The Jeep Avenger is new and unusual territory for the brand. Until now, Jeep has made most of its money by selling huge, bush-bashing off-roaders (such as the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee). But the Avenger is the firm’s first-ever small electric car – and it’s proof that Jeep has finally recognised the times are changing.

In fact, Jeep designed the Avenger to suit the needs of its European customers, which is an interesting change of strategy for such a proud American brand. Don’t be fooled by its chunky styling – it might look big on camera, but it’s only 24mm longer than a Vauxhall Corsa. That means it’s sized correctly for our roads and it fits in our multi-storey car parks. For that reason, the car won’t be sold in Jeep’s home market of the United States. The Americans would laugh it off their forecourts.

The Avenger was conceived using the shared tech made available by Jeep’s assimilation into Stellantis in 2021. It’s based on the same e-CMP2 architecture found under the DS 3 E-Tense, Peugeot e-2008 and Vauxhall Mokka Electric, the first of which hit UK showrooms back in 2020.

So, by using an existing platform, Jeep was able to bring the Avenger to market quickly, as it didn’t need to spend any time and money researching and developing a compact electric car platform. Its sister brands had already done the donkey work before Jeep became their bedfellow.

Like the revised e-2008 and the updated Vauxhall Corsa Electric, the Avenger features a 54kWh battery pack and a 156hp electric motor mounted on the front axle. Jeep says that’s enough for a 0–62mph time of 9.6 seconds and a maximum official range of 249 miles.

Despite the mechanical similarities between the Avenger and the other small electric SUVs from Stellantis, Jeep says it has re-engineered the platform’s suspension and electric motor to extract as much off-road capability as it can from the components it was given. In fact, the entire car was penned with off-roading in mind – Jeep even designed its black plastic body cladding to stick proud of the paintwork and protect the body from gathering scratches from undergrowth.

The question is, has the operation worked? Is the Avenger still a proper Jeep? And can it offer enough practicality to appeal to your average compact SUV buyer? Over the next few pages, we’ll assess each aspect of the car, considering its usability, interior technology, comfort, efficiency, driving experience and its off-road ability before offering our final verdict on the car. Click through to the next page to read more.