Maiden EV is a small car with big hopes of cracking Europe. Does it have what it takes?
Its designers have done a fair job in convincing the casual observer otherwise, but the Avenger 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 61bhp hero of World War II is about an arm’s length shorter.) You should also know that, behind the signature seven-slot grille, the short overhangs and the bevelled proportions, the Avenger has about as much in common with the beloved Wrangler as it does the Vauxhall Corsa, with which this pint-sized new Jeep shares a platform. Given all of the above, it is 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. No surprise, then, that the new EV takes the form of a compact crossover. As Jeep Europe boss Antonella Bruno says, this is “the right car at the right time”. In the UK, the range has recently acquired pure-petrol and mild-hybrid options but it’s the electric version, tested here, that’s been front and centre of the marketing efforts from day one, mostly in unmissable Sun Yellow.
Mining such a popular vein presents the Jeep with no shortage of rivals, of course. Ford, Renault, Smart and a host of good-value Chinese and South Korean brands now swim in the compact crossover pool and looks alone aren’t enough for any car to succeed in the long term. So let’s find out whether there is if not traditional Jeep ruggedness then at least appreciable substance behind the style.
DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
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Daniele Calonaci, head of Jeep’s Europe design team, has described the challenge of “concentrating” the brand’s DNA into a four-metre-long car. It’s why generous cladding adorns the sills and bumpers, and why the front and rear skidplates aren’t sim
