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The All-Electric Jeep Recon Beats The Wrangler In One Key Way. But It's Still Flawed.

The Recon is far more happy on the road than any Wrangler. But it’s still a Jeep EV, and that’s a big caveat.

Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

Mack Hogan

By: Mack Hogan

Sep 9, at 12:01am ET

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This is the first real electric Jeep. Sure, the Wagoneer S arrived in 2024 to a critical shrug, but that was a high-performance, on-road luxury vehicle—more Range Rover than Wrangler. The Recon Moab, though, rides on gnarly 33-inch tires, gets a locking differential, and offers an open-roof, no-doors experience. It’s pure Jeep.

For better, and for worse.

After driving it around Sonoma County wine country in California, here’s what I liked about the Recon, and why I’m still a bit skeptical.

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2026 Jeep Recon: Design & Overview

Gallery: 2026 Jeep Recon: First Drive Photo Gallery

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Source: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

You can spot it 50 yards out. While the Wagoneer S could be mistaken for just about any modern electric crossover, the Recon’s broad stance, squared-off design, and prominent rear-mounted spare tire betray its origins. Currently available only in Moab guise—the EV equivalent of the hardcore Rubicon trim, it seems—the Recon looks fit for purpose.

Much of that is clever design work. The Recon rides on the same STLA Large platform as the Wagoneer S and the Dodge Charger, but with independent suspension at all four corners. Sharing roots with a muscle car suggests this isn’t quite the pure-bred Wrangler alternative that some may assume, but that’s ok.

Jeep Wagoneer S First Drive

The Recon shares its platform, battery, and many parts with the more road-oriented Wagoneer S (pictured).

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

The Wrangler has solid front and rear axles, which are great for off-road wheeling but terrible for on-road ride and handling, and brutal for steering. It’s a compromised machine designed for one purpose.

The Recon is more of a multi-tool. With an electro-mechanical locking rear differential, a variety of terrain modes and tools, 9.1 inches of clearance, and great angles (33.8-degree approach, 33.1-degree departure, and 23.3-degree breakover), it’s certainly up for any forest road or field you’ll point it towards. But roll through the gates at an off-road park and you’ll find yourself outmatched by Wranglers, Broncos, and trucks—really anything with solid axles and a more flexible body.

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

The payoff is clear, though: The Recon’s 670 horsepower output suggests that it’s a bit more comfortable with speed than your average off-roader. With 620 lb-ft of twist, it can notch a 0-60 sprint in just 3.6 seconds. That’ll leave any Wrangler watching your spare tire as you blast away. Combined with a proper rack-and-pinion steering system, a less creaky body, and less wallowy suspension, the Recon looks to be a lot more capable on tarmac.

So it can venture plenty far off pavement and go plenty fast on it. But every multi-tool has its weak point. The Recon Moab offers 222 miles of range from its 100.5 kWh battery, so it won’t go too far on the highway.

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

Right there I can feel readers closing the page. But stick with me. The number was the elephant in the room at the event. My fellow automotive journalists and I chewed over the issue at dinner: Is that really enough for a $66,995 vehicle? In 2026? Many seemed offended or surprised.

I was not one of them. I’ve owned a four-wheel-drive vehicle on 33s before. It burned fuel quicker than an open pyre. There’s a mechanical truth here. A boxy, upright vehicle on knobby all-terrain tires must be bludgeoned forward with an exorbitant amount of energy if you want to maintain 70 mph. Expect the Recon to go less than 200 miles between stops when cruising at 70 and not quite running to 0%. At least charging happens quickly: Jeep says the Recon can juice from 10-80% in just 23 minutes.

Longer-range, more street-oriented trims are coming to assuage range concerns. But the main hope is that the easily removable doors and capable off-road performance will help you overlook the poor road-trip performance and steep starting price, which is about $17,000 North of a Wrangler Rubicon. Does it deliver?

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Jeep says this is its first trail-capable EV.

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

2026 Jeep Recon: Driving, Performance, & Off-Road

The second we left downtown Healdsburg, CA, I could tell that this was no Wrangler. The traditional Jeep’s solid axles necessitate the use of an older, sloppier steering system, the steering box. While the solid axle has advantages off-road, the steering box is much less precise than a more modern rack-and-pinion setup. If you’ve ever wondered why you have to steer constantly just to keep a Wrangler straight on the highway, that’s why.

The Recon gets a road-oriented independent front suspension and a modern steering system, and it’s transformative. It is the first knobby-tired Jeep I’ve driven that isn’t a chore on fast, straight roads. It’s precise and easy to handle.

Just don’t forget it’s still on chunky all-terrains, has more torque than a McLaren F1, and weighs 6,112 pounds. Despite the sharper steering the Recon is still a big, tall, truck riding on rubber that’s ill-suited to on-road performance. In light rain, at less than 30% throttle and with all of the safety assists on, it still tried to slide out on me on a tight highway onramp.

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

The Recon can ford through two feet of standing water.

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

While newly minted Jeep CEO Branden Coté told us the Recon is part “race car,” that’s pure marketing speak. If anything, it’s more like a classic Dodge muscle car, in that it’s riotously fast off the line but sloppy in the corners. The truck never fully settles down when going hard, with every bump and lean reverberating through its chassis.

It handles pavement better than any Wrangler. But don’t let the 670 hp figure fool you. You won’t be chasing any Rivians to the trail.

You’ll be comfortable enough, though. The Recon is pretty quiet and, in my case, was free of substantial rattles. The ride is perfectly acceptable on the highway, easily trouncing a Wrangler or a Bronco, and there’s always enough power. It’s perfectly at home on long interstate cruises and two-lane highway slogs. Even if the going gets twisty, you’d rather be in a Recon than just about anything with a frame.

