Sunday
Nov232025
STELLANTIS BREAKS THE AE STUPID METER. AGAIN.
Sunday, November 23, 2025 at 08:08AM Editor's Note: This week, Peter takes on Stellantis, calling them out for their abject stupidity in going all-in on an "off-road" EV for one of their key product launches next year. In On The Table, we show our readers the runner-up to this year's "Answer To The Question That Absolutely No One Is Asking." We also preview the 2026 Dodge Durango, along with the all-new 2026 Audi Q3. And we take another look at the 2026 Honda Prelude hybrid-electric sports coupe. Our AE Song of the Week is "Back To Friends" by Sombr. In Fumes, Peter continues with Part V of his series on his all-time favorite racing machines, Jim Hall's Chaparrals. And in The Line, we have F1 results from Las Vegas. We're on it! -WG
By Peter M. De Lorenzo
Detroit. Just when we thought it was safe to put the AE Stupid Meter away for the year, Stellantis has blessed us with this: The 2026 Jeep Recon, an “off-road” EV with 250 miles of range (allegedly) and a sticker price of $66,995, including shipping.
Where do I begin? First of all, what year is it again? These aren't the halcyon days of 2021, when the auto industry was going all-in on EVs, and woefully misguided CEOs (you know who you are) were waxing eloquently about how the “Grand Transition” to EVs was upon us and if you’re not in it to win it you were destined to lose, big-time.
No, this is 2025, almost 2026, and those same CEOs are in “duck-and-cover” mode as the EV “thing” has ground to almost a complete halt. In fact, expensive EVs are dead in the water, with Ford dealers burdened with piles of F-150 Lightnings on their lots screaming for help and GM’s vaunted “Factory Zero” shut down. If any EVs are in the works, they’re going to be relatively “affordable” like the upcoming Chevrolet Bolt.
Not to mention the fact that, as I predicted, the Charger EV would be dead in the water from the moment it was introduced – and it was - and now Stellantis operatives are busy stuffing HEMI V8s and “Hurricane” Twin-Turbo straight sixes in them in a dramatic “180” pivot back to ICE power.
Wait a minute, wasn’t the new CEO – Antonio Filosa – supposedly orchestrating a new product push that will resurrect the fortunes of Stellantis? We’ve been buried in press releases touting a “new” highly-focused Stellantis, a company that will be responsive to its dealers, kinder to its suppliers (after consistently being loathed by the entire industry) and all about product, product, product.
So, I could say, “what the hell happened?” But it’s much more accurate to ask WTF?
And yet, here comes the 2026 Jeep Recon. “Built for adventure, the all-new 2026 Jeep Recon is the only fully electric Trail Rated SUV, delivering rugged capability in a fully electrified form,” according to Stellantis PR minions.
Really? That’s what Stellantis is going with for one of its key product launches next year?
Oh, there’s more, of course. “Electrified and trail ready, the Jeep Recon delivers 650HP, 620 lb.-ft. of instant torque and an estimated all-electric range of up to 250 miles, plus 0-60 mph acceleration in as low as 3.6 seconds,” according to Stellantis PR minions.
As if any of that really matters. The “estimated” range is exactly that, estimated. And the horsepower and 0-60 time are inconsequential because, suffice to say, if you dip into any of that capability in the outback you will be pitching a tent and waiting for someone to come along with a charge.
I will spare you the quotes from Stellantis executives touting the excellence of the Recon, because it’s all unmitigated bullshit. And they know it. The decision was made to go ahead with this product after years of hand-wringing, and it is a huge mistake. In fact, it broke the AE Stupid Meter. This is nothing more than marketing at gunpoint. Or, as Mr. T famously said, “I pity the fools.”
If there’s one auto company that consistently takes two-steps forward and five-back, it’s Stellantis. In fact, it shoots itself in the head on a regular basis. Think about it. Fiat is an afterthought (and deservedly so), Alfa Romeo as a brand is woefully underserved and perpetually on the ropes because of it, and Jeep is promising twelve months of special Wranglers, signaling that Jeep operatives are, in fact, completely out of ideas. And now, here comes the Recon. The reality for Filosa & Co. is that if it weren’t for Ram Trucks they’d be boarding up the windows out in Auburn Hills.
The Jeep Recon is simply the wrong product, at the wrong time, from the wrong car company.
And it’s the winner of the 2025 Autoextremist “Answer to The Question That Absolutely No One Is Asking” Award, hands-down.
Congratulations to all involved.
(See On The Table for this year's runner-up to the AE award. -WG)
And that’s High-Octane Truth for this week.
And yet, here comes the 2026 Jeep Recon. “Built for adventure, the all-new 2026 Jeep Recon is the only fully electric Trail Rated SUV, delivering rugged capability in a fully electrified form,” according to Stellantis PR minions.
Really? That’s what Stellantis is going with for one of its key product launches next year?
Oh, there’s more, of course. “Electrified and trail ready, the Jeep Recon delivers 650HP, 620 lb.-ft. of instant torque and an estimated all-electric range of up to 250 miles, plus 0-60 mph acceleration in as low as 3.6 seconds,” according to Stellantis PR minions.
As if any of that really matters. The “estimated” range is exactly that, estimated. And the horsepower and 0-60 time are inconsequential because, suffice to say, if you dip into any of that capability in the outback you will be pitching a tent and waiting for someone to come along with a charge.
I will spare you the quotes from Stellantis executives touting the excellence of the Recon, because it’s all unmitigated bullshit. And they know it. The decision was made to go ahead with this product after years of hand-wringing, and it is a huge mistake. In fact, it broke the AE Stupid Meter. This is nothing more than marketing at gunpoint. Or, as Mr. T famously said, “I pity the fools.”
If there’s one auto company that consistently takes two-steps forward and five-back, it’s Stellantis. In fact, it shoots itself in the head on a regular basis. Think about it. Fiat is an afterthought (and deservedly so), Alfa Romeo as a brand is woefully underserved and perpetually on the ropes because of it, and Jeep is promising twelve months of special Wranglers, signaling that Jeep operatives are, in fact, completely out of ideas. And now, here comes the Recon. The reality for Filosa & Co. is that if it weren’t for Ram Trucks they’d be boarding up the windows out in Auburn Hills.
The Jeep Recon is simply the wrong product, at the wrong time, from the wrong car company.
And it’s the winner of the 2025 Autoextremist “Answer to The Question That Absolutely No One Is Asking” Award, hands-down.
Congratulations to all involved.
(See On The Table for this year's runner-up to the AE award. -WG)
And that’s High-Octane Truth for this week.
(Stellantis)
The 2026 Jeep Recon.
Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG