2026 Jeep Recon Is The Most Open-Air EV On Sale, Packing 650 HP And Up To 250 Miles Of Range

All the way back in September 2022, when we didn’t have a climate-hating lunatic in office and the auto industry was a lot more gung-ho about electrification (Stellantis especially), Jeep revealed the electric Recon, a four-door SUV with Wrangler-like styling that it said would be at dealers in 2024. Well, that didn’t happen, but Jeep is finally ready to put the Recon into production in early 2026 at its plant in Toluca, Mexico. The 2026 Recon’s exterior styling is exactly the same as what we saw three years ago, and now Jeep is showing off its nice-looking interior and giving full details and specs for its second EV.

The Recon will be the most open-air electric vehicle on the market thanks to huge sunroofs and removable doors and windows, and it’ll offer 650 horsepower and a lot of off-road capability. But if you were hoping for a long range or advanced powertrain technology, you’ll have to look elsewhere. At first the Recon will launch in higher-end Moab trim, which will only get 230 miles of range, but lower-end versions coming later will do 250 miles. And while it may look cute and small, the Recon is actually bigger than a four-door Wrangler.

Underpinning the Recon is the same STLA Large platform used by the electric Wagoneer S and new Dodge Charger. Standard is a 100.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and one electric drive module (EDM) at each axle, combining the electric motor, gearing and power electronics. Each EDM makes 335 hp, and total output is 650 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque, 50 hp and 3 lb-ft more than the Wagoneer S. Jeep says the Recon will hit 60 mph in only 3.6 seconds, a couple ticks slower than the Wagoneer S but at least a few tenths quicker than a V8-powered Wrangler 392. Top speed is 112 mph, but who wants to go that fast in a Jeep? In on-road driving the front-axle motor will disconnect for better efficiency, and torque split between the axles is variable depending on the mode and situation. As the Recon only has a 400-volt architecture, its peak DC fast-charging rate is 220 kW, which can take it from 5% to 80% in 28 minutes.

Jeep says it calibrated the throttle pedal to be precise off-road, and the Moab trim has an electronic locking differential at the rear with 15:1 final drive ratio (the front is an open diff with an 11:1 ratio), with the locker activated by a switch on the dashboard. Its suspension setup uses a short-long arm up front and an integral link at the rear, which the company says “delivers an ideal blend” of ride comfort and off-road ability. All Recons get Auto, Sand, Snow and Sport drive modes, but the Moab adds a Rock mode that uses a two-pedal driving technique and a hill-hold feature that lets you move your foot from the brake to the throttle without the car moving. There’s also Selec-Speed Control, which is basically low-speed cruise control for going up and down treacherous inclines.

Like I said at the top, the Recon is bigger than you expect. It’s 193.3 inches long (Jeep doesn’t say whether or not that includes the tailgate-mounted spare tire, but I assume it does), 74.8 inches wide and 73.8 inches tall; compared to a four-door Wrangler, the Recon is 4.9 inches longer, 0.9 inch wider and 0.3 inch taller. The Wrangler’s 118.4-inch wheelbase is 5.5 inches longer than the Recon’s, though. The Recon Moab’s curb weight comes in at 6,112 pounds, around 600 pounds heavier than a Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid.

The Moab has 18-inch wheels wearing 33-inch Nexen Roadian ATX all-terrain tires, which help give the Recon 9.1 inches of ground clearance, an inch less than a base Wrangler. The other trim levels coming down the pipe will offer more road-focused tires, including on larger wheels — that’s probably why the Moab is estimated by Jeep to have 230 miles of range, while others will get up to 250 miles. Its approach and departure angles of 33.8 and 33.1 degrees are worse than what you get in a Wrangler, but the Recon’s 23.3-degree breakover angle is better than a Wrangler Rubicon. Underbody shields made from high-strength steel protect the battery pack and EDMs.

