Jeep Avenger

SUV originator primes itself to make it big in the UK and across Europe with a battery-powered B-segment SUV Jeep's cars have never really caught on anywhere in Europe outside of Italy (where its success is largely a by-product of its relationship with Fiat) and, remarkably, only about one in 100 SUVs sold in Europe is a Jeep. After many false dawns, then, here’s the car Jeep’s new owner Stellantis hopes will change that: the Jeep Avenger.It is the first Jeep designed and engineered for Europe in Europe, and it will also be built here. So European-centric is this Jeep, in fact, that it won’t even be sold in the US. At 4.08 metres in length, the Avenger is pitched at the heart of the booming supermini SUV segment – competing against the likes of the Ford Puma and Renault Captur – and is electric. Talk about on-trend.Indeed, Jeep Europe boss Antonella Bruno calls the Avenger “the right car at the right time”. Keenly priced it will be, too, with a target starting figure of £34,000 when it is launched in the UK next May, with a simplified range of trims and easy-to-add packs and colour options to make the buying process as simple as possible.The Avenger will begin life as a front-wheel-drive model with a 154bhp, 192lb ft electric motor. There is a 51kWh (usable) battery that is good for a 249-mile range, and can charge at up to 100kW, and a heat pump comes as standard to add 10% more to the range than would otherwise have been possible. Buyers in Italy and Spain will also get a petrol version of the Avenger as their markets aren’t yet mature enough to go fully EV with such an important launch, but that model won’t be coming to the UK.You might think something so small and so front-wheel drive would feel like a watering-down of Jeep’s go-anywhere mantra, yet the billing here is that this is the most capable model in its class. While a four-wheel-drive version is to come, for now Jeep says the Avenger’s capability comes from its 20deg approach, 20deg breakover and 32deg departure angles, its 200mm of ground clearance and its paredback front and rear overhangs, which are 30mm shorter than those on other Stellantis models built on the familiar eCMP2 platform that’s been adapted and improved for Jeep’s off-roading needs.Those numbers make it at least the equal of the Jeep Renegade off road, says Jeep. Ah yes, the Renegade, the other small Jeep that sits in the B-SUV segment. Jeep says the Avenger doesn’t replace that car but rather complements it, and anyway, the two go after very different buyers given how broad a segment B-SUV is. The Renegade is also a useful amount bigger, at 4.24 metres long.Those eCMP2 origins (think Peugeot e-2008, Vauxhall Mokka Electric et al) make for a much better starting point for a model that’s good to drive, rather than trying to reinvent something off the Renegade’s platform. As a side note, it’s those eCMP2-based economies of scale that allow Jeep to build the Avenger profitably (there’s a reason Land Rover has never dropped below the Evoque in size, because the smaller the car and the lower the retail price, the bigger the volumes must be to cover the development costs).Anyway, the Avenger’s roots aren’t the kind you need to hide, but it does have its own distinct character and touches inside – such as lots and lots of storage, 34 litres of which is in the front cabin alone. Admittedly that’s a somewhat meaningless number, even more so Jeep’s tongue-in-cheek observation that this equates to 580 ping pong balls (which is nothing compared with the 2443 rubber ducks you can get in the back of the car with the rear seats folded). But the upshot is lots of convenient cubbyholes, the best of which is a useful tray, running two-thirds the width of the dashboard, that’s great for glasses, keys, phones and the like.The Avenger gets a pair of 10.25in screens, one for the driver display and the other for infotainment that supports full Android Auto and Apple CarPlay wireless connectivity.A modified H-point allows for greater leg and head room for rear passengers over other related models, says Jeep. It is claimed the Avenger can seat five adults, although it feels tight in the back. It’s still only a tiddler, after all.From the outside, the Avenger looks like a robust and tough little thing. There’s lots of hard black cladding around the bottom, but leaving those surfaces unpainted saves €1000 (£875) in scuff and scrape repair costs over the car’s life, says Jeep. I don’t recall ever seeing a T-Cut bill that high, but I get the point, and the net result is aesthetically pleasing.All of which is quite some buildup, so it’s a relief to find that this Jeep is really rather likeable to drive. Engaging it is not, yet it is not supposed to be. Instead, it is the kind of car thoughtfully designed and engineered to be useful and usable in real-world driving conditions, yet still with enough character not to make it just another identikit small SUV.Its best feature is how compact it feels without being compromised for space inside. That boxy shape lets you know where all four corners are, and there’s good visibility and a sensible width that makes it an easy car to place. It is also keen to turn in and holds a line in a corner with well-controlled body movements and good grip, although the steering is overly springy and artificial on initial inputs off the straight-ahead.The Avenger rides well, though, even on some fairly scarred roads on our test route in the hills above Nice. It’s a little on the firm side, in part a by-product of the 18in alloys of our test car, yet never uncomfortable and still with an overall suppleness that leads you to think the engineers really took on board the whole ‘make it work in Europe’ mantra. This car feels like it sits towards the more sophisticated end of the class.We didn’t go off road but did drive on one stretch of road that was missing half of its asphalt and had craters that looked like they’d been dug with an excavator. The Avenger swallowed it all up, making the point that it’s as robust as it needs to be on anything you’re ever likely to encounter in the real world. More real-world ticks come from the performance, which is plenty good enough and smoothly and briskly delivered, and the range, which looked to extend to around 217 miles based on our drive on a mixed-roads test route.More regen in the ‘B’ mode would be nice, and you’re also likely to avoid the Eco driving mode as it saps much of the power (and caps it at 81bhp, unless you kick down). Normal (which caps power at 107bhp) and Sport (for the full 154bhp) modes are also offered, alongside Snow, Sand and Mud, each of which tailors the electronic controls for those conditions. You get Hill Descent Control, too.Never before has Jeep had such a competitive and on-trend product to sell in Europe, and you can see it doing very well indeed should the dealer network be able to scale up to the right size and quality needed to help deliver the car. The Avenger won’t change the world, but it’ll surely change Jeep’s world.