Photo: JeepJeep · Off-road EVJeep showed the Recon at the Los Angeles Auto Show a year ago this month, and buyers have been waiting on it ever since. This fall it finally went into retail production at Stellantis’ Toluca plant in Mexico, and Jeep says the first customer trucks reach dealers this month. It is the first fully electric Jeep with a Trail Rated badge, and the first EV of any kind with doors, rear quarter glass and swing gate glass you can unbolt and leave in the garage.
It is also one of the least efficient electric vehicles on sale in America. Both of those things are true at once, and which one matters more depends almost entirely on where you live and how you drive.
What makes it a Jeep
The Recon rides on the same STLA Large platform as the Wagoneer S, but it was built to get dirty. The launch Moab model gets 33-inch all-terrain tires, 9.1 inches of ground clearance, a front and rear electric drive module of 250 kW each, and a steep 15:1 final drive at the rear for slow, controlled crawling. Selec-Terrain offers Auto, Sport, Snow, Sand and a Moab-only Rock mode.
The removable doors are the headline, and they are a big deal! No other EV lets you do this. A power Sky One-Touch top is a $1,995 option, and with the doors, glass and roof open the Recon is the closest thing yet to an electric Wrangler. It is quick, too: Jeep quotes 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, on the all-terrain tires.
The range problem
The EPA rates the Recon Moab at 222 miles, short of the 230 to 250 miles Jeep talked about at the reveal. Then Car and Driver ran one through its steady 75 mph highway test and got 160 miles from a full charge, or 1.7 miles per kWh. Of the more than 100 EVs the magazine has put through that test, the Recon is one of the least efficient. A Rivian R2 Performance, with a smaller battery and about the same power, went 260 miles on the same loop.
The reasons are easy to see in the photos: a tall, square front end, knobby 33-inch tires, and a 400-volt system pushing nearly 700 horsepower. Those are the same things that make it good on a trail. Jeep’s own answer is that real-world range varies with speed, terrain, climate and tires, and that later trims with less power and road tires will do better. The Overland is expected to be rated at about 240 miles.
Inside
Inside, the Recon is more Grand Cherokee than Wrangler: a 12.3-inch driver display, a 14.5-inch center screen, wireless charging, four USB-C ports and an 11-speaker Alpine stereo, plus Jeep’s Trails Offroad app built in. The Moab gets tan leather with red accents. A $1,995 Comfort Package adds ventilated front seats and heated rear seats.
Why it took so long
How it stacks up
$66,995Photo: JeepThe only EV with removable doors and glass, and a true Trail Rated off-roader. You pay for that in range and price.
$57,990Photo: RivianAbout $9,000 less, about 100 more miles of rated range, and nearly the same power. No removable doors, though.
The Recon sits between a Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally and a Rivian R1S on price, and the next rival is already on the way: the Scout Traveler is due in 2027 with a target base price under $60,000. With the federal EV tax credit gone, the Recon has to win on character alone. The good news for Jeep is that it has plenty of that.
New this week: a range estimator for the trail
Jeep seems to know where buyers are nervous. A newly published Stellantis patent, reported this week, describes a trail range predictor for electric off-roaders like the Recon. Before you head out, it would weigh the trail’s distance, elevation and expected speed against battery charge and temperature, tire pressure, whether you plan to run the air conditioning or take the roof off, and even crowdsourced energy use from other drivers on the same route. Then it checks whether you can finish the trail and still reach a charger afterward.
A patent is not a promise, but it is the right idea. Off the pavement, an EV like this barely sips energy at walking pace. The risk is the highway drive to the trailhead and back.
Our take
The Recon is the most charming EV Jeep has built, and the most Jeep-like electric vehicle anyone has built. If you live within an hour of the trails, charge at home and want a weekend toy that doubles as a quiet daily driver, it is a genuinely fun thing to own. If you drive long stretches of interstate, the numbers are hard to ignore, and an R2 will take you much farther for less.
Either way, we would wait for the Overland and its longer range before deciding. Compare the Recon against every EV on sale in our EV Range Chart, and check what charging it at home costs in your state with our cost to charge by state guide.
Sources: Jeep and Stellantis, Electrek, Car and Driver (75 mph range test, via Electrek and InsideEVs), CarBuzz (Jeep statements on production and the 82 development units), Motor1 (configurator and options), autoevolution (670 hp update), Torque News (Rivian R2 comparison), ClubAlfa (Stellantis trail range patent), J.D. Power (Scout Traveler target), Recurrent (cold weather estimate). Photos: Jeep, Rivian.
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