Jeep officially unveils its first EV, the Wagoneer S, including a rugged Trailhawk edition
The moment is finally here. Jeep officially revealed its first global EV, the Wagoneer S. Jeep’s premium electric SUV features over 300 miles range, a tech-loaded interior, and “lightning-quick” acceleration. The rugged SUV brand also unveiled a Trailhawk concept built to conquer any terrain. Check out the full details below.
Meet the first Jeep EV, the Wagoneer S
“The launch of the all-electric Jeep Wagoneer S marks a new chapter in the storied history of Jeep brand,” Jeep’s CEO Antonio Filosa said at the release.
After teasing its first global electric SUV for the past few months, Jeep finally took the curtains off the Wagoneer S Thursday.
The Wagoneer S is “Distinctively a Jeep and 100% electric in every way,” according to Filosa. Jeep’s first global EV, the Wagoneer S Launch Edition, packs “exhilarating performance.”
With 600 hp and 617 lb-ft of torque, the electric SUV can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. It’s also expected to feature over 300 miles range.
Powered by a 400V, 100 kWh battery pack, the Wagoneer S can change from 20% to 80% in 23 minutes with a DC fast charger.
Jeep’s first EV is built on the STLA Large platform, the same expected to underpin the upcoming electric Dodge Charger. However, Jeep designers and engineers tuned the platform, including the length, width, suspension, and powertrain configurations, specifically for the Wagoneer S.
The electric drive modules, designed by Stellantis, provide instant torque independently to the front and rear wheels.
Distinctively a Jeep, built for the modern (EV) era
Standard 4WD is designed for a variety of road conditions. Jeep included its signature Selec-Terrain for better traction in all weather and road conditions with Auto, Sport, Eco, Snow, and Sand modes.
New tech and features played a key role in Wagoneer S’s development. Jeep engineers improved body torsion stiffness by 35% compared to other mid-size Jeep SUVs. The adjustments reduce interior noise and vibration for a quiet, smooth ride.
“Forged from premium heritage, innovation, and refinement,” Jeep’s first EV is set to blaze a new path for the rugged SUV maker.
Although you can see clear Jeep elements, the Wagoneer S reimagines the brand for the electric era.
One of the most noticeable features is the redesigned seven-slot grille with ambient cast lighting. Without the need for airflow to cool a massive engine, the grille is now enclosed with a sleek, revamped look.
The first Jeep Wagoneer S, the 2024 Launch Edition, will feature exclusive dark accent features, including 20″ Gloss Black Wheels, among other exterior elements.
With a focus on efficiency, the Wagoneer S has a CD of 0.29, the lowest of any Jeep vehicle. It’s also 15% better than the average SUV.
Jeep designed the roof and rear liftgate spoiler to minimize wake size. Added flush door handles, a rear wing, and integrated fins help airflow to reduce drag.
In addition, Jeep equipped its first EV with underbody shields, 3D-shaped front tire spats, and side stills for maximum aerodynamics.
The Launch Edition includes a (48 amp) Level 2 home or public charger through Free2move Charge, part of Stellantis’ charging network.
Check out the interior
The first electric Jeep is packed with new tech, luxury, and innovation. Building on the most recent Jeep Grand Wagoneer design, the cockpit is fully digital.
Inside, you will first notice a massive “best-in-class” screen with more than 45″ usable space, Including an exclusive 10.25″ interactive screen for the front passenger.
Meanwhile, the 12.3″ center display is surrounded by a refined cross-metal deco trim applique with a glazed laced pattern.
The screen shows EV-specific features like charge level, battery health, and available power. It’s also powered by UConnect 5, which is more responsive and visible than previous generations.
Jeep’s first EV features several new details, including a wine-red-stiched steering wheel with a flat-bottom design, which adds to its sporty interior. Another Jeep first is electronic door releases, activated with the touch of a thumb.
The Launch Edition model has customizable LED lighting (daytime/nighttime settings) and ambient lighting with up to 64 colors.
A 19-speaker McIntosh premium audio system provides an immersive experience with a 1,160-watt amp and 12″ subwoofer.
