- The 2026 Jeep Recon is the company's first off-road EV, and it'll go on sale next year.
- It packs serious off-road equipment, including a locking rear differential and available 33-inch all-terrain tires.
- Jeep is also offering Wrangler-like removable doors on the Recon, which is a first for any EV.
If you love serious off-roading in an electric vehicle, your options so far have been extremely limited and prohibitively expensive. The Rivian R1S ($76,990), Mercedes-Benz G-Class with EQ Technology ($163,200) and the Hummer EV ($96,600) are all capable electric off-roaders, but cater to a small number of rich buyers.
When the $65,000 (before destination) Jeep Recon goes on sale in the U.S. and Canada early next year, it will appeal to a broader audience. It comes with some serious off-roading equipment that no other EV currently has in its price bracket. Heck, it might even be Stellantis’ most serious EV effort so far, at least on paper.
Gallery: 2026 Jeep Recon
The Recon is a mid-size SUV riding on Stellantis’ STLA Large dedicated BEV platform, which it shares with the Wagoneer S and the Dodge Charger Daytona EV. While the Wagoneer S is an on-road-focused alternative to the Grand Cherokee, the Recon is positioned as the electric alternative to the hard-core Wrangler.
For starters, the Recon will come with a 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack delivering up to 250 miles of Jeep-estimated range in its most efficient configuration. The Recon gets dual-motor all-wheel drive as standard equipment, giving it 650 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque, good enough for a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds.
But straight-line acceleration is not what the Recon is made for. Jeep said the Recon will come with a proper electronic locking rear differential, meaning either of the rear wheels with grip will get full torque even if one wheel floats in the air or is on a loose surface. Even the much pricier Rivian R1T and R1S don’t get mechanical lockers. They instead rely on software to detect slip and then apply the brakes to the wheels without traction, which isn’t nearly as seamless as a mechanical locker.
That’s not all. The Recon will offer a "Moab" trim with 33-inch off-road tires, 9.1 inches of ground clearance and a 15:1 final drive ratio on the rear electric motor. That's the equivalent of a low-range gearbox delivering high torque at slow speeds, helping with things like rock crawling and climbing steep inclines. There’s also what Jeep calls Selec-Speed Control, which is basically Cruise Control for off-roading. This works like a mix of hill descent control and engine braking, so drivers can just focus on steering when the electric motors maintain a set speed on steep slopes using regenerative brakes.
Expect the gearing and big, knobby tires to take a serious toll on range. Jeep hasn't announced official range figures, but expect the most aggressive model to fall well short of that "up to 250 miles of range" claim. On the highway, this may be a sub-200-mile car.
On the design front, the Recon will get a retro-modern aesthetic with U-shaped LED daytime running lights and a Wagoneer-S-like illuminated seven-slot grille. Jeep said the Recon will be the only EV on the market with fully removable doors, rear-quarter glass and swing gate glass, giving it the open-air vibe people expect from a Wrangler. This is rare even in the gas car world; The Jeep Wrangler, Gladiator and Ford Bronco are the only other models on sale that offer removable doors.
Inside, the Recon will come equipped with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 14.5-inch infotainment display. It should run the latest generation of Stellantis entertainment software, which is usually good. But the challenge for Stellantis will be refining the software that runs the vehicle itself, which has been a major pain point in other EVs on the platform. When we drove the Wagoneer S early this year, it felt like a rough draft. Consumer Reports called it an “unfinished product.” The Dodge Charger Daytona EV has similar problems, with the car’s software being laggy and buggy during our test this year.
Software reliability is even more important when you're deep in the woods on an off-road trail, so it's important that Jeep gets this one right. Off-road vehicles are the core of the brand, and Jeep has a real opportunity to show people it's serious about the future of zero-emissions wheeling. We'll have to wait to see if the Recon lives up to the moment, or is another false start.
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