Sixty-two miles is the gap between what the EPA label promises for the 2026 Jeep Recon Moab and what Car and Driver’s highway test got out of it: 222 miles on the window sticker, 160 on a single charge at highway speed. The same test put the Recon’s efficiency at 1.7 miles per kilowatt-hour, a figure Electrek’s write-up places among the weakest in a Car and Driver database of more than 100 models.
The result matters less as an embarrassment for one trim than as a measurement of how far the label can sit from a motorway commute in a heavy, boxy truck on 33-inch tires. A 28 percent shortfall lands on a vehicle that starts at $66,995.
The 160-mile result and where it came from
Electrek reported the numbers on October 2, drawing on a Car and Driver range test of the Recon Moab. In the outlet’s account, the Jeep covered 160 miles before the battery ran out, against an estimated range of up to 222 miles, and it did so at 1.7 miles per kWh. Electrek’s write-up describes the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive truck as less efficient than advertised, with removable doors, roughly 650 to 670 horsepower and a curb weight near 6,190 pounds.
The test conditions are the part of the story that is easiest to over-read. Electrek’s summary calls it a highway range test and gives no speed, so the 160 miles should be read as one magazine’s highway figure, not as a second official rating. Car and Driver’s own page was not readable for this report, which is why the only distance cited here is the one Electrek attributes to it.
Electrek’s piece also lines the Recon up against two other vehicles from the same testing program: the 2022 GMC Hummer EV, which the magazine drove 290 miles on a 205-kWh battery for roughly 1.4 miles per kWh, and the Jeep Wagoneer S, which went 280 miles on a battery of the same size as the Recon’s and managed close to 3 miles per kWh. The Wagoneer S comparison is the sharpest, because it isolates the body: same maker, same pack, and nearly double the efficiency.
The EPA label and Jeep’s earlier 250-mile estimate
The 222-mile figure is the official one. InsideEVs reported the EPA rating as 222 miles for the Moab, below the 230 miles Jeep had been expecting, with consumption of 48 kWh per 100 miles. Mopar Insiders listed the same label at 80 MPGe in the city, 62 MPGe on the highway and 71 MPGe combined.
That highway MPGe line is worth reading against the road test. A 62 MPGe highway rating already sits well below the combined number, so the label itself flagged the truck as a poor performer at speed. The 222 miles is a blend of city and highway driving, and the city leg flatters it: AutoGuide’s breakdown of the rating put the city range near 250 miles and the highway range under 200. A highway-only test landing at 160 is lower than that under-200 figure, though not out of line with a heavy vehicle driven briskly.
Jeep’s launch material was more generous before the EPA weighed in. In its Stellantis press release, the company described a 100-kilowatt-hour, 400-volt pack and an estimated all-electric range of up to 250 miles depending on trim. The Moab, the only trim at launch, came in 28 miles under that headline and, per the magazine, 62 miles under its own label on the highway.
Battery size, weight and the efficiency problem
Battery capacity is reported inconsistently across the coverage. Electrek lists a 94 kWh pack, while Jeep’s release and the trade-press write-ups of the EPA rating cite roughly 100 kWh. The difference does not change the shape of the result, but it does change the arithmetic: 160 miles on 94 kWh is the 1.7 miles per kWh Electrek reports, and the same distance on 100 kWh would be slightly worse.
What the sources agree on is the cause. InsideEVs put the Moab’s weight at 6,112 pounds and noted that rivals such as Rivian’s coming R2 and the Tesla Model Y are roughly 1,000 and 1,600 pounds lighter. Add 33-inch off-road tires, 9 inches or more of ground clearance and a blunt front end, and highway speed turns aerodynamic drag into the dominant load on the battery.
Mopar Insiders framed the trade-off when it covered the label: 222 miles would not top an electric-range chart, but the Recon was engineered around trail capability, including a 15:1 rear final drive, and Jeep lists approach and departure angles of 34 degrees. For a buyer who will mostly drive the Recon to a trailhead, the 160-mile highway number is an inconvenience. For one who plans interstate road trips, it means a fast-charge stop roughly every two hours, and InsideEVs puts a 5 to 80 percent charge at about 28 minutes.
Car and Driver’s figure stands as one test of one vehicle, and neither Jeep nor Stellantis had responded to it in the coverage reviewed. The EPA’s 222-mile label, by contrast, is a government rating that will stay on the window sticker whatever the road test shows.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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