Find Out How The Wagoneer S Remixes Classic Jeep Design Cues From The Man Who Styled It

The Jeep Wagoneer S recently made its debut as the first electric Jeep available in the US. The plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe are already huge hits, but this is something new. It’s not a modified version of another vehicle but a wholly different SUV that moves Jeep’s electrification efforts forward by a giant leap, along with its visual identity. Designing the Wagoneer S was a big deal. The look and feel had to be just right to send a clear message to existing Jeep owners while attracting new customers. Figuring out how to do that was the job of Chief Design Officer Ralph Gilles. We spoke with him at the launch of Jeep’s new EV to find out how he and his team took it from nothing but a sketch to a production vehicle.

It’s All About Choice

“It’s just like when you dress up, sometimes you want jewelry, you want cufflinks and stuff. And then there are the times you go kind of designer black, right?” he said. It’s the same idea when designing a vehicle. “If you pin it down, you’re going to only get one type of customer,” says the executive. That means Gilles left plenty of room to take the Wagoneer S in different directions. There’s the sleek Launch Edition today, showcasing the most luxurious version available right now, but there’s also the possibility that the rugged off-road Trailhawk Concept could be a production vehicle, and perhaps even other variants – it’s not going to be a one-trim lineup forever.

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Those details stay true to the Jeep feel even as they take the brand in a new direction and hopefully attract new customer. “I hope they see something fresh. I really do,” said Gilles. “I hope, first of all, they say Jeep. And that’s a good thing. I think that brings gravity. It brings certain credibility to it. But I also think they see us pivoting in a good way. We’re not afraid to kind of play with our aesthetic. Not everything has to be a Wrangler.”

From Grille To Wing

The seven-slot grille is practically synonymous with Jeep. “If you think about a Wrangler today, you have T-shirts with just the two eyeballs and the seven slots. That’s it. And that’s Wrangler. It’s Jeep. And this, I think, will be the same way,” he said. The new grille still has seven slots, but they’re much smaller. There’s no need for them to be large since there’s no engine under the hood that needs the airflow. “We found a way to get as small as we could and use cast lighting,” said the design boss. This diffuses light in each of the seven slots, making the Wagoneer S grille stand out at night, and Gilles is pretty proud of the result: “We did a prototype, we added light in the studio, and we stood back and were like, ‘This is freaking cool.'” However, he may be even more pleased with the opposite end of the vehicle.

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With this EV, Jeep is allowing its designers more freedom to explore what the brand represents than ever before, and the Wagoneer S is a clear step forward, blending modern style with the rugged feel one expects of all Jeep products. As Stellantis enters a new era of electrification, we expect to see Gilles and his team take more liberties and have more fun with the marque. That includes not just the Wagoneer S but the upcoming $25,000 electric SUV, which we have yet to see but could easily incorporate its own novel, forward-thinking ideas of style in the same way the brand’s first EV in America is already doing.