Jeep claims the Wagoneer S is the only EV in its segment to have standard heated and exclusive standard ventilated rear seats.
With OTA updates, the Wagoneer S will continue to improve. Buyers are automatically enrolled in Jeep Wave, a “premium loyalty program” with benefits like worry-free maintenance (at no additional cost) and dedicated 24/7 support.
Jeep says its first EV, the Wagoneer S, will be available at dealerships in the US and Canada starting this fall (2024). The Wagoneer S Launch Edition’s starting price is $71,995, including destination.
A rugged Jeep Wagoneer S Trailhawk edition?
Staying true to its rugged roots, Jeep unveiled the Wagoneer S Trailhawk EV concept. The electric SUV is built for rugged off-road adventures.
Built on the STLA Large platform, the Trailhawk concept “showcases what the all-electric Jeep Wagoneer S lineup is truly capable of, whether cornering tight turns with ease or traversing new ground off the beaten path,” according to Filosa.
The rugged electric SUV features the best of the Wagoneer S with upgrades for off-road exploration. For example, Jeep added Rock mode to its Selec-Terrain and a driver-selectable rear axle locker.
Fitted with 31.5″ all-terrain tires, the trail-ready, 4WD Trailhawk is a “go-anywhere, do-anything SUV.”
The concept is equipped with a lifted suspension, heavy-duty tow hooks, and air extractors for added capability. Jeep says the rugged electric SUV is the perfect blend of off-road capability, high-speed performance, and authentic brand design.
You can see the aggressive design upgrades up front and back designed for dusty, rocky terrain. Jeep’s signature seven-slot grille features a bolder design, textured slots, and metallic accents.
The Wagoneer S Trailhawk concept is shown in a special-edition Bruce exterior color. It includes rugged features for off-roading, like an anti-glare hood decal, flush badging, 18″ multi-piece wheels, a laser-cut aluminum roof rack, and a dual-pane panoramic sunroof for that open-air feel.
The concept has been upgraded inside with Mantis-green material and meteorite-inspired real stone veneer.
A redesigned steering wheel allows you to lock in for more control. It includes a tactical-inspired grip section (9 and 3 o’clock positions) for all-terrain driving and a rounded profile for easy hand-over-hand capabilities.
The instrument panel features a cross-car grab bar for stability off-road. The seats, wrapped in Mantis Green, retain the balance of sport and luxury shown in the Wagoneer S Launch Edition.
Meanwhile, the door and center console includes a new cargo management system with elastic straps. The center console is a large open storage bin with a wireless phone charger and USB outlets for all your tools and electronics.
Jeep has yet to reveal when the Trailhawk edition will be available. Check back soon for more details.
What do you guys think of Jeep’s first EV? Would you buy it for $72,000? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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An aircraft alledgedly carrying US businessman Donald Trump Jr. arrives in Nuuk, Greenland on January 7, 2025.
Emil Stach | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump‘s pursuit to acquire Greenland could well be motivated by critical minerals, with mining executives and researchers describing the island’s massive resource potential as an “enormous opportunity.”
Trump’s years-long bid to take control of the world’s largest island has kicked into overdrive in recent weeks.
Ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump said U.S. ownership of the autonomous Danish territory is an “absolute necessity” for purposes related to “national security and freedom throughout the world.”
Trump has since doubled down on those comments, refusing to rule out the use of military or economic force to make Greenland a part of the U.S.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has told Trump that the Arctic island is “not for sale” and urged the international community to respect the territory’s aspirations for independence. Alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Egede has also recently called for talks with Trump to resolve the situation.
Asked about Trump’s fixation on making Greenland a part of the U.S., the president-elect’s incoming national security advisor, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., was unequivocal.
“This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources,” Waltz told Fox News in an interview on Jan. 9.
“This is about reintroducing America in the Western Hemisphere,” Waltz said. “You can call it Monroe Doctrine 2.0, but this is all part of the ‘America First‘ agenda.”
Greenland is going to become more and more topical; it is going to become more and more front and center because of the climate change discussion, the critical metals discussion and the geopolitical discussion.
