I drove new pint-sized electric Jeep Avenger – it’s one of the coolest cars of year that is much better than its rivals
IT’S not enough just to be cool any more.
No one can argue American brand Jeep isn’t cool.
It invented cars that go off-road.
You can climb a mountain in a Wrangler, with doors and roof off.
You can drag-race a Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, powered by a muscle car 707hp Hellcat V8.
Jeep sponsors Italian footie giants Juventus.
It spends squillions more on American Super Bowl ads. You’ll never hear anyone say Jeep is a boring, old-lady brand.
Because it’s cool.
Yet for some reason it is not working for Jeep in Britain.
People prefer to buy a Skoda. Or a Suzuki. Or an MG.
All good cars but not a Jeep.
They don’t conjure up images of adventure in your head.
They don’t rock a seven-slot grille like the original 1941 Willys Jeep — and every Jeep since.
Last year Jeep sold just 2,527 cars in Great Britainland. Pathetic. Worse than a boutique brand.
But if ever there’s a model that’s going to turn things around, it is this new Avenger.
You can have fun on a twisty road
A pint-sized Jeep that just happens to be pure electric.
I like the way it looks.
I like the way it drives.
I like being in it.
Most of all, though, I like the fact there’s a cheaper petrol-hybrid coming out next year.
The truth is, a petrol Avenger would sell at least three times as many as the EV and it would give Jeep much-needed visibility and momentum.
It’ll be a 1.2-litre petrol paired with a self-charge 48v mild hybrid.
Jeep also promised an all-wheel drive Avenger soon, saying “every Jeep has to be 4×4”.
Not as tough as a Wrangler, obviously, but it’ll keep you moving when the next weather-bomb hits.
Now, I should say that Avenger uses the same electrical systems as Vauxhall’s Mokka and Peugeot’s e-2008.
But Avenger is better.
It has more ground clearance, short overhangs and retuned suspension — good for soaking up uneven terrain, excellent over speed bumps and our cheese-grater roads.
Body roll is well controlled. It corners with real fluency. And it’s nippy too. So you can have fun on a twisty road.
The official range is 248 miles and we got close to that on a mixture of gravel and Tarmac roads.
There’s a shield of scratch-resistant plastic to protect the paintwork and lights from car park scrapes.
The cabin feels bigger than a Mokka — and looks way cooler.
I like the mix of screens and hard controls.
I like the washable seats.
I also like the wide shelf under the dash and the deep centre console.
Jeep reckons it has as much storage as airline cabin baggage.
Also, the back seat and boot (380 litres) are more than decent for a car that’s only an inch longer than a Volkswagen Polo.
The one-metre-wide boot entry makes storing buggies easy.
So there you have it, Avenger is a right-size EV that’s right up there as one of the coolest cars of the year.
But you knew that.
Because it’s a Jeep.
KEY FACTS: JEEP AVENGER
Price: £34,800
Battery: 51kWh
Power: 156hp
0-62mph: 9 secs
Top speed: 93mph
Range: 248 miles
Charging to 80 per cent: 24 mins
Out: July
Win £75- worth of Juventus tops
YOU probably can’t play like Juventus stars Pogba, Danilo or Angel Di Maria, but you can look like them.
Here’s your chance to win £750 worth of Juve tops for your Sunday league team – that’s 13 adult-sized shirts including goalkeeper, from M to XXL.
To enter our free draw, you just need to email motors@the-sun.co.uk with brief details about your footie team, putting “Jeep kit” in the subject field.
Entries close 10am on May 2. Winner chosen at random. You must be up for a team photo for the paper. Good luck.
Gladiator ready
JEEP is to bring the mega Gladiator pick-up truck to Britain – after being strong-armed by The Sun.
Big boss man Christian Meunier promised: “We have right-hand drive Gladiator in Australia and Japan, so we can have it in the UK. Let’s do a special edition, a batch of 100. Boom.”
We’ll hold him to that.
Gladiator is basically a stretched Wrangler with a meaty petrol V6 to rival Ford’s Ranger Raptor.
It mixes lifestyle cool with a properly useful payload.
Meunier confirmed Recon and Wagoneer S would be coming our way too. Recon is a trail-rated all-electric SUV with removable doors and roof. Like a Wrangler but more sophisticated.
Wagoneer S is a high-performance luxury SUV using the same electrical systems as the new Dodge Charger. Which tells you all you need to know.
Meunier said: “We’re not selling mobility. We’re not selling a piece of metal to transport you from A to B. We sell lifestyle. We sell capability. We want to be daring and stand out from the crowd.
“We have completely lost momentum in the UK but with Avenger, Grand Cherokee coming soon, and a full range of 4Xe products, we have a portfolio that is strongly appropriate.
“Then we are going to enhance it with Recon and Wagoneer S.
“The UK is an important market for us. You are passionate about cars and driving. You love convertibles. We have the world’s best convertibles. Today we have a 0.3 per cent market share. If we do the right things I see no reason why we can’t be at three per cent and sell 20,000 cars.”
Perhaps Jeep should sponsor Wrexham FC to get more people thinking about its cars?
An iconic all-American brand teaming with two Hollywood stars.
I gave Meunier that idea for free.