On September 8, Jeep announced its first all-electric vehicle. And make no mistake: it is a real Jeep. The doors bolt off, the windows detach, and the differentials lock. Thanks to that last feature, the company says it鈥檒l be capable of tackling challenging overlanding trails, too.听
What this Jeep Recon will not be doing is replacing the Jeep Wrangler, and that model鈥檚 internal combustion powertrain. When it reaches consumers in 2024, it鈥檒l exist alongside the Wrangler, .听
Jeep hasn鈥檛 released too many details yet. We know order books will open in early 2023, we know it will be made in America, and we know know it has electronically locking differentials on both axles. Beyond that, we only have these images.听
Aside from range and price, the big question about the Recon is: Just how good will this thing be off-road?听
At the September 8 launch event, Jeep CEO Christian Meunier said, 鈥淭he all-new, all-electric Jeep Recon has the capability to cross the mighty Rubicon Trail, one of the most challenging off-road trails in the U.S. and reach the end of the trail with enough range to drive back to town and recharge.鈥
The Rubicon Trail, which runs across California鈥檚 Sierra Nevada mountains is widely considered the most difficult off-road trail in America. But is getting across it, and doing so with enough range to drive to the nearest charging station, really that big of a challenge?听
Like many other 4×4 trails, most of the Rubicon鈥檚 toughest obstacles are optional. While it鈥檚 fun to test your driving skills and your heavily-modified 4×4鈥檚 cabilities on the really tricky stuff, you can also just drive around most of it on relatively easy terrain. So the Rubicon can be completed even by fairly road-biased vehicles. Jeep also advertises the fact that its own Cherokee Trailhawk鈥攁 unibody crossover鈥攃an complete the trail.听
As for range, the Rubicon is 22 miles long, and its eastern terminus is a 9.9-mile drive from the closest EV charging station in Tahoe City.听But the range of any electric vehicle obviously decreases massively off-road. This is the single biggest barrier to their adoption as adventuremobiles. The GMC Hummer EV I drove back in April offers an official range of 329 miles in mixed city and highway driving. But over relatively moderate off-road terrain, I saw efficiency plummet to just 0.4 miles/kWh, which given that vehicle鈥檚 205 kiloWatt hour battery pack, adds up to just 82 miles.听
That truck costs $112,500 and weighs a positively ridiculous 9,063 pounds. I鈥檓 almost certain this Jeep will be more affordable, lighter, and have less range. But again, the company isn鈥檛 talking numbers yet.
The only number I can find here is tire size, which has been photoshopped off all but one of these press images. It appears to be 265/70-18, which works out to 32.6 x 10.4 inches in English. That鈥檚 pretty darn big for a crossover, but still smaller than 34s that come stock on Rivians and the 35s fitted to the Hummer.
So will this thing be a bona fide off-roader or a zero-emissions crossover with removable doors? It鈥檚 impossible to say right now, but I鈥檓 eager to learn more.