Jeep Wagoneer S: It’s Electric!

The luxury mid-size SUV is big business in the US, accounting for 1 million units per year according to Stellantis. It’s a crowded field, but Jeep has seen success in the segment with the stalwart Grand Cherokee (244,597 sales in 2023) and the newer Wagoneer (29,150 sales in 2023).

One thing Jeep hasn’t seen the need to do is offer an all-electric option, but Jeep’s parent company Stellantis has been aggressively pursuing electrification with models like the Dodge Charger Daytona and the Ram REV. It was only a matter of time before the off-road marque followed, and today, at a launch party in Manhattan, Jeep revealed its first all-electric vehicle, the Wagoneer S.

The Wagoneer S is late to the five-seat-luxury-EV-SUV game, with the Tesla Model Y, Genesis GV60, and Mercedes-Benz EQE already occupying the space. How would Jeep differentiate from the competition?

Well, for one, the Wagoneer S is a handsome thing, and most definitely looks like a Jeep. Its puffed-out trapezoidal wheel arches and squared visage read more aggressive than the typical space-egg EV. “When you look at a lot of electric cars, they kind of have this jelly bean, fishy kind of look, which I can’t stand. So we gave the vehicle some character,” said chief design officer Ralph Gilles on the styling. Chrome is noticeably absent, in its place are satin-painted accent trim and natural stainless steel. The design team, and Stellantis as a whole, is looking to find alternatives to the caustic chroming process.

Aside from its general Jeep-ness, the exterior of the S has two defining details that set it apart from the brand’s gas-powered cars. The grille isn’t a grille at all, as the electric Wagoneer doesn’t need the cooling. Gilles’ team took the iconic seven-slot Jeep grille and morphed it into a cast-lit feature that would look at home on a Zaha Hadid building. The other cool feature is the large, almost WRC-like wing integrated into the rear hatch. Gilles referred to it as the R-wing, and the engineering team says it reduces rear air wake and helps the S achieve a 0.29 coefficient of drag.

Like the regular Wagoneer, the interior looks and feels pretty darn nice. As with the exterior, the designers strayed from traditional luxury materials. Wood and leather are replaced with ceramic-coated aluminum and “synthetic non-leather” (vinyl). Some of the interior designers may have been iPad kids, as Jeep boasts a “tech-integrated interior with 45 inches of usable screen space – best-in-class among EVs.” Heated and ventilated front and rear seats and a 19-speaker, 1,200-watt McIntosh audio system round out the interior niceties.

Jeep prides itself on performance, whether it’s on or off-road, so all the exterior and interior show is for nothing if the Wagoneer S has no go.

Luckily the S has plenty of go. With 600 horsepower and 617 lb.-ft. of torque delivered from front and rear electronic drive modules (250kW), the EV Jeep can hustle from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds. To put that in context, the Hellcat-powered Grand Cherokee Trackhawk will hit 60 a tenth slower. For off-roaders, the Wagoneer S has a traction management system that features five distinct driving modes: Auto, Sport, Eco, Snow, and Sand. I’d guess that most Wagoneer owners will not take advantage of this feature, but Jeep teased a Trailhawk Wagoneer S concept at the reveal (pictures not available at press time), so hardcore off-roaders won’t be left in the cold.

The Wagoneer S is based on Stellantis’ STLA Large EV platform that also underpins the upcoming Charger Daytona. The S is equipped with a 400-volt, 100-kilowatt-hour battery good for a claimed range of 300 miles. With a DC fast charger, the pack can go from 20 to 80 percent in 23 minutes.

If the specs and features of this luxury EV SUV sound expensive, you would be right. The fully loaded 2024 Wagoneer S Launch Edition has an MSRP of $71,995 including destination. Although to lessen the sting a little, the Launch Edition includes either a free 48-watt Level 2 home charger, or $600 worth of charging credits through Stellantis’ Free2Move Charge EV charger network. Stellantis promises more affordable, decontented trims in the future.

If you want one, ordering for the Wagoneer S is open today at time of press. If you don’t, at least there will be a good-looking EV SUV on the road.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.