Review: 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S electric SUV finally arrives

• Jeep’s first U.S.-market battery-electric vehicle carries a 303-mile range rating and a $71,995 sticker price
• It’s the quickest Jeep in history—better than a Hemi Hellcat
• It’s a Model Y and Lyriq rival for sure—but is it a Jeep?

The 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S is now arriving at dealerships—and it’s about time, if not overdue. The large five-seat electric crossover SUV sits squarely in the premium end of the EV market, and the Launch Edition we tested stickers at $72,000 including the mandatory destination fee. One of two versions is EPA-rated at a combined 303 miles of range; that was the one we drove.

Only about 4,000 model-year 2024 versions were built, all with the high-spec Launch Edition trim. Details on the 2025 Wagoneer S lineup will come “very soon,” execs said, likely at February’s Chicago auto show. They may include both an offroad-focused Trailhawk model and less expensive versions, 

Overall, we found the electric Wagoneer to be a competent, pleasant, relatively quick SUV. If we came away with a question, it was over the car’s fundamental identity: What exactly makes this a Jeep? 

About time, if not overdue

Stellantis, the smallest of Detroit’s resident automakers, has never had a volume electric vehicle to sell. (Two generations of the undeniably “cute” but low-range, subcompact Fiat 500e just don’t cut it.) Now it does.

The electric Wagoneer S is one of two EVs from the former Chrysler that launch within weeks of each other. The second is the polarizing Dodge Charger Daytona, the electric performance car with the audio-enhanced vroom-vroom noises. It’s meant to introduce EV performance to the Hemi crowd—which may well prove to be a tall order.

As a premium electric five-seat SUV, the Wagoneer S should be an easier sell. It sits in a segment that already includes the domestic Cadillac Lyriq and Tesla Model Y, plus imports including the Audi Q6 e-tron, BMW iX, and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, with more on the way.

In late January, we drove a Wagoneer S roughly 100 miles in and around the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad, California—with temperate weather and the state’s strong adoption of EVs making it the ideal environment in which to test a new electric vehicle.

2024 Wagoneer S: An anodyne EV SUV shape

From the front, the traditional Jeep seven-slot grille has morphed into seven fins on a blanking plate with LED accent lights that illuminate the design. It is, designers said, a “confident face” despite the significant bevel from the hood surface down to those fins. The side profile is adequately Jeepish, and it has the characteristic metal lettering spelling out the model name standing proud on the lower front doors.

It’s at the rear where the Jeep identity gets lost. There’s a “4xe” badge, just like all those plug-in hybrids Jeep has sold, and narrow, full-width LED taillights. The very steeply raked rear window is cleverly disguised by a large basket-handle roof spoiler whose vertical side supports give the Wagoneer S a square, SUV side profile. You only see the massive gap between that raked rear glass and the spoiler from certain angles. It’s all about aerodynamics: the quoted drag coefficient of 0.29 makes the Wagoneer S the slipperiest Jeep ever sold.

But we saw nothing at the rear that definitely said Jeep. In fact, coming up to a black SUV ahead at a stoplight, we pegged it as either a Kia or the new Honda Prologue—until we realized it was another Wagoneer S. That’s not great brand ID. The Launch Editions feature a standard glass roof, all-black paint and trim above the beltline, and black alloy 20-inch wheels. 

Inside, it’s the same story. The materials, contrast stitching, and multiple displays say “premium SUV,” but it’s not clear to us they really say “Jeep.” Buyers will be the judge of that. One small touch of butch was a starburst pattern on the matte black plastic that now seems to be supplanting the hackneyed shiny piano-black trim in car interiors.

Those displays include a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch center touchscreen display, a 10-inch head-up display for the driver, a 10.3-inch touchscreen at the right of the dash for the front passenger, and a final 10.3-inch display for the HVAC controls. The control and infotainment software worked fine, though it seemed slow to load once in a while.

En route, it was nice to be able to re-aim the vents (we’re lookin’ at you, Rivian), though some of the controls (e.g. window switches, lock buttons) seemed oddly small for a Jeep. Parts bin, perhaps? We liked the optional red upholstery, which along with the glass roof brightened the interior considerably.

Quickest, most wind-cheating Jeep ever

Superlatives always excite car marketers, so right up front we learned the Wagoneer S is not just the most aerodynamic but also the quickest Jeep ever, with its pair of 250-kw (335-hp) motors delivering a 0-to-60-mph acceleration time of 3.4 seconds. That’s one-tenth of a second faster than the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, with its supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine producing 707 horsepower.

The 100.5-kwh (gross capacity) battery uses nickel-manganese-cobalt cells imported by Samsung SDI until a new Stellantis-Samsung joint-venture cell plant in Kokomo, Indiana, comes online early in 2027. The Wagoneer S pack uses 400-volt architecture and doesn’t have the ability to charge at 800 volts as do most Hyundai and Kia EVs. Level 2 charging time from 5-80% is quoted at almost seven hours, and Jeep says the Wagoneer S can fast-charge from 20-80% in 23 minutes (under ideal circumstances, of course).