On the outside, the Recon looks identical to what we saw back in 2022. It’s boxy, it’s cool, it looks like a Jeep. You get an illuminated seven-slot grille, Wrangler-like square taillights protruding from the body, chunky bumpers with prominent tow hooks, and a swing-out tailgate with a standard full-size spare mounted to it. The Moab has wider fender flares, available rock rails, Jeep badges with topographical etching, and other unique styling features. True to the Jeep brand, the Recon will be available in a wide range of colors to start, including two blues, a bright red and bright orange, a military green, and a fantastic copper. Jeep’s designers say they haven’t found a color the Recon looks bad in, showing journalists a graphic with the Recon painted in other shades like baby blue, lime green, hot pink and fuchsia — expect new colors and special editions to be released every year.

All four of the Recon’s doors can be removed in mere minutes with no tools required — for the 2026 model year, the Wrangler’s doors no longer require the Torx bit, either. The Recon comes standard with a dual-pane power-opening sunroof, but you can spec it with the Sky One-Touch Power Top, which is a large roll-back soft top. If that’s not enough airiness for you, both the rear window in the tailgate and the side quarter windows can be popped off, making this easily the most open-air EV on the market. Normally the side mirrors are mounted on the doors, but with the doors off there are mounting points in the jams for them to attach back on.

Jeep

On a backgrounder call, I asked Jeep if it knew how removing the doors, windows and roof affects the Recon’s aerodynamics and range. The company’s response? Well, it doesn’t know, as it hasn’t tested that (and it seems like the company probably won’t). The Recon might be a bit more aerodynamic than a Wrangler, with a drag coefficient of 0.404, but taking all those panels off will surely negatively affect that already middling range. 

The overall interior layout is similar to other Jeeps like the Grand Cherokee, but the Recon has a cool frame-like design for the tiered center console and prominent grab handles with exposed rivets. A 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 14.5-inch central touchscreen are standard, the latter being Jeep’s largest ever, and while all the climate controls are in the screen, you do get physical volume and tuning knobs. There are a few buttons for other vehicle functions, and in the center next to the cupholders the Recon has a rotary shift knob and a red panel with switches for the drive modes and the diff locker. Jeep moved speakers for the standard Alpine audio system from the doors to under the seats, to preserve sound quality even the doors are removed.

Jeep

Compared to a four-door Wrangler, the Recon has more headroom, legroom and shoulder room for both front and rear passengers. Behind the second-row seat there’s 30.3 cubic feet of cargo space, about three cubes more than a Wrangler; the rear seats fold flat, expanding that space to 65.9 cubic feet, a couple cubes less than a Wrangler. You do get a frunk under the hood that has an additional 3 cubic feet of space, enough for a carry-on suitcase, though Jeep hasn’t released any images of it. There are modular attachment points on the door panels and dashboard for a host of storage solutions and accessories, including “a duck holder,” which should genuinely be enticing to Jeep buyers.

Standard features on the Moab include a surround-view camera system with front and rear washer, dual-zone automatic climate control, rain-sensing wipers, heated front seats (with ventilation for the fronts and heat for the rears as an option), keyless entry, a wireless charging pad, four USB-C ports and a few auxiliary power outlets, power windows, leatherette upholstery and customizable ambient lighting. In addition to Stellantis’ Level 2 Active Driving Assist system, the Recon Moab also has adaptive cruise control, automated parking assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, automated emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, and drowsy driver detection

So, how much is this all gonna cost? The 2026 Jeep Recon Moab will start at $66,995, including $1,995 destination. It’s pretty much in a class of its own in the EV space — the closest equivalent is probably the Mercedes-Benz G580, which is more than twice the price — so the best comparison is against Jeep’s own Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid. The cheapest one of those is $52,690, while a Rubicon is $63,390 and the top-end Rubicon X starts at $72,340. If I were a betting man, I’d say the forthcoming lower-end Recon trims will start somewhere in the low-60s. The Moab will start production in early 2026, but Jeep has only said the longer-range models will be “late availability.”