Jeep Avenger expands in the UK with petrol, mild-hybrid and 4xe variants

Jeep Avenger Electric

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 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 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 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. 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.Jeep originally planned to sell only the electric Avenger in the UK but has since decided to also offer both the 1.2-litre pure-petrol version and a mild hybrid. These models are covered in our Jeep Avenger review.Whichever powertrain you choose, there are 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.  

3 days from now

Jeep Avenger

As well as an EV, Jeep's baby is now available as a modest petrol manual, an electrified petrol auto and a 4WD hybrid off-roader The Jeep Avenger is now an intriguingly multifaceted little car – so it's little wonder that Jeep's UK sales figures have been rocketing up lately.This baby crossover was initially available exclusively as an impressive urban electric car, but now it also comes as a modest manual petrol, an electrified automatic petrol and a proper four-wheel-drive off-roader.The basic 1.2-litre Avenger is available in three trim levels. Regrettably, though, even the cheapest of them is priced from £25,750 – considerably more than its admittedly less trendy Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa siblings.Adding an automatic gearbox brings with it a mild-hybrid system and raises the price by £1000.The fully electric Avenger, with its 249-mile range, starts at £29,999. That car is reviewed separately here.Then from £31,219, there's the Wrangler-imitating 4xe, which gets 4WD by way of a second electric motor on the rear axle, and a Scrappy-Doo character from its beefier bumpers, roof bars, tow hooks and underbody cladding.The model range currently tops out at £35,219 with a special edition of the 4xe created in collaboration with The North Face, a renowned maker of outdoor exploration gear.

3 days from now