The headline range rating for the Wagoneer S is 303 miles, and our test vehicle rode on the Falken tires that gave that higher 303-mile rating. We didn’t drive a Wagoneer S on the Pirellis that, as the EPA site shows, busts the rating down more than 10 percent—to 270 miles. The test car, however, started off showing just 258 miles at 95% battery capacity. It likely reflected aggressive driving by Jeep before we got it, as the range algorithm calculates on the last 50 miles of driving. Our drive wasn’t long enough to conclude much on efficiency; we’d guess 2.5 mi/kwh.

Predictably heavy, suitably quick

Behind the wheel and on the road, a curb weight approaching 3 tons (5,667 pounds) was evident, but we found the power generous and fully suitable for short bursts of fast acceleration on, say, uphill on-ramps. The Wagoneer S is predominantly rear-wheel drive, with the “Automatic” driving mode biased 40:60 front to rear. The “Sport” mode ups that to 20:80 to the rear. 

We started our drive in “Eco” mode, which is 100% rear-wheel drive unless the front motor is required to maintain traction. Eco required more pedal effort to keep up with traffic, but likely would be suitable for many drivers. The low-speed pedestrian alert noise, by the way, is a pleasantly meditative hum.

Jeep’s regenerative braking wasn’t entirely to our liking: it was almost unnoticeable in the lower setting, but too abrupt in the high setting. For the record, maximum regen produces 0.2 to 0.3g, while the minimum is only 0.04 to 0.08g—a pretty wide range. Perhaps Jeep’s drivetrain-software engineers can drive a selection of EVs from more experienced makers to feel how they round the edges of their algorithms.

While not the most capacious five-seat utility vehicle on the market, the electric Wagoneer S had suitable space for four adults to travel in comfort and five if required. Even the front seats had a slightly knees-up position at its lowest setting, reflecting the thick battery under the floor and a roofline lowered to reduce drag. 

It’s worth noting that both our test cars had slight judders during specific low-speed maneuvers. The first one was diagnosed as a malfunctioning front-axle disconnect, and we swapped into a second car halfway through. That one behaved flawlessly until the very end, when reversing produced a minor judder. We didn’t hear the resolution on that one.

Targeting whom, exactly?

Jeep’s new leader, senior vice president Bob Broderdorf, said the brand will target three groups of potential buyers for the Wagoneer S. First are owners of 4xe plug-in hybrid versions of the Wrangler (since 2021) and the Grand Cherokee (since 2022). That’s plausible, except (a) plug-in hybrids are hard to explain to shoppers; and (b) it’s entirely unclear whether many, some, or even any of those owners ever plug in their PHEVs—because Jeep refuses to release data on their plugging-in behavior. Count that group a “maybe.”

The second group is diehards in “the Jeep space,” the true 4×4 crowd who prize Jeeps for their go-anywhere, climb-anything qualities. Think “Trail Rated,” breakover angles, Rubicon Trail, etc. Will the Wagoneer S do off-roading? It didn’t come up in the media briefing—and its 6.4 inches of ground clearance will keep it away from the kinds of rock-climbing the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe (at 10.9 inches) can do. Sure, Jeep aired a Wagoneer S ad with the line, “Beautiful things can still get dirty”—but there, “dirty” seems to mean damp and a bit muddy.

To win over Jeep-space buyers, execs strongly hinted they will add a production version of the Wagoneer S Trailhawk Concept it unveiled the same day as the production car. The Trailhawk rides on rugged 31.5-inch all-terrain tires, features a higher ground clearance, and adds a driver-selectable electronic rear-axle locker and a new Rock driving mode.

Finally, Jeep intends to target buyers of domestic EVs in the same segment. Its Wagoneer full-size SUV (the gasoline one) has drawn buyers from Ford and GM competitors, so Jeep feels it can poach some Chevrolet Blazer EV or Cadillac Lyriq or perhaps Tesla Model Y or Rivian R1S owners. Those now driving Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz competitors? We’re not so sure.

Luxury + Jeep … all-electric, or ‘multi-energy’?

Jeep execs hinted the Trailhawk would show up as part of the Wagoneer S range in due course, along with less pricey versions (very likely a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive version with a higher range rating). Presuming a Trailhawk appears, we’ll wait to see what its off-road capabilities are and how the extra gear and ride height affect rated range.

The electric Wagoneer S is built on the STLA Large unibody “multi-energy” platform that also underpins the electric Charger Daytona. We already know the Charger will be offered with a gasoline inline-6 powertrain along with its battery-electric Daytona version. 

Jeep execs declined to speak about any future versions of the Wagoneer S—but whether or not the company sells suitable numbers of the electric Wagoneer S, a plug-in hybrid gasoline version appears likely in the lineup within a few years.

Meanwhile, Jeep finally has a respectable, 303-mile battery-electric SUV entry. Now all it has to do is sell it.

Stellantis provided airfare, lodging, and meals to enable Green Car Reports to bring you this first-person drive report.