Jeep Avenger EV brings heritage into new era, at a price

The Jeep Avenger EV has rugged looks and a durable interior, but the performance doesn't match the price tag.

The Jeep Avenger electric vehicle. [CHO YONG-JUN]

[TEST DRIVE]

NAMYANGJU, Gyeonggi — Jeep’s first fully electric vehicle, Avenger, was highly coveted upon its launch in Europe, winning the European Car of the Year in 2023.

The baby Jeep comes with a solid and sturdy-looking exterior, a practical interior and a smooth and quiet city driving experience, but the 52.9 million won ($39,600) to 56.4 million won price tag, before government subsidies, on top of the lack of creature comforts, may make the Avenger's road ahead in Korea rougher than the mini off-roader can handle.

Jeep Avenger, Jeep's first fully electric vehicle [STELLANTIS KOREA]

The first impression of the Avenger is excellent, coming in at a length of 4,085 millimeters (13 feet, 5 inches) — somewhere in between the Hyundai Casper Electric and Kia EV3 — and the exterior of the Avenger feels solid, practical and even funky in some ways. The boxy design makes the car look bigger than it is and its LED headlights help the SUV look more modern.

The Avenger also successfully brought the brand’s heritage to the EV-era, with the classic seven-slot grill still intact, despite the lack of a radiator, followed by the jerrycan-inspired x-shape taillamps at the rear end.

The Jeep Avenger electric vehicle [CHO YONG-JUN]

The entire vehicle is also wrapped with a generous amount of plastic cladding, from its bumpers to the side skirts plus for more protection in day-to-day usage of the car, adding a bit of the ruggedness that Jeeps are known for.

The taillight of the Jeep Avenger EV, inspired by jerry-cans of yesteryear [CHO YONG-JUN]

It’s not just the looks, as the car is engineered to not shame the Jeep’s offroad heritage. The Avenger may not be a proper frame-on-body off-roader like the Wrangler, but its short overhang, and higher ground clearance result in 20 degrees of breakover angle, 20 degrees of approach angle and 32 degrees of departure angle — numbers that not many other EV manufacturers reveal proudly — are nothing to scoff at. The car is also equipped with a battery shield and powertrain shield on its underbody to better protect against external damage.

The Jeep Avenger's test drive included a short semi-off-road course. [CHO YONG-JUN]

The battery, however, is not the Avenger’s strongest selling point. The CATL-made 54-kilowatt-hour battery equipped in the Jeep produces 110 kilowatts of power — equivalent to 154 brake horsepower — and 270 neutron meters of torque (192 pound-feet), pushing the front-wheel drive car from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 9 seconds. The Avenger is also rated for a range of 292 kilometers (181 miles) combined and a city range of 313 kilometers; significantly shorter than the WLTP range of 400 and 550 kilometers. The 400-volt architecture in the EV is also capable of up to 150 kilowatts of fast charging.

The Jeep Avenger EV does not offer any storage area under the bonnet. [CHO YONG-JUN]

Test driving the Avenger for a couple of hours in Gangnam, on expressways and over light off-road terrain, however, didn’t give any impression that the car was slow — the responsive electric motor provided adequate power to push forward and overtake others. Within the speed limit, the EV felt more refined than its petrol counterpart or the Jeep Renegade. The cabin also remained surprisingly quiet below 60 to 70 kilometers per hour with minimal vibration coming from all the hard plastic parts in the interior, although noticeable wind noise kicked in at higher speeds.

The interior of the Avenger comes as a mixed bag, though. The 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster and the infotainment screen, paired with tactical physical buttons for volume and climate control, all felt easy to use, but the overuse of hard plastic panels gave the Jeep a practicality-first-luxury-second feel — perhaps tapping too much in to the brand’s heritage.

The interior of the Jeep Avenger EV [CHO YONG-JUN]

The lengthy dashboard storage area, one of the highlight compartments of the cabin, also lacks any rubber padding out of the factory, while the center console has wide-open storage without a door. Jeep is more than happy to sell the rubber padding and storage doors as add-ons.

The interior of the Jeep Avenger EV [CHO YONG-JUN]

The advertised massaging driver’s seat also offered little more than the electronic lumbar support moving back and forth and it also did not have ventilated seats, even in the upper trim.

Sitting in the rear, with seats adjusted to the reporter’s height of 5 foot, 9 inches, provided enough but not plentiful legroom. Similar to the Casper Electric, it also lacked any armrest or rear air vents.

The Jeep Avenger EV [CHO YONG-JUN]

The Jeep Avenger offers enough but not spacious rear legroom. [CHO YONG-JUN]

The trunk of the Avenger, however, provides 321 liters (11 cubic feet) of storage with folding rear seats providing flat access to the boot.

The boot of the Jeep Avenger. [CHO YONG-JUN]

The Jeep Avenger is a capable and effective small electric vehicle for everyday city use as well as on some rougher terrain, but its rather high asking price that puts the baby Jeep above the Casper Electric and the EV3 and more toward the Niro EV and Volkswagen ID.4 range may drive away some potential buyers.

The Jeep Avenger features an electronic boot lid. [CHO YONG-JUN]

The Jeep Avenger EV [CHO YONG-JUN]

The Jeep Avenger's 10.25-inch digital cluster screen is navigated using the buttons on each side of the turning indicators. [CHO YONG-JUN]

The door panel of the Jeep Avenger is mostly constructed with hard plastic parts. [CHO YONG-JUN]

Jeep Avenger, Jeep's first fully electric vehicle [STELLANTIS KOREA]

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]