Its designers have done a fair job in convincing the casual observer otherwise, but the Jeep Avenger Electric is not your typical Jeep. For one thing, while the odd zero-emission concept car from the maker has surfaced in recent years, this is the first purely electric production model to bear perhaps the most famous name in off-roading. For another, to date it is the only Jeep entirely styled, engineered and constructed outside of the US, teams in Italy and Poland having been given responsibility.
The Avenger also breaks new ground in terms of footprint. Discount the original Willys, dating from 1940, and the Avenger is the most compact Jeep ever conceived. The Avenger has about as much in common with the beloved Jeep Wrangler as it does the Vauxhall Corsa, with which this pint-sized new Jeep shares a platform.
Given all of the above, it's only natural to wonder whether this is a real Jeep at all. So long as the Avenger achieves its aim, Stellantis, parent company to Jeep and 13 other makes, won’t care what the purists think. This car is tasked with redefining Jeep in Europe and invigorating limp sales figures propped up only by lingering popularity in Italy.
View Price on AmazonThe Avenger is front-wheel drive only, with a ground clearance of 7.87 inches. The Japanese car, Suzuki Jimny, has considerably better approach, departure, and breakover angles, not to mention two driven axles. The Avenger is built at Stellantis’s Tychy plant in Poland and is underpinned by the new e-CMP2 modular platform, which is now being rolled out across other small EVs in the group’s empire.
The Avenger is available in three trim levels: Longitude, Latitude, and Summit. As you go up the rungs, the Avenger gains the usual amenities and some ADAS functionality, but there isn’t much that can’t be optionally added to the lesser trims. The electric Avenger is the centerpiece of the marketing efforts from day one, mostly in unmissable Sun Yellow.
Source: autocar.co.uk
