage over imported rivals, but the Cherokee’s 38.5 inches in the second row is a little small by class standards. The headroom back there is fine, but if you fill the second row with adults or growing teens, it might be a little tight at times.
Key Considerations
Most Jeep vehicles are quite capable off-road, even if most owners rarely take them off the asphalt. That’s less true in the Cherokee than in most of its stablemates. This one loses a ground clearance comparison to the RAV4 and the Subaru Forester. Jeep may introduce a trail-rated version in the future, but hasn’t confirmed that one is coming. For now, the Cherokee is perhaps the most Toyota-like Jeep product ever – a hybrid-only compact SUV meant mostly for the road and the parking lot.
