Among the legacy carmakers to have been the slowest at adopting EVs, Jeep was among them, having fallen far behind most of its contemporaries over the past handful of years. However, this is all about to change, as the brand most well-known for its burly off-roaders and go-anywhere SUVs has seen some incredible commercial reception for its first-ever electric model. Made with the European market In mind, the brand-new Jeep Avenger is a compact electric SUV with big aspirations at heart. This tiny crossover has singlehanded showcased just how appealing the idea of a Jeep SUV is for a lot of its core fanbase, and new Jeep enthusiasts, alike.
But, if you’re not really into electric cars, then Jeep has an ace up its sleeve for the Avenger, in that you can pick and choose between three different powertrains… An internal combustion engine, a hybrid, and a fully electric variant of the Avenger, like the one I have here. So, for those who are wary of hopping straight into owning an EV, either the internal combustion model or the hybrid version might seem more appealing to you. Although, for me, I’m far more curious about this EV version… Has Jeep managed to nail its first-ever EV (I’m not counting the Jeep Wagoneer S, as that’s only sold in North America for now)? And crucially, has Jeep imbued enough of that Jeep-ness inside the European-made Avenger?
What Is The Jeep Avenger Summit About?
Jeeps are comparatively uncommon here in Europe, and more so if you’re looking at these smaller, compact-sized Jeep models. That’s especially true in the UK. As such, something like the Avenger is more likely to turn a few heads, if not for the novelty of the Jeep brand alone. Still, even if you look past the badge and that iconic Jeep 7-slot grille, the Avenger is a pretty good-looking little crossover, with its boxy silhouette and athletic design. Look far enough, and you may notice interesting little details to denote that you’re driving the electric version of the Avenger, like the tiny blue ‘e’ and the cool graphics on that faux front grille.
As a whole, I do think Jeep has done a really good job at translating the more muscular and testosterone-filled aesthetic of the bigger Jeeps, like the Wranglers and the Cherokees, into this compact, more cutesy form factor. After all, the Avenger is currently the smallest vehicle offered by Jeep, which is mainly the reason why it won’t be sold in the North American market. For context, the Avenger is a whole half-a-feet shorter than the smallest Jeep offered in North America, the Renegade. Additionally, the Avenger is a mere 20mm longer than the old Honda Fit, so that should give you a clear point of reference for how small the Avenger is. Plus, the Avenger doesn’t just look like a Jeep, it stands proud like one too, with its jacked-up ride height and increased ground clearance.
Not to mention, it’s hard to not notice the thick, hardy rubber and plastic trim around the Avenger, offering you all-around protection, working hand-in-hand with the (probably overkill) underbody protection and skid plates. It’s supposed to actually work at preventing dents and scratches. The Avenger just looks like it’s ripe and ready to go off-roading any day of the week. With its muscular, bulldog-like proportions, the Avenger sits just right to my eyes. I also particularly like this bright, vibrant Sun yellow metallic paintwork, contrasting against the two-tone black roof. Elsewhere, you’ll find more blacked-out accents, such as around the squared-off taillights, as well as the rear roof spoiler.
How Does It Drive?
Although the Jeep Avenger is no hot rod, if you are looking for more power, this BEV (battery electric vehicle) version is the most powerful one in the range. It has more horsepower and torque respectively compared to either the petrol or hybrid models, though don’t expect anything mind-blowing. On the Avenger EV, you’ll find a single motor fitted onto the front axle, and it’s good for cranking out 156hp and 260Nm of torque. That should help it sprint from 0 to 62mph in a relaxed 9.0 seconds and onto a top speed of 93mph. Again, nothing super impressive from a performance perspective, but for a small and relatively lightweight crossover, there’s more than sufficient speed to get you from A to B.
If you want to tweak it even further, you could fiddle around with the six drive modes that you get with Jeep’s ‘Selec-Terrain’ terrain management system. These should aid in setting up and fine-tuning your Avenger at the press of a button, depending on the road conditions. It should be noted that you’re definitely not going to match a Wrangler or even a Cherokee off the beaten path, and I doubt you’re able to properly off-road the Avenger. It does have a fraction of that capability if that matters to you. The good news here is that when you get behind the wheel, the Avenger has that quintessential Jeep feel, with its high seating position and the commanding view of the road ahead of you.
