2024 Jeep Wagoneer S

REVIEW AND TEST DRIVE

2024 Jeep Wagoneer S First Drive Review

Jeep's worthy electric SUV needs a Trailhawk version to make it compelling.

Christian Wardlaw | 

Jan 27, 2025 | 6 min read

Christian Wardlaw

Jeep does not boast about the limited ground clearance or terrain-stomping capabilities. With P235/50R20 Falken all-season tires mounted at each corner, the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S is far from Trail Rated. That's why the Selec-Terrain system offers only Sand and Snow driving modes in addition to Eco, Normal, and Sport.

That's also why Jeep didn't include an off-roading session during the Wagoneer S's introductory media drive in Carlsbad, California. Instead, the company mapped out a route that included city streets, suburban boulevards, multilane freeways, and writhing mountain roads.

For this 2024 Wagoneer S review, Jeep provided a Launch Edition equipped with Radar Red interior and Silver Zynith exterior paint, which cost an extra $1,595. Those upgrades brought the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $73,590, including the $1,795 destination charge to ship the vehicle to the dealership from the Toluca, Mexico, assembly plant.

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Wagoneer S Launch Edition Is Jeep's First Battery-Electric Vehicle

The Wagoneer S might have a familiar name and styling, but nearly everything is new. Jeep's parent company, Stellantis, has been developing electric vehicles for several years, and the 2024 Dodge Charger and 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S are the first to go on sale.

Two 250-kilowatt electric motors generating 600 horsepower and 617 pound-feet of torque power the Wagoneer S. A 100.5-kWh battery supplies the juice and 303 miles of driving range, and Jeep says the Wagoneer S will accelerate to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, quicker than the now-defunct 707-hp Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.

When recharging at a DC fast charger, you can replenish the battery from 5% to 80% in 28 minutes. You can also get the complimentary Free2Move Level 2 home charging station Jeep offers with this model, or $600 in credits to use at other public stations.

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The Wagoneer S Is Not Fun, Due to Floppy Steering

Before you drive a Wagoneer S, you choose from numerous settings to ensure it behaves as you wish. For example, you can decide whether you want the SUV to creep forward when you release the brake pedal, select the amount of regenerative braking (including one-pedal driving capability), and pick a driving mode.

I started my drive with Creep on, maximum regenerative braking active, and the Wagoneer S in Auto mode. It took a few minutes to acclimate to the Jeep's response to accelerator pedal inputs and the one-pedal driving capabilities, but afterward, the Wagoneer S drove remarkably well.

As expected, it is downright fast. Rapidly accelerating after a smooth launch causes the all-season Falken tires to scrabble for grip as speed builds. I witnessed another journalist do a hard acceleration run from a stop, leaving behind a smoke plume and charred rubber.

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In addition, though the Wagoneer S lacks an adaptive damping suspension, you're rarely aware of the added weight of the battery and electric motors. I felt it mainly when traveling on lumpy pavement heaves, which produced a choppy ride. Otherwise, the Jeep drives like a typical car, and its low center of gravity helps it hug the road in curves and corners.

Dynamically, the flaw is the steering. When driving on twisty roads in Sport mode, the more off-center I steered, the more the resistance levels felt like stretching a rubber band. Then, when making mid-curve corrections, I found the vehicle proved too eager to return to center, distracting me from the task at hand. I preferred the more natural sensations in Auto mode, but no setting was truly ideal.

Regarding efficiency, the EPA says you can expect the Wagoneer S to travel 2.9 miles per kWh (consuming 35 kWh per 100 miles). The Jeep was less efficient during my evaluation, but not by much, traveling 2.7 miles per kWh (37 kWh per 100 miles).

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The Wagoneer S Is Comfortable, Quiet, and High-Tech

Since the Wagoneer S is lower to the ground, it's easier to climb into and out of its roomy, comfortable, and quiet interior than any Jeep I can recall. The Launch Edition has 16-way power-adjustable front seats with heating, ventilation, and massage paired with outboard rear seats with heating and ventilation. In a nod to sustainability, Jeep wraps them in artificial leather and uses recycled materials for other parts of the cabin.

Display screens cover the dashboard, including a 12.3-inch digital driver display, a 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 touchscreen infotainment display, and a 10.3-inch touchscreen for the front passenger. In addition, there is a 10.3-inch screen for the climate system and a 10.0-inch head-up display. Yes, it is a bit much, but consumers increasingly expect this level of technology at this price.

In addition to rapidly collecting dust, fingerprints, and unsightly smudges, the displays suffer from significant reflections and occasional glare, making them hard to read. That said, they are intuitive to use and responsive to inputs. The voice recognition system provides a hit-and-miss performance, but you can bypass it with a wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connection.

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The climate screen tips up to reveal a storage cubby, and Jeep provides reasonable small-item stash space in the cabin. Under the hood, a front trunk (frunk) offers enough room for a backpack while the cargo area expands from 30.6 cubic-feet behind the back seat to a maximum of 64 cu-ft.

Jeep equips the Wagoneer S Launch Edition with plenty of safety features, including Active Drive Assist. That hands-on semi-autonomous driving technology combines adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assistance, and it works well. Aside from one too-sharp braking event when another vehicle cut into the gap ahead, it proved smooth, accurate, and trustworthy.

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Competitors to the Jeep Wagoneer S

Wagoneers are the aspirational Jeeps, so the Wagoneer S Launch Edition counts the similarly priced Acura ZDX, Cadillac Lyriq, and Genesis Electrified GV70 as rivals. However, some buyers might also cross-shop the Wagoneer S with top-end trim levels of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6. In particular, the Mustang Mach-E Rally and Ioniq 5 XRT are off-road alternatives that might appeal to a Jeep customer.

Aside from its dissatisfying steering, trouble with display readability on a brilliantly sunny winter day, and uninspired paint and interior color combinations, the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Edition is a worthy EV. That said, a production version of the Trailhawk concept Jeep showed off at the 2024 Easter Jeep Safari would make the Wagoneer S more compelling.

Jeep provided the vehicle for this 2024 Wagoneer S review and paid for lodging and meals during the evaluation period.

Christian Wardlaw

Chris says his first word was "car." For as long as he can remember, he's been obsessed with them. The design. The engineering. The performance. And the purpose. He is a car enthusiast who loves to drive, but is most passionate about the cars, trucks, and SUVs that people actually buy. He began his career as the editor-in-chief of Edmunds.com in the 1990s, and for more than 30 years has created automotive content for CarGurus, J.D. Power, Kelley Blue Book, the New York Daily News, and others. Chris owns Speedy Daddy Media, has been contributing to Capital One Auto Navigator since 2019, and lives in California with his wife, kids, dog, and 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata.