2024 Jeep Wagoneer S Is the Brand’s First EV for the U.S.

If you can say one thing about the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S, it’s this: Looks are deceiving. Take the rugged SUV aft end that gives it the heft of a sports utility. It’s an illusion. In reality, the real roofline, rear interior contours, and the pinched rear visibility are actually that of a rounded “coupe”-style SUV, more like a BMW X4, yet the exterior side profile has the squared-off look of an X5. The seven-slot grille is another sleight of hand. After all, slots in a grille are there to admit cooling air, but this EV doesn’t really need much of that. Instead, the grille elements emit light as part of a daytime-running-light signature. All this subterfuge makes for a coefficient of drag of just 0.29, the brand’s best yet.

Jeep’s first EV for the U.S., this electric SUV is built on the new STLA Large platform. The Wagoneer S is not overly large, however. It’s a comfy two-row SUV, but it is smaller in every exterior dimension than the Grand Cherokee, which in turn is much smaller than the gargantuan non-S Wagoneer. The Wagoneer S rides on a tidy 113.0-inch wheelbase. It’s 192.4 inches long and 74.8 inches wide. It also comes in at just 64.8 inches tall, but there’s no roof rack up top. And it has a very un-Jeep-like 6.4 inches of ground clearance below.

That we’re writing about a “new” 2024 vehicle in 2025 is another oddity. But here we are, in January 2025, having just driven the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S. This suggests that development of Stellantis’s first EV platform ran long—but in some respects it could have used more time in the oven.

Solid Specs

The numbers can’t be faulted. Power comes from a pair of 335-hp permanent-magnet AC electric motors, with one powering the rear axle all the time and another brought in to power the front as needed with a wheel-end disconnect mechanism. The driver doesn’t necessarily have control over the timing of this, so it’s essentially all-wheel drive. Put your right foot down, and you’ll get the maximum output of 600 horsepower and 617 pound-feet of torque. Jeep says that’s good for a sprint to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, which the company claims is quicker than any previous model—including a tenth quicker than the supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. (In our testing, the Trackhawk raced to 60 mph in a matching 3.4 seconds.) In the Wagoneer S’s case, power emanates from a 400-volt lithium-ion battery with a usable capacity of 93.9 kilowatt-hours. Charging peaks at 11.0 kilowatts when the Wagoneer S is hooked up to a Level 2 source and tops out at 203 kilowatts on a suitable DC fast-charger. Range is EPA-estimated at a respectable 303 miles when equipped with the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S tires or 270 miles on Pirelli Scorpion MS all-seasons.

Less Solid Driving Dynamics

There are five drive programs to choose from. Sport, Auto, and Eco are self-explanatory and cover the basics, while Sand and Snow fill out the rest. We spent the bulk of our time in Auto and dabbled with Sport. Right off the rip, we found the accelerator to be touchy and nonlinear, particularly at tip-in. It smooths out at higher speeds, so that’s something. The regenerative braking has two settings, and we didn’t much care for either of them. Maxi was initially a bit grabby, and Min added too much brake at the first dab. We normally don’t think much about such things when driving a new EV, but this one needs more polish.

On paper, the chassis is built from the traditional stuff, with struts up front and a type of multilink at the rear. It’s all steel springs and passive dampers, though. The tires offered are Falken Ziex CT60 A/S or Pirelli Scorpion MS all-seasons in size 235/50R-20, and they offer up decent grip and low noise. But rolling along the back roads of San Diego County, we were taken aback by how the road felt rougher than it looked, as if the car were somehow magnifying the size of admittedly small bumps. Overall, it was a rather brittle ride that seemed to have too much low-speed rebound damping; never inhaling, just exhaling. As for the steering, it loaded up nice enough when we were bombing through fast sweepers, but it lost its focus and sense of self-centering when driving straight or turning more casually.

Inner Space

The interior is a welcoming and interesting place, with a 12.3-inch instrument display, a 12.3-inch center touchscreen, a 10.3-inch lower screen, and another 10.3-inch screen ahead of the passenger. It all looks good and is cohesively tied together with Wagoneer design cues. Many of the controls are familiar and easy to understand, and the wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are super easy to set up. The inductive phone charger is also nicely secure and easy to access without opening the console. And the McIntosh 1200-watt 19-speaker stereo is everything you expect it to be and more. But some minor aspects do frustrate. The regenerative braking controls are hidden, the Auto setting for the climate system is not obvious, and the head-up display icons are so small and so low-contrast that they’re nearly invisible.

Rear-seat headroom is not quite as tight as that of a BMW X4. The roof’s slope seems to start a little farther aft, which means rear headroom is reasonably good. Rear legroom is not quite enough for a six-foot-two-inch driver to sit behind himself. Cargo space is reasonably impressive, with 31 cubic feet available behind the rear seats. Flop the second row down and that increases to 61 cubes. And if you want to get frunky, there’s an additional 3 cubic feet in the front trunk. But the view through the rear window is decidedly pinched. A workaround is to use the rear camera view, which provides an unobstructed view as if the seats and rear pillars are not even there because, well, they’re not; the camera is mounted in the rear spoiler.

All of the above features are standard in the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S, but the same won’t be true of 2025 models. That’s because the 2024 Wagoneer S lineup comprises a single Launch Edition trim. It comes standard with everything, from the dual motors to the McIntosh stereo to the panoramic sunroof and more for $71,995. There are paint color options for $595, a towing package for $995, and a red interior for $1000, but that’s it. More is sure to come in 2025, including a lower-spec variant at a more affordable price point and possibly a more off-road-capable version in the vein of the Trailhawk concept shown last year. But let’s hope Jeep also takes the opportunity to hone this model’s rough edges—a successful EV is about more than just specs.

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com