2024 Jeep Wagoneer S takes electrical leap of SUV religion

• The Wagoneer S prices $71,995 in its launch-edition type
• It is the quickest Jeep ever, besting the Hemi-powered Trackhawk
• EPA scores: 303 miles on Falken tires, 270 miles on Pirellis
• Assume city wagon, not off-roader

It’s taken some time to strike out on the EV path, however now Jeep has its first American-market electrical car within the type of the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S. The five-seat, midsize crossover SUV shares solely the Wagoneer identify with the bulkier body-on-frame SUV additionally offered by Jeep—and it disavows fuel totally, not less than for now. 

The Wagoneer S rides on the identical STLA Massive platform because the Dodge Charger EV, and it’s the second of a brace of latest electrical autos Stellantis guarantees for the U.S. quickly, together with a Wrangler-like Recon EV. In apply, it’s a companion to the Grand Cherokee—however with its under-floor battery, extra a direct rival for autos just like the Tesla Mannequin Y and Cadillac Lyriq.  

Of these, the Lyriq provides the higher analogue. Just like the Cadillac, the Wagoneer S overdelivers on trip high quality and acceleration, whereas off-roading expertise and state-of-the-art charging take a again seat. Jeep additionally now faces the identical hurdle Cadillac as soon as confronted: Are Wagoneer patrons actually on the lookout for a smaller, battery-powered utility car—and are they prepared to miss previous model bona fides to get into one? 

2024 Jeep Wagoneer S

Jeep Wagoneer S: Extra wind-cheating wagon than SUV

Meant to conjure the strong-selling form of in the present day’s Grand Cherokee—and remind drivers much less of the awkward uprights of the full-size Wagoneer—the Wagoneer S drapes extra tapered physique panels over the five-passenger cabin with greater than the same old SUV grace. It’s engaging however not particularly compelling. 

Partly, that’s as a result of because the days of FCA, Jeep has watered down the only visible cue that defines its model throughout the packs of think-alike crossovers. Right here the seven-slot grille not slots something in any respect. It’s a sequence of nubbins that rivet an LED gentle bar to the entrance finish, and dismiss that probability to make a useful first impression. 

Down the edges the Wagoneer S is determined by badges to outline it; the profile might come from Jeep or Kia or a number of different manufacturers. Launch Editions put on black above the shoulder line and under on the sills, which cuts down on the mass of the form. Jeep crows over the Wagoneer S’s drag coefficient of 0.29. It will get there, partly, due to a giant basket-handle spoiler that directs air off the again finish of the car and squares off the roofline. The spoiler sits above a slim LED taillight that pushes the Jeep identify up and angled inward to the physique, the place it’s misplaced in translation.

The Wagoneer S cockpit bears extra hanging particulars. A two-spoke steering wheel embossed with “Wagoneer” (however no “Jeep”) units the horizontal theme, which picks up wings of metallic trim on the juncture of sprint and door panel. Digital shows can tuck in all the width: a 12.3-inch gauge cluster twins with the 12.3-inch central touchscreen, whereas a ten.3-inch display screen under that homes local weather controls; a fourth display screen, one other 10.3-incher, will be fitted for front-passenger distraction. 

There’s much less shiny black trim right here to amplify the shine from the screens, fortunately. In my check car, lipstick-red leather-based hinted in any respect the Wagoneer S had in thoughts as soon as we peeled out of the parking zone, seeking empty winding roads.

2024 Jeep Wagoneer S

Jeep Wagoneer S: Trackhawk thrust and strikes

With a set of talons that claw the highway whereas its electrical motors spin out heroic torque, the Wagoneer S drives in contrast to virtually some other Jeep—save for the previous Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. At coronary heart, it’s that car, all day, on a regular basis, solely with a extra compliant trip. 

In pure quickness, it overpowers the Trackhawk out of the gate. With a 250-kw (335-hp) motor at every finish, and a 100.5-kwh battery beneath the ground, the Launch Version Wagoneer S can launch itself to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds—a startling expertise that’s clear when it’s tugged into the drivetrain’s Sport mode and floored from a stoplight or signal. The twin-motor, all-wheel-drive setup flares out 600 hp and 617 lb-ft of torque, which helps it to that better-than-Tesla acceleration time, whereas it additionally makes the Wagoneer S faster than the previous Trackhawk by a tenth of a second.

These drive modes transfer across the Wagoneer S’s energy, whereas a toggle behind a few display screen faucets permits completely different ranges of regenerative braking. Auto mode fits the Wagoneer S’s suburban-shuttle duties finest, by design, and engages motors to separate energy 40:60 entrance to rear. Different modes rejigger energy supply to burn down by means of snow to the pavement, or paddle by means of sand; Eco disengages the entrance axle until it encounters wheel slip, for a extra frugal 100% bias to the rear. It’s Sport mode the place the Wagoneer feels least assured—if solely as a result of it’s so highly effective. It leaps forward even with a limo-driver’s light toe on the throttle, with a 20:80 energy break up and regardless of the Wagoneer S’s curb weight of 5,667 kilos. Inside these drive modes Jeep applications in Max and Min regenerative braking—most set at 0.2 to 0.3g, minimal from simply 0.04 to 0.08g. I drove many of the hundred-mile day in Auto, with most regen, and didn’t expertise the driveline judder that my co-driver witnessed, however Jeep did swap autos at a stopover, noting some axle-locking abnormality. 

