This is a review of an electric 2025 Jeep Wagoneer S, leased for $199 per month over 24 months, with a limit of 10,000 miles per year—and $1,795 in dealer/company fees and another $395 at the end, waived if one moves into another Jeep. The electric car is in Fathom Blue with Red Leather interior, and I chose it, with the brief lease, partly to get some exposure to electric cars.
Competing for this purchase was the Charger Scat Pack, which is on the same platform and has the same powertrain; but the Charger is a two-door, not ideal as a daily driver. The Wagoneer S has been in short supply to this point (leased in late July), and they only had a few Limited models coming in, with black interiors, until this car with its red leather.
Performance. At just 70 miles into the lease, I can’t stop smiling at the way this vehicle delivers power. Acceleration is ridiculous. My Durango Hellcat didn’t push me into the seat the way this thing does. Literally, it feels like I can’t lean forward while accelerating.
In my first truly spirited ride, I trailed a BMW M2. He could not shake me on any straight portion of the road. As planted as this vehicle feels during normal driving, though, anything above normal and it seems to wallow through the curves. It does not inspire confidence like my SRT Durangos or even like my Grand Wagoneer, as tall as that is in comparison. But what it lacks in cornering prowess it more than makes up for it in straight line acceleration. One word: WOW!!
Ride. At 160 miles, I can safely say that, despite what I’ve read, the ride on this vehicle is smooth. It swallows bumps nicely, not rough at all. Yet, it feels planted on curves.
Conveniences. I love that the front camera comes on during slow maneuvers and when the front sensor picks up an obstacle. This is sadly missing on my 2023 Grand Wagoneer but not on my wife’s 2024 Telluride...
The red interior is beautiful. Not on the level of my Grand Wagoneer, but still beautiful in its own way. Still, the left side buttons for the seat heater/fan, volume and power are obstructed by the steering wheel—which is odd because in my Wagoneer, I have a clear view of the entire dash, and that steering wheel seems bigger. I know this dash is smaller, but it is odd that those “buttons” are obstructed.
The lower center screen, which flips out of view on the Wagoneer, can be slid up to hide the screen and show the lower row of buttons for the climate control; the process of pushing it up feels cheap. They could have done a better job.
Charging. Charging is taking some hunting. The Free2Move app and the Jeep app both search for available chargers (regular and fast). The Jeep app has a friendlier interface, but the Free2Move app is needed as well to pay for charging.
The ChargePoint fast charger, sitting behind a municipal office, was about half the cost of a closer fast charger at a BP station. Pricing is not always available on the app, so this will take trial and error to determine where to charge.
Jeep lets you choose between a Level 2 charger that your electrician installs at home, or $600 in ChargePoint credits. If you’re committed long-term to an EV vehicle, the home charger makes sense.
I’m constantly in the red when driving. This thing is just too much fun to drive slow. I have yet to drop below 53% before charging, but now that I'm familiar with the location of some reliable chargers, I may venture down into the 30-40% range.
465 mile update. I'm still learning the nuances of public charging. There is a Fast Charger near me that lists a lower price; I’ve used it twice, and thought I was paying more—but I was comparing time spent charging rather than actual power. A closer look at the info on the ChargePoint app showed that this charger is giving me twice the energy in the same amount of time as other fast chargers (with two charges at each station to compare—calculations were done with two decimal places):
| Charger | Min | kWH | $ | $/kWh | kW/m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChargePoint | 20 | 20.0 | $10 | 49.9¢ | 1.00 |
| ChargePoint | 24 | 22.5 | $11 | 49.9¢ | 0.94 |
| EV Connect | 10 | 17.4 | $9 | 51.2¢ | 1.74 |
| EV Connect | 26 | 42.3 | $22 | 51.2¢ | 1.63 |
The EV Connect is charging around 51¢ per kWh, not the advertised 48¢, but if I need a truly fast charge, it’ll be my go-to. They delivered power much more quickly.
Issues. The front bumper was scratched by the dealer, which is going to fix it at their body shop, with a loaner. There is a very small indent on the right side of the driver’s screen, not noticeable while driving or when parked at night, but with the screen off in the day, I noticed it today while charging. At 465 miles, a slight buzz started coming from the left side of the A-pillar area.
At around two weeks, the car died after I pressed On and shifted to Drive; it had to be towed to the dealer. A tech, Jordan Rose, spoke in a Youtube video about a service bulletin (TSB) which suggests a battery check and software update to deal with this exact issue; he seems convinced it fixes it for good. He also explained some of the annoyances techs and dealerships have to deal with to get such repairs approved; it really handcuffs the techs.
The dealer replaced the 12V battery, which tested as bad, and fixed a wiring problem—two wires were rubbing together in a left/rear harness. The buzz is gone; perhaps something that had been loose was tightened during the repair.
Wrapping up. Whoever sees this car has nothing but good things to say about the looks. Everyone who has crossed paths with it loves it. And then they ask “What is it?” or “Is this replacing the big Wagoneer?” It’s just a tad more evidence that STLA failed miserably in the advertising for the S—a shame because it could have been a big hit for them.
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