New Rival: 2026 Jeep Recon EV revealed. $65,000, 250 miles range, 0-60 3.6s

[MaskedRacerX]

I consider myself extremely fortunate, my 2024 4xe Rubicon has never had a single issue in the almost two years I've owned it other then the electric cabin heater failing (which as you know is a device that will eventually fail on every single 4xe over time). As a matter of fact, I as planning on not getting the 68C battery recall/software update done because of how it's neutered the all-electric performance on the Wrangler 4xe's, but then the ECH went and I couldn't get it to go in to all-electric mode at all. And when I brought it in for repair, the dealer said they are obligated under federal law to perform the 68C recall when they have the vehicle in for the ECH repair.

Our '24 (we got rid of the '21 just as the 68C hit so didn't even pursue it) hasn't had any actual issues either! And after the 68C recall, ours ran just as good if not better. We still have the 21D (the starter connector), and 78C (contaminates in engine) recalls outstanding, but don't know if we'll even worry give the short remaining term, unless we can schedule it very soon).

We love the vehicle, it works perfect for us, we're right in the exact use case where we're 95% on electric, it's quick, quiet, flexible, love the roof options, ours has the leather option with power seats - and without the recalls, it would've ended with us pretty much still extremely positive about the overall experience.

Ours is even one of the rare vehicles that has the Power Box option which came in handy during a storm/power outage a few years ago

But if you're aware of everything that's gone on with Jeep/Stellantis and the 4xe models, how they handled it, where they stand with EVs, the failure of the Wrangler S, you'd have to be insane to know all that, and go, "Yep, I think I'll buy a Jeep EV product ..."

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[NY_Rob]

Ours is even one of the rare vehicles that has the Power Box option which came in handy during a storm/power outage a few years ago

My 4xe came with the Power Box too, I tried it once, it did work.

FWIW- mine passed the 68C without needing the battery replaced. Guess I got one of the good ones!

I love my Wrangler, the fact that I can drive 24mi all electric in an 80+ year old design just blows my mind every time I drive it. It also rides and handles 100X better then my 1976 CJ7 ever did while still maintaining solid axles. I also love the fact that I absolutely have no concerns about inclement weather impacting my ability to get somewhere, ever in this vehicle.

 

[mkhuffman]

I feel like the Jeep hate is a little overblown. It's understandable in a Rivian forum, i guess.

My wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee has been great. No major issues, and it's very luxurious. She loves it.

 

[windshieldfarmer]

Yep…returning a BMW IX50 lease and just sold my 2020 JL Wrangler Rubicn today, both of which will be replaced by a new R2 with 20s this Friday. A perfect unicorn for my needs. The Jeep had a couple is recalls early but has been very reliable overall. Poor gas mileage and a very noisy 2.0 liter four banger was inherent to the beast but I had a lot of fun with it. Unfortunately Stellantis has had a lot of issues with their EVs and I would not touch the Recon given the Stellantis’track record with EVs. If range was 40 miles better accompanied by a track record of success I would have strongly considered the Recon.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

My 4xe came with the Power Box too, I tried it once, it did work.

FWIW- mine passed the 68C without needing the battery replaced. Guess I got one of the good ones!

I love my Wrangler, the fact that I can drive 24mi all electric in an 80+ year old design just blows my mind every time I drive it. It also rides and handles 100X better then my 1976 CJ7 ever did while still maintaining solid axles. I also love the fact that I absolutely have no concerns about inclement weather impacting my ability to get somewhere, ever in this vehicle.

Yeah, our 68C (er, assuming the tech did it correctly) passed too.

We love ours too, I mean, we loved it enough to replace the first with another one. And between the two which represents 42 months on the '21 (36 mo lease extended for 6) and the current (24 mo lease), we've got like 4-5 days total shop between BOTH of them, and zero cases of anu kind of major issues that made them unusable/stranded us anywhere.

I installed an electric hoist in the garage, so the top was a simple, one person operation, ~10 minutes, top stayed up and out of the way.

2021
Sahara, Snazzberry, all options.

2024
Rubicon, Black, all options including the leather interior which is pretty stellar (and includes powered seats, though they're not per-profile memory based)

Both were killer lease deals, the '24 is a $72K MSRP, $0 down, ~$500/month (for 24 / 10K).

For a brief moment I ruminated over a Moab 392, but same shit, different day, poor MPG, highway drone, some security issues, etc., I'm sure it's a hoot, but not as our primary.

 

[NY_Rob]

I feel like the Jeep hate is a little overblown. It's understandable in a Rivian forum, i guess.

My wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee has been great. No major issues, and it's very luxurious. She loves it.

I'm guessing the vast majority of modern gen Jeeps have been great, and even the 4xe's have been great.

What has not been great however is the way Stellantis has completely mishandled safety related recalls specifically on the 4xe vehicles. Instead of replacing possibly very dangerous batteries they simply nerfed the battery's current limit via software updates (notice I did not say battery capacity) and it's operating temp limits to the point where it forces the ICE to continuously pop on and off at even just 50% current capacity draw on the battery, and even in full "Electric" mode. That's going to be very damaging to the ICE in what may be a very short period of time. That's not how the vehicles were sold to us, they were sold as "full electric" with up to 24mi range with no ICE startup unless you mashed the throttle past the 100% current capacity of the battery, and it's the reason they even have an "Electric" mode select button on the dash.. to prevent the ICE from starting. And again, even worse, instead of replacing the batteries they simply canceled the whole 4xe line because they just didn't want to properly fix the battery and "sand in the engine block castings" recall issues.

You may feel differently if you were one of the people who paid $60K for a 4xe only a year ago and now it's only worth half because how they (didn't) fix the battery issues and the sudden cancellation of the whole 4xe program.

 

[NY_Rob]

And, just FWIW- I'm a long time Jeep owner, below is my 1972 Jeep CJ7 that I restored and drove as a kid in 1981. So I'm not just beating on Jeep here, my issues are regarding how Stellantis has tried to "fix" physical issues like battery separator defects and sand in the engines via software "fixes". Neither of those issues can be fixed with software..

 

[NY_Rob]

^ it looked great, but rode like a buckboard with those old school leaf springs

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