Roderick McIllree
Executive director of 80 Mile
Critical minerals refer to a subset of materials considered essential to the energy transition. These minerals, which tend to have a high risk of supply chain disruption, include metals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.
Critical minerals and rare earth elements are vital components in emerging green technologies, such as wind turbines and electric vehicles, energy storage technologies and national security applications.
China is the undisputed leader of the critical minerals supply chain, accounting for roughly 60% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals and materials. U.S. officials have previously warned that this poses a strategic challenge amid the pivot to low-carbon energy sources.
In this aerial view melting icebergs crowd the Ilulissat Icefjord on July 16, 2024 near Ilulissat, Greenland.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Jakob Kløve Keiding, senior consultant at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), said a 2023 survey of Greenland’s resource potential evaluated a total of 38 raw materials on the island, the vast majority of which have a relatively high or moderate potential.
These materials include the rare earth metals graphite, niobium, platinum group metals, molybdenum, tantalum and titanium.
“Overall, we can say that there is a huge potential for critical raw materials [in Greenland],” Keiding told CNBC via telephone.
“Many of these are of great importance for the EU economy and, of course, it is not limited to just Europe. Many of these are also on the list of American [critical raw materials],” he added.
‘Greenland is not for sale’
Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenland member of the Danish parliament from the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, described Trump’s comments about Greenland as “disrespectful” and reaffirmed the prime minister’s message by saying the territory is not for sale.
“I’m not concerned. I think that some people in Greenland are quite concerned, but I think it is important for us to say that Greenland is not for sale, never has been for sale [and] never will be for sale,” Chemnitz told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro on Monday.
Chemnitz said Greenlandic lawmakers would need to have “clear and very specific goals on how to collaborate with the U.S.”
Closer ties between Greenland and the U.S. moving forward, for instance, could help to facilitate investment in the island’s mining industry, she added.
“If we look at extraction, for example, of rare earths. This is something that we have been willing to do for a very long time. We’ve been looking for American investors, [but] we haven’t found them, so they are quite welcome,” Chemnitz said.
The U.S. military maintains a permanent presence in northwest Greenland at the Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base.
‘A race for what’s left’
Roderick McIllree, executive director of U.K.-based mining company 80 Mile, said he’s been working in Greenland for just over 20 years on projects ranging from resource discovery to feasibility.
“I think that what we’re seeing in Greenland is really a race for what’s left,” McIllree told CNBC via video call.
“A lot of independent state surveys are pointing to Greenland and its natural shelf boundaries as potentially hosting 20% to 25% of the last remaining extractable resources on the planet. Now, if that’s right, that’s an enormous opportunity for Greenland.”
The Old Colonial Harbour of Nuuk, Greenland is pictured on August 30, 2024. Greenland, an icy land whose rugged landscapes are bewitching, wants to attract more tourists, a paradox for a territory that is particularly vulnerable to global warming and whose geographical isolation means that many people have to take planes to get there.
James Brooks | Afp | Getty Images
80 Mile currently has three projects it is actively developing in Greenland, including a large oil concession on the island’s east coast, a titanium project near Pituffik in the northwest and its Disko-Nuussuaq project in the southwest.
Underlining the resource potential in the territory, McIllree said the firm’s Disko project could be one of the largest occurrences of nickel and copper on the planet.
“Greenland is going to become more and more topical; it is going to become more and more front and center because of the climate change discussion, the critical metals discussion and the geopolitical discussion. And its proximity to the U.S. really kind of makes it a natural jurisdiction for significant U.S. investment,” McIllree said.
“If Greenland play their cards right, this will lead to their independence,” he added.
‘Significant strategic interest’
In March last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Nuuk, Greenland to inaugurate an EU office in the island’s capital.
The move, which came several months before Donald Trump Jnr.’s recent trip to the same city, was designed to firm up Europe’s presence in the territory as well as the broader Arctic region.
Von der Leyen announced two cooperation agreements totaling almost 94 million euros ($95.9 million) at the time, which she said would be used to invest in clean energy, critical raw materials and skills in Greenland.
(L-R) President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute B Egede and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sign an agreement on the opening of the European Commission’s new office in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 15, 2024.
