Jeep’s $66,995 Recon EV fell 62 miles short of its EPA range on the highway

Charged to 100 percent and driven at a steady 75 mph, the 2026 Jeep Recon Moab covered 160 miles before its battery ran out in Car and Driver’s highway test. The EPA rates the same SUV at 222 miles, which leaves a gap of 62 miles between the sticker and the interstate. The Recon starts at $66,995.

The results landed on Oct. 2 and drew quick attention because the Recon is Jeep’s first electric vehicle built for the trail, sold on removable doors and a Trail Rated badge rather than on range alone. A shortfall of roughly 28 percent on a vehicle priced near $67,000 is the kind of number shoppers hold up against rivals.

Car and Driver’s 75 mph Test

Car and Driver runs its highway range test by charging a vehicle fully and holding 75 mph until the battery is spent, a method that is deliberately harsher than the EPA’s blend of city and highway cycles and closer to how many owners cruise on a freeway road trip. According to The Autopian’s account of the test, the magazine wrote that the Recon, with its 94-kWh battery pack, “managed just 160 miles of range.”

The result equals 1.7 miles per kWh, a figure the magazine placed in the neighborhood of much larger machines such as the original GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 and the Mercedes-Benz G580. Those are vehicles that carry far more mass or far bigger batteries, which is why the comparison landed hard: the Recon spends its energy like a heavyweight while weighing roughly 3,000 pounds less than the Hummer.

Electrek’s write-up of the same test adds the curb weight, 6,190 pounds, and lays out the comparison that makes the result sting: the Hummer, at 9,640 pounds with a 205-kWh pack, went 290 miles in Car and Driver’s hands, while the Jeep Wagoneer S, which shares the Recon’s platform and a 94-kWh battery, went 280 miles. By Electrek’s math the Wagoneer S returned nearly twice the Recon’s efficiency on the same hardware.

EPA’s 222-Mile Combined Rating

The 222-mile figure is a combined rating for the launch trim, the Moab. Mopar Insiders reported the EPA’s efficiency ratings as 80 MPGe in the city, 62 MPGe on the highway and 71 MPGe combined.

The distinction shapes how the 62-mile gap reads. A combined range leans partly on city driving, where regenerative braking recovers energy, so a sustained 75 mph run in a boxy SUV was always going to land below it. AutoGuide, covering the EPA rating, put the Recon’s highway range at less than 200 miles and its city range near 250, and reported that the 222 miles undershot the roughly 230 Jeep had targeted.

Even against that lower highway expectation, 160 miles is a long way under what the Wagoneer S managed on identical hardware. The two Jeeps share a 94-kWh battery and a platform, so the 120-mile spread between 160 and 280 miles in Car and Driver’s testing comes down to the body wrapped around them, the tires and the gearing, not to the energy on board.

Design Choices and the Sticker Price

Electrek attributes the Recon’s showing to its design priorities: 33-inch tires, 9.1 inches of ground clearance and a squared-off body made for rock crawling rather than for slipping through air. Dual motors make a combined 670 horsepower and 620 lb-ft of torque, which suits the trail and the sprint to 60 mph but does little for highway efficiency.

Battery size is reported differently across the coverage. Car and Driver and Electrek cite a 94-kWh pack, while The Drive’s first-drive review lists 100.5 kWh and notes that an 88 percent charge at the start of its drive showed only 180 miles of indicated range. Reviewer Byron Hurd scored the Recon 5 out of 10 and called it “two years late and still half-baked.”

On price, Jeep’s own Recon page lists $66,995 as the starting MSRP alongside the 670 horsepower output. AutoGuide reports that the figure includes a $1,995 destination charge.

The Autopian’s version of the test describes the Recon as starting near $70,000 and as costing more than the Rivian R2, which went 260 miles in the same Car and Driver test with an 87.9-kWh battery. Jeep’s listed MSRP is the lower figure, and the gap between the two prices may reflect options or destination fees that vary by outlet. The Rivian comparison carries the sharper point, since the R2 pairs a smaller pack with 100 more miles at the same speed, and it is the comparison Car and Driver chose to draw. Car and Driver’s 160 miles is the number a 75 mph road trip would be planned around, while Jeep’s published 222 miles remains the number on the window sticker.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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