Jeep Avenger review

The Avenger is a surprisingly small pure petrol, hybrid or fully electric Jeep. How small? Fun fact: the only Jeep smaller than this was the original Willys. At 4.08m long, it’s more compact than Jeep's own petrol Renegade or almost all the little crossovers you might mention. And yeesh, there are a lot to mention.

As a Stellantis-brand machine, it's closely related to the Alfa Romeo Junior (and Junior Elettrica), DS 3 (and 3 E-Tense), Fiat 600 (and 600e), Peugeot 2008 (and e-2008), Vauxhall Mokka (and Mokka Electric)… you get the picture.

There’s also the Ford Puma, Nissan Juke, (excellent) Renault 4, Toyota Yaris Cross, and VW T-Cross to name but five more in a highly congested sector, some of which get conventional petrol engines, some with full electricity, and some with the option of both. None can match the Jeep's rough-ground chops, though.

All these brands on the same platform... boring clones?

This may have started life as the shared platform of several others, but Jeep did a lot of extracurricular homework.

It wanted shorter front and rear overhangs for better off-road work, so it redesigned the crash structures at the nose and tail, to be just as effective but more compact. That's an expensive job. It altered the inner wings for bigger-diameter tyres and more wheel travel. It raised the rear seat for extra legroom. It changed the glass. It widened the tailgate aperture for easier loading.

Then Jeep grabbed the latest electrical hardware – all-new (not just modified) permanent-magnet motor, new battery cells, new inverter. Those bits have been cascaded to the other Stellantis cars. The on-road (and off-road) dynamics have a different flavour too.

Fair enough. Looks pretty handsome, too.

The Avenger is a blocky looking thing - and as Jeep’s design boss told TopGear.com, boxy is the brand’s future - but it’s largely free of pointless aggression. At least in all respects other than the name. Like too many SUVs, it sounds like some shoot'em'up computer game. We won't mention a 1970s Hillman.

The design wraps up lots of current and past Jeep cues but riffs them into something quite progressive. Part of what makes it a proper Jeep is the body protection. The lamps and painted sheet metal are inset from the plastic all round the perimeter, so those cheap plastic parts really do have a sacrificial role against gentle scrapes.

This of course isn't handy only when you're greenlaning into the deep countryside for a spot of wild camping. It's also excellent at fending off the biffs of urban manoeuvres.

By the same token, short overhangs and decent ground clearance (a minimum of 200mm, and 230mm under the battery) mean strong off-road creds but also a particularly nonchalant attitude to speed bumps. Water fording is 230mm, which is halfway up your shins and would count as a pretty adventurous puddle on the road. And there’s an even more adventurous one now, which we’ll get to in a bit.

Unsurprisingly everything we've said so far about the dimensions and design means it'll slot perfectly into urban life, and that of course is where its owners will mostly be.

So it's just a feeble city runabout?

Actually, no. At launch the Avenger was available with one electric powertrain and one electric powertrain alone: 51kWh battery, 154bhp motor; 249-mile WLTP range. You'll probably get more than 200 real world. With those numbers underneath you, you'll be happy to burst out beyond the ring-road.

And anyway, Jeep has since introduced one base petrol and two hybrid powertrains. The former gets a 1.2-litre 99bhp three-cylinder engine, while the first of the e-hybrids adds a 28bhp e-motor and 0.9kWh battery for improved efficiency.

Then there’s the 4xe, pictured above, which adds another 28bhp e-motor onto the rear axle for a total of 143bhp, all-wheel drive and plenty more off-road nous, including extra protective cladding, increased approach and departure angles and wading capability, plus extra ground clearance and multi-link rear suspension.

Interesting. How much does it cost?

Prices start from £26,050 for the entry petrol, £27,050 for the e-Hybrid, £29,999 for the full electric, and £31,219 for the 4xe. Seems reasonable enough. Click through to the Buying tab for the full lowdown.

The Avenger is a likeable car. It’s a good looking thing which helps, but sitting on the same platform and sharing the same powertrains as… *checks notes* many, many others within the Stellantis megacorp, it could have just been a copycat job.

But it’s not. It’s got plenty of personality, tapping into Jeep’s heritage while offering mass market appeal thanks to the multitude of powertrain options. It’s perhaps at its best in town, small and manoeuvrable and with a boxy outline that helps you judge corners. The bash-resistant exterior and speedbump-happy suspension also help calm your nerves. But it’s more than capable of heading beyond the city walls too, even if it's at its happiest within them.

So a car designed to work reasonably well on moderate off-road trails ends up working really well in its precise opposite. The 4xe attempts to claw some of that rufty tuftiness back, but this is a car better suited to town than hardcore off-roading.