2025 Jeep Wagoneer S

The verdict: Smooth, quiet and deceptively quick, the smaller-than-expected Jeep Wagoneer S electric SUV is an excellent creation for a strategy that now seems outdated.

Versus the competition: The Wagoneer S is quicker and more comfortable than just about anything it competes with, and it comes chock-full of thoughtfully laid-out, useful technology, but its price and mission might create an uphill battle for buyers.

Over the last few years, with the Jeep brand firmly under the guidance and control of European parent company Stellantis, the brand … well, there’s no other way to say this: It’s lost its way — and its customers.  Management decreed that Jeep should go upscale, with ever more expensive prices and bigger, more luxurious offerings, much of it epitomized by the resurrection of the Wagoneer nameplate. But Wagoneer was to be more than just a model; it was going to be a sub-brand, less Jeepy and more fancy. The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are built off full-size pickup truck frames and compete with models like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator in size and price. More Wagoneer models were expected going forward, and it’s with that directive that the all-electric, high-performance 2024 Wagoneer S was readied.

But now that the Wagoneer S is here, it feels a little out of place. There’s a new direction for Jeep now that one of Stellantis’ major cash cows has started to wither in the field and management has been replaced. Prices have been slashed to more reasonable levels. Product direction is being rethought, as is the effort to recapture the brand’s all-American image. Wagoneer as a sub-brand is dead, said Bob Broderdorf, the new head of Jeep Brand North America, just 100 days into his latest assignment after more than two decades at Stellantis and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles before it. All Jeeps are going to be Jeeps.

What, then, are we to make of the new Wagoneer S, a $72,000, 600-horsepower, mid-size electric SUV meant more for on-road performance and luxury than off-road trail humping? Jeep officials are quick to point out that this Launch Edition is just the first version of many Wagoneer S models that will be coming in 2025, with this one being the “premium” version while “mainstream” and “off-road” versions are in the works. The Launch Edition will just be one of many, with this trim meant to go up against other premium mid-size all-electric SUVs like the Genesis Electrified G70 and Tesla Model Y in terms of vehicle class and the Rivian R1S in terms of performance.