Given that the Avenger does have a fairly tall ride height (for a crossover, anyway), you’re easily able to be wary of the things around you, sort of like you’re off-roading, in a sense. Moreover, once you get going, the Avenger feels and drives like any other front-wheel drive, compact EV. That’s certainly not a bad thing though, as the new Jeep Avenger feels superbly refined, comfortable, and quiet on the road. It’s the perfect daily driver, and thanks to the Avenger’s petite frame, it should squeeze through the narrowest lanes and streets in the UK with no problems. That uniquely Jeep feel is not something I take lightly either, given that it’s a pretty novel feeling that I do quite enjoy. I’d imagine trying to make an electric SUV or crossover “feel” like a Jeep is probably quite a difficult thing to really pull off.
What Is It Like Inside?
The cabin of the new Jeep Avenger is a mix of chic and rugged. On the latter front, there is a good amount of hard plastics, tough rubberised upholstery, and thickly-padded vinyl seats. Additionally, a key part of the reason why the Avenger feels so much like a Jeep is that thick steering wheel, with really chunky multi-function buttons. It’s all what I’d expect out of a Jeep, and it ought to stand the test of time really well, too. These hard materials and trim pieces may not exude luxury or poshness, but at the same time, they shouldn’t get scratched up or show excessive wear and tear. That’s really nice for a car that you can just toss people and stuff into without worrying about scuffing it.
Elsewhere, I do like the interior layout of the new Avenger, courtesy of its minimalist design. You could even see some of the exterior paintwork carry through to the dashboard, as well. So, when you pair it with a bright yellow colourway like this, it helps to break up the rest of the Avenger’s monochromatic, all-black cabin. Similarly, all that minimalism carries to the switchgear, of which there is just enough here that is analogue and physical, which is nice to see. These encompass most of your climate control settings, as well as the Selec-Terrain drive mode selector, and the gear selector buttons. All are physical, leaving the select few functions to be tucked away inside the Jeep Avenger’s 10.25-inch infotainment system.
At over 10 inches wide diagonally, it’s a decent size and offers a healthy amount of screen real-estate for your satnav functions, or if you need to play around with the multimedia controls. And, courtesy of its super-clean user interface, it helps to make this one of the most easy-to-use and slicker infotainment systems I’ve sampled yet. Some of the other cool stuff you’ll find here is the rear-view camera system, as well as the inclusion of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Jeep also throws in a fully digital gauge cluster, and when spec’d on the top-spec Summit trim level, it’s 10.25 inches in size.
One of the things that I love most about Jeep is their attention to detail. This is something many Jeep owners and fans relish in, trying to find all the small, hidden easter eggs throughout their Jeeps. The Avenger isn’t any different, like the tiny ladybug imprinted by one of the roof rails up top. Inside, there’s the cover that closes your glovebox compartment in the centre console, which folds out like an iPad folio case. Additionally, if you spec a higher-grade trim level, this compartment is where you’ll find the wireless charging pad for your phone.
Looking more closely at the practicality side of things, the petite form factor of the Avenger does mean that you have to compromise just a tiny bit. With the front seats pushed back to my favoured position, there is practically no knee room or legroom left for whoever’s sitting behind me. Granted, I’m a lot taller than most people, so it’s not likely you’re going to encounter the same issue. But, even with the front seats moved just a tiny bit back, it’s still going to be a tight squeeze for your rear passengers. On the bright side, the new Jeep Avenger’s boxy shape does at least mean you get decent headroom. Aside from that, the boot space is rather decent for a compact crossover (around 355 litres).
The Experience
The new Jeep Avenger EV has a 51kWh battery pack (or approximately 54kWh gross), which has a claimed WLTP (combined) range of around 249 miles. With that being said, though, in the real world, you should realistically expect somewhere closer to around 200 or so miles. As such, range anxiety might still be a thing you’ll have to deal with if you’re planning on taking your Avenger on long road trips. However, for most day-to-day commutes, 200 miles or thereabouts should be way more than adequate. And, if you charge overnight once you get home, you can be sure that you’ll have a full or near-enough-full battery the next morning.
