It’s been about four months since we got our last good look at the coming Jeep Wagoneer S battery-electric SUV. That was back in January, when Jeep revealed an interior with what looks like four screens and electrically operated doors. Now we have video set at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park in Rosamond, California, the Jeep lining up on the straight next to a Tesla Model Y Performance. Except the two vehicles don’t run an all-out race — the narration makes it clear this is a metaphor for Jeep being ready to compete against America’s best-selling EV, so the two take off together and mostly pose for the camera.
A stopwatch comes out, though, just as the Wagoneer S noses ahead. The timing clock shows 3.4 seconds flat, a title explaining that time came with an initial rollout subtracted. A 3.4-second 0-60 beats the Model Y Performance’s official time of 3.5 seconds, the Tesla’s time also subtracting a rollout. To achieve the feat, the Wagoneer S’ motors make 600 horsepower and 617 pound-feet of torque compared to the Model Y’s estimated 550 hp and 487 lb-ft. After the loss, the Tesla sees itself out of the track gates.
With an estimated range of more than 300 miles on a charge, the Wagoneer S can go at least 21 miles farther than the Model Y Performance as well. All of this is nifty until one remembers that the Tesla starts at just over $52,000 before incentives; the Jeep is thought to start at around $80,000 and go up to about $100,000.
But the title of the vid is “Surpass Yourself,” so the real competition is in-house, being the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk that also runs a 3.5-second 0-60 and started at almost $92,000 when it was last on sale. And for $92,000, one might want to look at a Rivian R1S with four motors, 835 hp and 908 lb-ft, a 3.0-second blast to 60 miles per hour, and an estimated 321 miles of range on a charge.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. The Jeep is still in its teaser phase, so let’s just enjoy the video.
