► New Jeep Recon officially revealed
► The first proper ‘Trail Rated’ electric Jeep 4×4
► Will come to the UK and Europe late 2026
Finally – after more than three years since we first saw a concept image of the Jeep Recon, the production version has finally arrived. It’s been revealed ahead of its public debut at the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show.
It’s Jeep’s first electric car for proper off-roading, launching as a Trail Rated model. The Recon features serious engineering beneath the bodywork and twin motors for electric all-wheel drive. After its launch in North America, Jeep in Europe has confirmed it will go on sale in the UK and Europe towards the end of 2026.
Fabio Catone, head of Jeep in Europe, says the Recon is ‘inspired by the heritage of the Wrangler, and it’ll bring electric driving into the great outdoors. It’s a 100 per cent Jeep 4×4, but one that’s 100 per cent zero emission.’
Catone adds that the Recon, along with the Wagoneer S, marks a return to the D-segment of the car market in Europe – one that’s said to be around 50 per cent battery-electric – and that both cars represent ‘an opportunity we will not miss’ to expand the Jeep brand.
The looks haven’t really changed much from the early preview images that were shown in 2022. The Recon is a properly boxy 4×4, with a silhouette that’s slightly smaller and lower to the ground than a Wrangler. Details include backlighting on the seven-slot grille, beefy wheelarches and tow loops. A fixed panel roof is standard, but can be upgraded to a ‘one-touch’ rolltop fabric one.
Neatest detail of them all, though, has to go to the removable doors. Jeep has designed new hinges that allow you to remove them without the need for tools; by comparison, you need to use an Allen key to detach a Wrangler’s doors.
Inside, the Recon blends design elements of the latest Compass and Wagoneer S. There’s a chunky steering wheel, a wide glossy infotainment screen and digital instruments, as well as a centre console that includes toggles for the Selec-Terrain drive modes. Jeep’s gone wild with the accessories on offer, including a modular rail in the dashboard that can be used to mount cameras or navigation devices… and a place for your rubber duck.
Don’t get the reference? It’s a bit of an ‘if you know, you know’ scenario. The Jeep huge and passionate Jeep community has taken to placing rubber ducks on each other’s Wranglers – a trend that started small but has spread community-wide. So much so that Jeep, it seems, is now leaning into it.
Beneath the bodywork is the STLA Frame architecture – a body-on-frame platform that’s been designed by Stellantis engineers to allow multiple powertrains for trucks and the largest – or, at least, toughest – 4×4 models. The Recon includes a 100kWh battery pack on a 400-volt architecture, which is shielded by reinforced steel to protect it from underbody damage.
The flagship US-spec Moab variant arrives with 650bhp and 620lb ft of torque from a pair of electric motors – one driving each axle. Jeep claims a 3.6sec 0-60mph time and a claimed range of around 250 miles for the North American markets. Powertrain and range figures are yet to be confirmed and homologated for Europe.
Moab versions use an electric locking differential for the rear axle, with Jeep claiming it can ‘go from open differential to fully locked’ via the e-Lock toggle on the centre console. On top of that, the front axle uses a short-long arm setup that allows for flexible wheel articulation, while a multi-link setup is used on the rear. Moab models also feature chunky 33-inch tyres that allow for 238mm of ground clearance.
Inevitably, the Frame platform will also underpin an electric Wrangler – something Jeep has already experimented with in the past. Jeep executives are also keen to point out the Recon won’t supplant the Wrangler in Europe; a model that’s extremely niche in the region and doesn’t sell all that well compared to in North America.
‘I don’t think it will [replace the Wrangler],’ Fabio Carli, Jeep’s head of product marketing in Europe tells CAR. ‘The Wrangler will keep on being our icon, particularly in terms of off-road performance. The Recon, of course, is going to be a capable offer but it will lean more towards the everyday user – someone who likes off-roading but not as strongly as a Wrangler buyer. Globally, we see it as a complementary offer to the Wrangler because it’s electric.’
After the Recon goes into production at Jeep’s manufacturing plant in Toluca in early 2026, Recon models will make their way to Europe and the UK towards the end of that year.
Jake has been an automotive journalist since 2015, joining CAR as Staff Writer in 2017. With a decade of car news and reviews writing under his belt, he became CAR's Deputy News Editor in 2020 and then News Editor in 2025. Jake's day-to-day role includes co-ordinating CAR's news content across its print, digital and social media channels. When he's not out interviewing an executive, driving a new car for review or on a photoshoot for a CAR feature, he's usually found geeking out on the latest video game, buying yet another pair of wildly-coloured trainers or figuring out where he can put another car-shaped Lego set in his already-full house.
By Jake Groves
CAR's news editor; gamer, trainer freak and serial Lego-ist