Speaking of, charging the Jeep Avenger will take you less than 30 minutes, for a 10% to 80% charge, if you plug it into a 100kW DC fast charger. However, if you rely on something more ubiquitous and commonplace, like an 11kW AC charger that you’ll on most public charging stations, this may take you closer to 6 hours for a 10% to 80% charge, which is expected. Optionally, Jeep’s Connect Plus service and mobile app might have some tools that’ll help make things easier for you. For example, it could aid you in finding the nearest charging station, letting you schedule your Avenger’s charging, or using its dynamic mapping to have a clearer idea of how far you could drive on a charge.
Jeep Avenger Summit Cost
Trying to cross-shop the new Jeep Avenger might be a tad overwhelming at first, given that, as I noted earlier, there is not one, but three different powertrains you could choose from. The petrol model is the cheapest, which starts from a very reasonable £23,859, though the hybrid variant will bump that a notch to £25,499. If you’re looking at the battery-electric model, it’ll start from a pricier £34,999, though that’s still a rather competitive price point among other small electric crossovers.
In our case here, the Jeep Avenger EV then gives you three additional trim levels to choose from. There’s the entry-level Longitude (starting from £34,999), the mid-tier Altitude (starting from £36,699), and then there’s the top-of-the-range Summit, like ours here, starting from £38,899. To be clear, with a few options tacked on top, our press car here would otherwise set you back £42,125, and there’s a plethora of optional packs and extras that you could get for your Avenger, too.
Thankfully, you’re not required to spend a whole lot. The entry-level Longitude trim, for instance, offers a good amount of standard fitment for the price, particularly when it comes to safety systems and driver aids. These include automated emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, and lane-keep assist. On top of that, you get driver attention assist, hill descent control, Jeep’s Selec-Terrain terrain management system, rear parking sensors, alongside keyless entry and start.
Now, moving up to the Altitude trim gives you a whole lot of extra goodies. These include a larger set of 17-inch alloy wheels (instead of the 16s you get with the Longitude), cloth/vinyl seats (rather than fabric), and a height-adjustable cargo floor. Moreover, Jeep throws in some shiny silver inserts and trim pieces, a synthetic leather steering wheel, and adaptive cruise control. Most noticeably, there’s now a bigger 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster, rather than the default 7-inch unit.
Meanwhile, the top-of-the-line Summit trim rewards you with more perks. This entails an even bigger set of 18-inch alloy wheels, full LED lights front and rear, automatic high beams, and heated front seats. In addition, you get power foldable side mirrors, a hands-free power tailgate, Level 2 assisted driving, and the aforementioned wireless charging pad for your phone. Elsewhere, you’ll also get access to extra safety features, including a blind spot monitor, a 180-degree rear-view camera (which has a cool bird’s eye view mode), and 360-degree parking sensors.
Verdict
The Avenger is a really strong first start for Jeep’s electrified aspirations, and it’s given the brand a valuable amount of momentum to keep pushing forward. I expect the Jeep Avenger to sell really well in the years to come, and there’s definitely a lot of appeal to it. It’s playful, fun, attractive, and it’s thoroughly modern, inside and out. All the while, despite these changes clearly made for a metropolitan crowd and optimised to tackle the urban jungle, the Avenger retains much of that distinct Jeep DNA that we know and love. Only now, it’s stuck inside a more accessible package.
While you’d be hard-pressed to find an old-school, hardcore Jeep fan who goes off-roading and overlanding 24/7 buying one of these, I can still see the appeal among younger consumers, and especially among casual Jeep fans, too. And if you’re really into Jeeps anyway, and you already have that tricked-out Wrangler to some rocky trails with, the Avenger might still have a place in your driveway, as a second car to keep around the home. I reckon it’ll make for a fantastic little family runabout, or as a comfy, easy-going daily driver. Honestly, there’s really nothing that I don’t like about it, as a bright and colourful addition to the EV market.
Specification
Jeep Avenger Summit Specs
- Price: £42,125
- Engine: Single-motor EV, 51kWh battery
- Power: 156hp
- Torque: 260Nm
- 0-62mph: 9.0 seconds
- Top speed: 93mph
- Weight: 1,520kg
- Economy combined: 249 miles (WLTP)
- CO2: 0g/km