It’s off-road, isn’t it? Photo: James Coleman.
The smallest electric SUV currently on sale in Australia is not a Hyundai, or Kia, or MG, or even a MINI Countryman.
It’s a Jeep.
Yep, the same iconic brand that earned its stripes on the battlefields of World War II has now brought out a collection of laptop batteries wrapped in a case that’s just a smidge over 4 metres long and then called it the ‘Avenger’, which is like naming your fluffy little Pomeranian ‘Brutus’, or ‘Fang’.
But it hasn’t been done lightly.
The Jeep Avenger has been on sale in Europe for some time now – enough to rack up various awards like European Car of the Year 2023, Electric Car of the Year in TopGear.com’s Electric Awards 2023, and something called ‘Small BEV Autovista Group Residual Value Award 2023’ (meaning it doesn’t depreciate massively, or something).
But we’ve only got it recently, due to the fact local Jeep staff had to convince head office that a little electric SUV was right for the Australian market, and then re-engineer some bits to meet our regulations.
Things are also not going great for Jeep Australia right now.
They’ve just axed the Grand Cherokee, which once upon a time beat even the Toyota Prado for large 4WD sales, and last year the brand recorded its worst sales in 27 years. No surprise it’s pulling out all the stops.
Besides, Jeep is more like MINI nowadays. No one actually expects a modern MINI to actually be mini, in the same way not a lot of modern Jeeps ever see any mud. The brand can get away with diversifying its offerings a bit.
That said, the Avenger does at least nod to its off-roading forebears. Not only does it have the highest ground clearance in its class (200 mm), but there are also drive modes for Sand, Mud and Snow. Did I put them to the test during my week with it? Once, which is almost certainly more than you will.
I spent most of my time in Sport mode, when the Avenger feels astonishingly nimble for something with no sporty pretensions. I was ducking and weaving through pokey Sydney streets like I’d been driving Ubers there for decades. Perhaps because, for an EV, it’s not that heavy, weighing ‘only’ 1520 kg.
In Normal mode, the steering also feels so light that it’s like grasping thin air, whereas Sport adds some reassuring weight.
Additionally, to ensure you recognise it’s still a Jeep, they’ve incorporated various Easter eggs into the body design. A stencil of the original Jeep face, with its two round headlights and seven-bar grille, makes its way onto the wheel design, the rear light graphics, and the front vent.
Then, on one corner of the windscreen, there’s the silhouette of a man looking through a telescope and on the opposite corner, a handful of stars.
I’m not even sure Jeep’s execs know about half of them – a little ladybug graphic on one of the plastic roof gutters, for instance, can only be the work of a design employee who found himself twiddling his thumbs one day.
The same employee presumably made the indicator legitimately sound like a drum beat, too. Even my one-year-old in the back seat was bopping his head at intersections.
Space is tight, especially in the rear and boot, but Jeep has added up the storage available in the various bins, shelves and cupholders scattered around the cabin to a very decent figure of 34 litres.
We did manage to get two kiddie seats in there. Photo: James Coleman.
Almost everything is cast from hard, scratchy plastic, but maybe we should blame the French for that – most of the switchgear is plundered from Peugeot, another brand under the Stellantis umbrella.
The screen is a bit confusing at first, too, as is the weird delay on the engine start-stop button. You have to hold it down for a couple of seconds, but you soon get used to it.
Jeep claims 390 km of driving range from the battery, but in the real world, I couldn’t get from Canberra and Sydney without stopping for a top-up at Pheasant’s Nest. So again, you’re not taking this off-road.
It really is quite the ball of fun, though, especially in my Lake Blue (which looks more like green to me). However, the Avenger feels like a missed opportunity to turn things around for the brand.
Pricing starts at $49,990 for the base Longitude model, then $54,990 for the Limited, and goes up to $60,990 for my Summit.
Jeep has hinted at cheaper, mild-hybrid versions for the future, but for now, the Avenger looks to be little more than a niche toy for people whose fur-babies are called Thor. But if that’s you, you’ll enjoy it.
In ‘Sand’ mode. On ‘sand’. Photo: James Coleman.
2025 Jeep Avenger Summit
- $60,990 (plus on-road costs)
- Electric motor, 54 kWh battery, 115 kW / 260 Nm
- Automatic, front-wheel drive (FWD)
- 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds
- 390 km estimated driving range
- 1520 kg
- Not yet rated for safety.
Thanks to Stellantis Australia for providing this vehicle for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with Stellantis Australia.
