Jeep Avenger review

You get three modes. Well, six actually. Sport is the full 154bhp and 192lb ft. 'Normal' shaves that back to 107bhp and 162lb ft, while in 'Eco' you're contenting yourself with 80bhp and 132lb ft, unless you mash the throttle past its far-end kick-point. Then you’ve got ‘Sand’, ‘Mud’ and ‘Snow’; no explanation needed there.

What that means is that more than in most cars, the Avenger feels and acts very differently in the various modes, which recalibrate the ESP, accelerator and steering weight. Maybe Eco should be relabelled 'In the wilderness miles from a charger, need to get back without being stranded among the bears'.

It looks heavy. Is it?

No. The kerbweight is a light (for an EV) 1,536kg, so acceleration when you ask is lively-ish. Not that you’d tell from the 9.6-second 0-62mph time. You'll probably use 'Normal' mode in suburban driving, as it makes gentle starts easier than in 'Sport': you’ll save the latter for faster country roads to make up for the lack of steering or brake feel.

And anyway, drag matters more than weight at higher speeds. The Avenger gets itself to motorway pace without much trouble, aided by the smallness of its frontal area. The slowing-down department is equally well-developed: regen power at peak is up to 62bhp from lifting off in B mode, and more when you press the brake. Thereafter, the discs arrive progressively.

And the suspension?

Despite the emphasis on off-road competence, the Avenger handles pretty neatly on the road. Yup, they lengthened the suspension travel versus an ordinary hatch, but there's plenty of damping control. So not much roll, you can lob it at a corner with surprising abandon and it stays neutral enough.

The ride remains on the acceptable side of supple, but the 18s that come with the top-spec car are easily unsettled on rougher surfaces. We suspect the 16-inch alloys that are standard on the base Avenger will be far better, though we’ve yet to try them ourselves.

Most importantly of all, it's quiet. We've got used to a clonky suspension from cars on this platform, but not here. The Avenger's tyres roll quietly as well, and the body feels rigid, so the experience is reassuringly refined and calm.

How’s Jeep managed that?

We suspect much of that roll control comes not through stern anti-roll bars, which would harm off-roading, but transiently through the damping. Anyway, it means predictable cornering but a fair bit of lateral head-toss on straight bumpy roads. It also means the Avenger is very nicely secured against pitch and float.

And how’s efficiency?

Honestly, it’s pretty decent. Way better than the Avenger’s boxy shape would suggest. On our most recent test drive in the UK we saw 4.1mi/kWh from the trip computer, implying real-world range of well over 200 miles against the official claim of 249. Admittedly the Avenger had the weather and the route going for it here: add some cold motorway running into the mix and that number would obviously come down.