The 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Edition is a cleanly styled, convincingly upscale, and competitively equipped electric SUV. My main complaints are its high price, hard-to-keep-clean screens, and dissatisfying steering. In nearly all other respects, this is a premium EV worth considering.

The Jeep Wagoneer S EV will be judged against the heritage and ethos of the brand. “Is it a real Jeep?” The answer is yes, but it’s complicated.

The numbers are good—600 horsepower, 3.4 seconds to 60, and up to 303 miles of range—but this EV rides and drives like a rookie effort.

Jeep provided a night in a hotel so Ars could attend the Wagoneer S first drive. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

The $71,995 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Edition piles on the standard equipment—everything from heated and cooled power front seats, all the digital displays, wireless smartphone charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and delicious sound that emanates from a 1,200-watt McIntosh sound system with 19 speakers and a 12-inch subwoofer.