The Jeep Grand Wagoneer gets brought back into the Jeep lineup for 2026. There’s also a new range extended EV powertrain option, two things that should have been done since the Wagoneer debuted.

Jeep seems to want to start over with the Wagoneer. For 2026, the off-road brand has not only brought the full-size SUV back into the Jeep brand, but it also gains a new engine option, one that’s been badly needed since the model’s introduction. To understand where the Wagoneer lineup is going for 2026, lets take a look at the uphill battle that Jeep has been fighting with the Wagoneer since it’s introduction.

Jeep brought the Wagoneer name out of mothballs for it’s lineup of full-size SUVS, which were all new for 2022. These new Wagoneers weren’t going to be Jeeps, they were going to be their own brand, with the upper trims getting exclusive owner benefits that befitted a luxury nameplate. At least that’s what Jeep wanted us to believe. The Wagoneer lineup was to take on established full-size SUV players on two fronts: the mainstream Wagoneer that was a competitor to models like the Ford Expedition and Chevy Suburban/GMC Yukon and the more luxurious Grand Wagoneer to go against the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator. A staple in this segment are V8 engines, and Jeep happily obliged by giving the Wagoneer lineup a choice of engines that were big, or bigger. Standard Wagoneers were powered by the tried and true 5.7-liter Hemi V8. Moving into the Grand Wagoneer got you a slightly detuned version of the 6.4-liter V8 used in Dodge’s Scat Pack and SRT models. The 6.4 was thirsty. During my test of a Grand Wagoneer in 2022, I recorded an 11.8 mpg average which is pretty wild.

Things changed in mid 2022 when Jeep announced that the Grand Wagoneer would get Stellantis’s new twin-turbo Hurricane I6 for the 2023 model year. This new engine came with a slight boost in fuel economy, but it was nothing to brag about at 15 mpg city/21 mpg highway/17 mpg combined. Then rumors started to swirl that for 2024, Jeep was dropping both V8s from the Wagoneer’s lineup; a leaked order guide showed that the big SUVs only engine option would be 2 versions of the Hurricane I6. This eventually turned out to be true: standard Wagoneer’s got the 420 hp Hurricane engine while Grand Wagoneer’s got a high output, 550 hp version of the engine.

While this engine shuffling was going on, Jeep was dealing with three issues that were affecting both brands. The first was buyer confusion with the Wagoneer lineup. In mid-2022 it was reported that buyers didn’t seem to understand that there were distinct differences between the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer; buyers thought that the Grand Wagoneer was a trim of the Wagoneer for instance. Then in late 2023, reports came that Jeep’s premium pricing push had priced out most of its most loyal customers. This unaffordability problem lead to admission from head of Jeep North America Bob Broderdorf in early 2025: the brand may have jumped the gun with Wagoneer pricing. Speaking to Motor 1 at the North American International Auto Show, Broderdorf admitted that the brand went too far with Wagoneer pricing, which spans from a starting price of just over $60,000 to well over $100,000 on fully loaded Grand Wagoneer Series III trims:

Wagoneer, it’s too far. There’s such a fine line on where to go. Creating demand in the market, you want one less car than the market wants. Not 1,000 less, or 1,000 more, so there’s subtlety there. And some of the strategies just went too far.

This lead Jeep to slash Wagoneer prices by $3,000-$6,000 for 2025. Now for 2026, Jeep has refreshed the Wagoneer with some big updates. The first change is in the name. Wagoneer will no longer be it’s own, premium brand. The Wagoneer lineup will will now be known as Jeep Grand Wagoneer with no separation based on price. There’s new trims as well. Gone are the Series’ I-III trims. Now the Grand Wagoneer is available in base, Limited – with sub-trims like Limited Altitude and Limited Reserve – and top of the line Summit and Summit Reserve trims. There’s also a new more rugged off-road trim called Upland; think of it as a Grand Wagoneer Rubicon. Annoyingly, Jeep is touting the Grand Wagoneer’s price as if it’s affordable or something, using terms for the price like “attainable” and “family-friendly price point” – despite the fact that it’s $62,145 starting price is more than the median annual salary in the US – and runs to just $96,000 for the upper Summit trims. Tack on another $3,000 the long wheel base Grand Wagoneer L on any trim.

The next big update is in the powertrain department. For 2026 Grand Wagoneers will come standard with the 420 hp version of the twin-turbo Hurricane I6; the 550 hp high-output version of the engine is gone. In it’s place is a first for the segment. Called a range-extended sport utility electric vehicle or REEV for short, Jeep took the powertrain from the upcoming Ram 1500 REV and threw it in the Grand Wagoneer. That means Stellantis’ 3.6-liter V6 acts as an on board generator to power a dual electric motor setup and a 92 kWh battery pack. Power and range figures are impressive: 647 hp, 620 lb-ft of torque – which Stellantis says is enough to get the Grand Wagoneer to 60 mph in just five seconds – over 500 miles of driving range and 150 miles of all electric driving range.

Unfortunately you’ll have to wait a bit if you want the Grand Wagoneer PHEV. Jeep says the Hurricane Grand Wagoneers will release first with production scheduled to start later this year. The PHEV will come sometime later. When? Who knows. Jeep isn’t saying for sure, only saying that the Grand Wagoneer REEV is coming in 2026.