With 6.4 inches of floor clearance, the Wagoneer S falls behind autos just like the Subaru Outback at 8.7 inches or extra—and with its street-ready Falken or Pirelli tires, it’s clearly not but tuned for trail-cutting chores. A Wagoneer S Trailhawk Idea appears seemingly for manufacturing, with its digital rear locking differential and all-terrain tires. 

Optimized for on-road driving, the Wagoneer S I drove with 20-inch wheels shod with Falken tires got here with an EPA score of 303 miles, which falls to 270 miles on the stickier Pirellis. Jeep guarantees peak cost charges of about 200 kw, which might math out to a recharge from 20-80% in 23 minutes. 

The flamboyant ZIP codes the place the Wagoneer S finds houses received’t seemingly press its cornering skills an excessive amount of, however other than its very abrupt throttle tip-in, the Wagoneer S comports itself in a genteel method, due to a really well-tuned multi-link entrance and integral-link rear suspension. Just like the Lyriq, it doesn’t want an air suspension and adaptive damping to assuage bouts of highway rash; it is determined by sheer weight and well chosen shocks and is derived. Jeep weights the steering to loosen up at decrease speeds however not an excessive amount of; in Auto mode, it snaps to consideration and retains focus because it tracks down the freeway.

2024 Jeep Wagoneer S

Jeep Wagoneer S: Smaller than it appears

Roughly the dimensions of the present Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Wagoneer S sits 192.4 inches lengthy and rides on a 113.0-inch wheelbase. It has two rows of seats, with no choice for a 3rd. 

Over the course of 100 miles behind the wheel and in each rows of seats, I discovered these entrance leather-clad buckets to have all the nice help of essentially the most plushly padded Grand Cherokees. However oddly, the Wagoneer S pinches entrance passenger toes with a wheel home that intrudes nicely into the foot area. Legroom itself is ok, and so is small-item storage, whether or not it’s within the door pockets or the middle console.

Within the again seat, I might barely slip in under the panoramic roof’s body. At slightly below 6 toes, with a protracted torso, I match OK nonetheless. I match higher beneath the roof of a Lyriq, however the Wagoneer S has higher under-seat foot area and amply sized door openings.

What it doesn’t have is an abundance of cargo area. Jeep charges it at 30.6 cubic toes behind the again seats, and 61.0 cubic toes behind the entrance seats; there’s a entrance trunk of about three cubic toes, too. The Honda CR-V skips the frunk, however sports activities 39.3 cubic toes and 76.5 cubic toes, compared.

All kinds of security tech finds its method into the Wagoneer S, from adaptive cruise management to computerized emergency braking—and all of it works in all drive modes, Jeep engineers underscore. Neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS has examined one but, although.

2024 Jeep Wagoneer S

How a lot does the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S value?

The $71,995 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Version piles on the usual gear—every little thing from heated and cooled energy entrance seats, all of the digital shows, wi-fi smartphone charging, wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and scrumptious sound that emanates from a 1,200-watt McIntosh sound system with 19 audio system and a 12-inch subwoofer. 

Inside a few weeks, Jeep will announce the 2025 model-year Wagoneer S, seemingly with cheaper fashions with decrease energy output and maybe even higher EV vary. 

Quickly sufficient, the Wagoneer S might be joined by the battery-powered, Wrangler-sized Recon. After that, the image grows just a little extra blurry, by way of effectivity: Jeep will backtrack with a midsize hybrid SUV (presumably dubbed Cherokee, once more) whereas it updates the present Grand Cherokee—presumably with a brand new inline-6 engine and even hybrid energy of its personal. 

The Wagoneer S may even get its personal plug-in powertrain someday quickly, because it shares its STLA Massive platform with the Dodge Charger and different forthcoming “multi-energy” autos. Jeep says it’s dedicated to fielding the powertrains folks wish to purchase.

Does that water down the attraction of the primary Jeep BEV for America? Hardly. However it doesn’t make clear it, both. Will Jeep lean ahead into carlike battery-powered autos that blunt off-road skill within the identify of emissions—or will it discover a strategy to stroll that line between fuel and electrical, a method that marks some progress whereas preserving its traditions?

It’s a path that’s arduous to differentiate, with what lies forward for us all. The Wagoneer S pioneers one path ahead for Jeep—but it surely’s retaining prepared to alter course if it should.

Stellantis offered airfare, lodging, and meals in order that Motor Authority might convey you this check drive assessment.