The Jeep Recon is not rated for astronaut diapers. It has trail classification.

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In 2007, an astronaut allegedly put on a Maximum Absorbency Garment (also known as MAG, a fancy name for the diapers astronauts wear on spacewalks), got in her car, and drove 900 miles straight from Houston to Orlando to attack her ex’s new girlfriend. While she says the media exaggerated the story (and that she didn’t actually wear a diaper), it was a completely crazy story that gave us the phrase “astronaut love triangle.”

It also appears to have secretly become the standard by which automotive journalists judge electric vehicles.

Every time a new electric vehicle comes out, critics immediately note the absolute range from 100 to zero percent on the highway. Anything that can’t rival the Tesla’s efficiency on the road and keep you driving for 4-6 hours is subpar.

Car and driver I just put the 2026 Jeep Recon Moab Launch Edition through its 80 mph road test and it managed 160 miles. More in The autopioThey are already calling the vehicle a spectacular failure for having so little autonomy on the road.

Oh man I hope there is a charging station at the trailhead -> tinyurl.com/jzmy2azs

— The Autopiano (@theautopian.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T19:44:26.305Z

But here’s the reality: nobody drives like that. Unless you’re an astronaut trying to cross state lines without going to the bathroom, you don’t drive an electric vehicle from a full charge to zero in a single agonizing stretch. Whether you can replicate this test depends on whether you are using Depends.

For some reason, many EV writers seem to think we all drive like we have a nappy and a vendetta to settle. While that would make a big splash in the media, interstate travel is limited both by patience with your fellow passengers and the size of the vehicle’s smallest bladder.

Urine is not the only limiting factor. Humans have stiff backs. We need to stop and stretch our legs.

If you’re driving on I-10 in Texas (which is exactly the kind of place you’d actually sit at 80 mph for hours on end), 160 miles of total range means you can comfortably make 90-mile hops between chargers. At 80 mph, that’s just over an hour of driving.

For the Recon and its 94 kWh battery pack, that 90-mile jump translates perfectly to a 10 to 60 percent battery window and roughly matches the distance between the best charging stations between El Paso and San Antonio.

Keeping the battery in that specific percentage range is the sweet spot for road trips. DC fast chargers give you the most power when the battery is low. We already know that the Recon can generate around 200 kW at top speeds. If you approach the charger at 10 percent, plug it in, and go inside to use the bathroom and get a drink, you’ll be taking advantage of maximum charging speed the entire time you’re away from the vehicle.

By the time you’re done doing normal human things, the Jeep is back up to 60 percent and ready for the next stage. You completely skip the agonizing trickle charging that happens on top of the battery. Perhaps most importantly, you’re not looking for a bush to hide behind when the call of nature can no longer be ignored.

Yes, the Recon is very inefficient on the interstate. It gets 1.7 miles per kWh on the highway because it’s shaped like a shed on stilts in the backyard. It has 33-inch knobby tires, over 9 inches of ground clearance, and a 15:1 final drive ratio at the rear for precise off-road torque.

The Jeep Recon isn’t designed to set non-stop Cannonball records, bust your bladder, and fill urine bottles. It’s designed to take you comfortably down the road while preserving the ability to crawl over rocks when the pavement ends.

If Stellantis smoothed out all the curves and put skinny eco tires on it just to go 300 miles on a road test, it wouldn’t be a Jeep anymore. You would lose the approach angles, open-air capability and real-world performance that people buy in a Jeep and are willing to sacrifice efficiency for.

Recon is not classified as an Astronaut Love Triangle. It has trail classification. And that’s exactly what a Jeep should be, whether it runs on cheap electrons or expensive gasoline.

Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba.