The best Stellantis small EV yet
Jeep isn’t the first brand that comes to mind when you think of “electric compact SUV”. But that’s exactly what its latest model is, and its name is an indication of what it wants to do for Jeep’s flagging sales.
The Avenger is the smallest vehicle Jeep makes, but under the skin it’s actually closer to a European city car than an American off-roader. That’s because it shares a platform with Stellantis stablemates the Peugeot e-2008 and Opel Mokka-e.
But it’s not entirely a hand-me-down – the Avenger gets a new 115kW/260Nm front-mounted electric motor fed by a 54kWh battery (with a new cell construction) offering a claimed range of 400km.
Jeep has done some proper work in making the Avenger look and feel different to its European cousins too. It’s a styling win for the brand, with the iconic seven-slot grille up front cementing its place in the Jeep family and X-shaped rear lights harking back to the Renegade. I quite like the carved wheel arches and horizontal LED running lights up front.
Inside features Jeep’s bespoke and quality operating system powering the snappy touchscreen, a clear digital screen behind the Jeep-specific wheel, and four gear-select buttons mounted in the centre console. The standard stereo is surprisingly punchy too.
Thankfully, a row of physical airconditioning buttons sit between the screen and the gear-select buttons, meaning not everything is relegated to the screen. It’s the nicest interior I’ve seen from Stellantis for a while.
The seats are leather and comfortable, but there is a lot of hard plastics in the cabin. I also don’t like the indicators, which sound like a drum beat, but that’s probably me just being grumpy. Rear legroom could also be better, but you should still fit two adults in there.
It actually almost certainly is me being grumpy, because the Avenger recently won the 2023 European Car of the Year award. By quite a margin too, almost half of the 55 judges rated it their number one.
Beyond looks and the cabin is actually driving the thing. Unsurprisingly, the electric powertrain is easy to use – just stab one of the gear-selection buttons in the centre console for the direction you want and off you go – while the steering is light and easy to flick around.
The brakes are a bit mushy at the start but not as bad as the other Stellantis models on the same platform. I’d also like the battery regen adjustment to be closer to the steering wheel; you’re locked into pushing the D/B button in the console, which could be a bit of a stretch for some.
The small footprint and decent turning circle mean you can throw it into basically any park you want, while the suspension is decently tuned for Kiwi roads, although the 18-inch wheels can get unsettled. It’s nicely sorted in the corners too, helped by a relatively lithe 1600kg kerb weight.
Despite not having 4WD, the Avenger retains a degree of off-road readiness thanks to 200mm of ground clearance (230mm under the battery) along with 20 degrees of approach and 32 degrees of departure angles, afforded by those short overhangs.
It also offers a couple of off-road modes to alter the drivetrain performance, Sand, Mud and Snow. Definitely a step above the likes of the Mokka-e and e-2008.
Range is decent for the battery size, pushing around 375km per charge in the real world. Energy use sat around 16kWh/100km, which is pretty good considering the boxy body shape.
That new motor and battery construction is a nice step up as the Peugeot e-2008 offered closer to 300km of range, as did the Mokka-e. A maximum charge speed of 100kW means it can go from 10-80% of charge in under half an hour.
The biggest stumble is price. The $69,990, which this Launch Edition Avenger costs, is about $2000 more than the entry-level Tesla Model Y and over $10k more than the likes of the BYD Atto 3 or MG ZS EV.
The Avenger is a genuinely good car, but it faces stiff competition in the segment. Not to mention those Jeep diehards that aren’t big fans of things that don’t have knobbly tyres and a foot of air in the wheel arches ...
You could boil it down to – how much do you want more off-road capability in your electric crossover? Because the Avenger comfortably takes that win, along with great looks and a fantastic ride.