Jeep Avenger EV — It Is A Jeep!
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The bright yellow Jeep Avenger electric vehicle certainly draws the eye as you drive down one of the main arterial roads in Brisbane. He is getting lots of exposure, and according to the young salesman who spent the morning with us, lots of enquiries. At least 5 a week. Though, he admitted not as much as the BYD Shark, also sold here. It’s powertrain identification is subtle, but not it’s Jeep heritage.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first up — this is not a family vehicle. A lot of those who come to see it are disappointed at the size, describing it as “cute.” You would be hard pressed, literally, to fit four Aussie sized blokes or Shielas into it. However, what I see in my mind’s eye when looking at this impressive European styled fun car is echoes of the Mini Moke lifestyle — surfboard on the top, beers in the back, and a long summer of fun in front of us. When asked my candid opinion, I commented — I think it will appeal to the 18–25-year-olds, definitely a niche market. City and beach!
My neighbours’ 19-year-old daughter would really enjoy it. She is currently driving mum’s huge SUV Jeep. Out of interest I checked the size specs with the World War II Jeep: the Willys MB. It was about 132 inches long, 62 inches wide, and 69¾ inches high. The Avenger’s specs are given in metres, so a direct comparison would be: Willy 3.35 m long 1.57 m wide, and 1.77 m tall. The Avenger is 4.084 m long, 1.797 m wide and 1.534 m tall. So, one could argue that the Avenger is bigger than the original Jeep by a small margin. It is a retro size!
However, in today’s size-conscious car market, the Polish made Jeep Avenger EV comes off worse when compared to the competition. But does size really matter when it comes to an off-road focused vehicle, or is it more about the fun factor when comparing Willys. The dealer’s lot had many Jeep models to choose from. Hopefully Stellantis (who owns Jeep) will continue to bring out larger BEV Jeeps. One advantage of a dealership that offers a variety of brands is that purchasers can cross shop in the same location. One enquirer who found the Avenger too small went on to purchase a BYD Sealion 06. The dealership is preparing for the future by installing more EV chargers.
The time we spent with the salesperson was informative and casual. Probably this is the most standout feature of the buying experience now. The salespeople know their product. Our man gets to take cars home for the weekend (this particular dealership also sells BYD and the Fiat 500e), so he was very familiar with all aspects of the Jeep — and some of the competition, as his parents have a Polestar 2 and a Tesla Model 3. Mind you, I did tell him why we were there and that we wouldn’t be buying the car, so that took the pressure off him a bit. But I also told him I would be writing it up for CleanTechnica and was hoping for thousands of hits.
We had a wander around the car and took lots of photos. Loved the sexy blue ‘e’ on the back. The console of the Jeep seemed to have a good balance between screen and physical buttons. The interior is similar to the Fiat 500e’s. The Avenger has a range of about 400 km and does 0–100 km/h in about 9 seconds. (And, yes, Majella had to check that out safely on the highway!) It has a 54-kW battery. We did not have the opportunity to take the Avenger off road, but the salesman assured us that several of the staff at the dealership had done so.
The Avenger comes with a charging cable and is able to receive over-the-air updates. One of the questions the salesman gets frequently is “Can I charge my car at a Tesla Supercharger?” Just like most countries, some Superchargers you can and some you can’t. Sitting in the back, I missed the backseat air conditioning in my Tesla. The Avenger comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. One great feature is that the screen comes with a home button, so if you get lost in the menus, you can return to the beginning.
What about the drive? The car was charged up and ready to go! We are used to one-pedal driving, but this Jeep did not have that — Majella had to keep applying the brakes, which became annoying. Regen slowed us down, but would not bring us to a complete stop. The suspension was hard and “chunky,” as you would expect in an off-road capable vehicle. The Avenger weighs in at 1520 kg (3351 lb), just slightly lighter than our Tesla Model 3 (3582 lb). I mention this because Majella said the car felt heavy to drive.
The available colours include red. So, we were happy. The names of the colours emphasise that this is an EV designed to go off road: Ruby, Snow Volcano, Sun, Granite, Lake, Stone. I can see the young professional telling his mates, “I’m off for the weekend to get some Sun by the Lake in my Granite Avenger!” Or some such nonsense. At the top of the range you can mix colours in one model. For example, you can have a Ruby coloured Jeep with a Volcano (black) roof. If we could combine the Sun with the Ruby, we could have a real Avenger — Iron Man!
More technical details can be found in the Jeep brochure, and from this European review.
Australia is in the middle of a price war triggered by an influx of Chinese-made vehicles. I’m not sure how Stellantis will deal with this. However, a base-level Jeep is advertised as about the same price as a Hyundai Kona Electric or a BYD Atto 3 at present. Jeep reduced the price of the base model by AUD$4,000 prior to launch, making it less than AUD$50,000. However, the website still lists the price as around AUD$54,000. Watch this space, there be dragons lurking!
The Jeep Avenger has already received many awards: European Car of the Year for 2023, and Best Small Car at the 2023 Autocar Awards. This Jeep won’t be going to war and it certainly won’t tow your caravan around Australia, but as city-based fun vehicle, it will fill a niche in the EV product lineup, hopefully eating into the market share of the RAV4 (HEV).
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