Slow down and the shine wears off. Much like the Wagoneer S and Charger Daytona before it, the Recon has janky low-speed throttle and regen calibration. Rolling from 10 mph down to 0 is uncomfortable in any mode, and precise throttle control below 5 mph is tricky business. At its worst it feels binary, the throttle giving either too much or nothing at all. This is made worse by the confusing regen brake settings.

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

The vehicle has separate settings for how aggressively it regenerates energy off-throttle and for whether “creep” is on or off. You can toggle regen to high or low, and creep on and off. But while the “high regen” setting in many EVs enables one-pedal mode, in the Jeep it’s turning creep off that enables one-pedal mode. Unfortunately it isn’t very good at this, grabbing the brakes with far too much force at low speeds and jerking your head forward.

The Recon is best experienced with regen set to low and creep on. It’s bizarre with high regen and creep, and awkward with low regen and no creep. This all serves as a reminder that Jeep is much more comfortable tuning for gas car fans than EV enthusiasts.

This was troublesome in the Wagoneer S, but I find it more annoying in the Recon. This is a vehicle built for off-roading, and all real off-roading happens below 10 mph. Precise throttle control is essential and was, in my brief experience, lacking here. Over a small rock garden Jeep set up for us, the Recon bucked heavily, even when I used its off-road cruise control. I didn’t find its ride or powertrain calibration to be too reassuring on the course.

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

I didn't get nearly as much time as I would've liked to test it out, though, as much of the off-road course Jeep set up got shut down due to heavier-than-expected rain. Other journalists also seemed less annoyed by the throttle than I was, so take that as you will. Even still, the course was enough to prove that the Recon can handle some gnarly bits, plus two feet of standing water, so it was valuable.

I didn’t do enough testing to prove it but, with a mechanical rear locker and a 15:1 final drive ratio, I fully expect the Recon to out-climb the Rivian R2 when the going gets steep. But the R2 is more precise and better on the road, so it’s a tradeoff.

2026 Jeep Recon: Interior & Tech

The Recon’s interior is utilitarian yet upscale. There’s a thick, solid grab handle for the passenger, a bulky drive selector, a solid switch for the locker and off-road modes, and plenty of light regardless of whether you get the (standard) dual-pane moonroof or the sliding retractable soft top. The seats are comfortable enough, and all of the cabin materials are quite nice for the segment.

Jeep Recon First Drive

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

Then there are the Jeep touches. The doors can each be removed in less than a minute, with zero tools, as can the rear quarter windows and rear windshield. You can drop in little mirrors in the door mounting points, as the normal side mirrors are mounted to the doors themselves. Plus, Jeep included a locking center console to secure any important items when you’re going door-free. Easter eggs of little Jeeps and Recons abound.

But the center of it all is, as ever, a large touchscreen. The Recon gets a 14.5-inch central screen running Uconnect 5, Stellantis’ latest system. It’s flanked by a 12.3-inch driver display. Both screens were quick, well-designed, and clear. But the system’s EV-specific features are either underbaked or missing.

The efficiency display is indecipherable, as I noted in my Wagoneer S review, displaying both miles per kWh and “charge” (on a scale of -2 to 2?) on the Y axis and time (by week) on the X axis. No clue. Then there’s the fact that the on-board navigation doesn’t automatically add chargers. If you do look for them, it tends to treat Level 2 chargers as good road trip stops, which is silly. Factor in the vagueness about creep, plus the inability of the car to tell you how much battery you’ll have upon arrival, and it all starts to feel like the team just doesn’t know or care much about the EV experience.

There will be more street-oriented trims of the Recon, including this Overland model. The smaller tires should improve range, and a lower price should improve the Recon's value proposition.

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

That’s a shame, because the rest of the software and interior experience are nice. I don’t love having all of my climate controls in the screen, but in the Recon at least they are persistent software buttons, and easy to quickly adjust. It could use a back button, to be sure, but for most users I think the tech is perfectly adequate.

Early Verdict: Who Is The Jeep Recon For?

I hope I’m not surprising anyone when I say that the Jeep Recon is not the best EV on sale. It’s my favorite EV Jeep makes, sure, but it’s still an early attempt from a brand that’s far from all-in on electrification. Hell, the company is planning to drop a gas motor into this bad boy.

With its middling stats, questionable launch timing, and high price, I expected to dislike the Recon. I didn’t. The awful low-speed throttle and bouncy ride of the Wagoneer S made me hate it. Yet in the Recon, I was willing to overlook these flaws because I was driving something that felt authentic, fun, and unmistakably Jeep. Say what you will about the brand; it still makes some of the most charming products in the business.

2027 Jeep Recon Moab: First Drive

The Recon looks great with its doors off and the optional wheels.

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

Atop those sits the Wrangler, a car that I have always loved as an outdoors enthusiast and always hated as a driving enthusiast. I would prefer not to daily drive or road trip a vehicle with solid axles, and I certainly don’t like riding in one on bumpy trails.

What do you think?

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Comments

The Recon solves that for me. It gives me the same captivating styling and open-air vibes as a Wrangler without the unacceptable road manners. It offers all the doors-off, lockers-on fun of a Wrangler on a gnarly road without the painful awareness that you’re getting 15 mpg.

It’s a compelling pitch. But for $67,000, I want a polished, well-thought-out product. The Recon is the first Jeep EV to get close to that, but it’s not all the way there.