Leiff Josefsen | Afp | Getty Images
“I’m a geologist by background and I know that Greenland is very well endowed with natural resources,” Paul Lusty, head of battery raw materials research at Fastmarkets, told CNBC via video call.
“There has been a lot of interest in rare earths in Greenland, for example, and clearly, they can be of significant strategic interest to the U.S.,” Lusty said.
Hot on the heels of Kia being added to Tesla’s “coming soon” page for Supercharger access, we’re now learning that Supercharger support won’t actually come nearly as soon as expected for Kia – with a delay of weeks or months before Kia owners can plug in at North America’s largest fast charging network.
Earlier today, Kia and several other brands were added to Tesla’s coming soon page, suggesting that access could be imminent.
This squared with a previous September announcement that access would come in January – with a planned date of January 15, just two days away from now.
But today, PC Magazine reported that Kia’s access will be delayed to sometime in Spring.
Specifically, Kia has updated a press release on its website which previously stated a launch date of January 15. The press release now says “Access to the DC fast chargers is planned for the first quarter of 2025.”
That means it could be any time in the next three months, assuming there are no further delays.
PC Magazine quoted James Bell, Kia’s head of PR, as stating that “a delay has occurred and we are working with the appropriate teams to confirm new availability/date.” We also reached out to Bell to see if we could get any more information, but hadn’t heard back as of press time.
It’s unclear whether this delay will affect other brands, like Hyundai and Genesis.
Kia and Hyundai (and Hyundai sub-brand Genesis) share a platform for their electric vehicles, and have been the first to offer vehicles with native NACS ports on 2025 models, as opposed to using adapters like all other brands have so far. Older Kia/Hyundai vehicles without a native NACS port will still be able to use an adapter once cars gain access to the network.
We reached out to Hyundai to find out whether they’ve been hit by the same delay, but haven’t heard back yet. We’ll update if we do.
In 2022, Tesla announced it would open its charging network, lured by big money promised in President Biden’s federal EV charging grants.
For a while it seemed like a bit of a hail mary, as many thought that most of the industry was already committed to the SAE CCS standard for fast charging.
But then, in 2023, Ford announced it would adopt Tesla’s “NACS” connector, and all the dominos started to fall. Soon enough, basically the entire industry had announced a shift to Tesla’s charging standard.
But these things take time, and the industry had to work on redesigning vehicles, building adapters, organizing software handshakes, and building out an official standard. Now, several brands can already use Superchargers, with more to come.
The rollout seemed to be slowing down for a time, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk abruptly fired the entire Supercharging team which had been responsible for successfully executing this coup that could see Tesla gaining a lasting lead in EV charging, with those firings causing total chaos and jeopardizing the transition.
Earlier today, when so many brands were added to the “coming soon” page, it seemed like perhaps the dust had settled on the chaotic charging situation caused my Musk’s instability. But perhaps this Kia news is indication that there’s still some trouble that needs to be worked through.
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The Biden administration awarded $635 million in EV charger grants just 10 days before Donald Trump takes office, leaving just $700,000 of the $2.5 billion from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law unallocated.
The grants from Biden’s zero-emission refueling infrastructure programs will fund 49 projects that will deploy more than 11,500 EV charging ports and alternative fuel infrastructure along corridors and in communities across 27 states, four federally recognized tribes, and the District of Columbia.
$368 million will be allocated for 42 projects that expand EV charging infrastructure within communities across the US, while $268 million will go toward seven projects that build out the national fast charging network along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors.
The grants, which were announced on Friday, are made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program and a 10% set-aside from the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, “These investments will help states and communities build out a network of EV chargers in the coming years so that one day, finding a charge on a road trip will be as easy as filling up at a gas station.”
There are currently nearly 70,000 public EV charging stations across the US, with over 197,000 charging ports, according to the DOE’s Alternative Fuels Data Center. The Biden administration set a goal of building out 500,000 publicly available EV chargers by 2030.
Since the election, the Biden administration has been rushing to distribute clean energy funding in response to Trump’s threats to claw it back. Once the funds are allocated, reclaiming them will be nearly impossible.
Read more: Wisconsin’s first 3 NEVI-funded EV fast charging stations are open
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