There's no denying that Fiat had a big role in diluting the Jeep Compass with Fiat underpinnings when Fiat Chrysler used to be a thing. The dilution continues under the Stellantis umbrella with the Avenger, a small crossover that North America won't get because it's based on a PSA platform.
Currently at odds with the United Auto Workers over the CEO's record pay and recent layoffs in North America, the folks at Stellantis build the Avenger in Poland on the same assembly line as the Alfa Romeo Junior and Fiat 600. The smallest Jeep of them all entered series production in January 2023, three months after Stellantis revealed the Avenger 4x4 Concept at the Paris Motor Show.
The show car is an electric affair through and through, whereas the production model is a 48-volt mild hybrid with two electric drive units and a 1.2L three-cylinder turbo under the hood. Our spy photographers have recently captured the latter, which is due later this year as the Avenger 4xe.
Why this change of heart? For starters, the FWD-only electric Avenger isn't exactly great in terms of driving range. As per WLTP testing, it's good for up to 400 kilometers or 249 miles. By comparison, the rear-drive Tesla Model 3 with the standard-range battery nets 513 kilometers or nearly 319 miles.
Secondly, electric vehicle demand has faltered in the past quarter in the Old Continent as customers pivoted to hybrids and plug-in hybrids. With legacy automakers facing increasingly stiffer competition from Chinese rivals, legacy automakers are now focused on recapturing market share through electrified rather than all-electric automobiles.
Photo: Baldauf
Pictured with camouflage on pretty much every panel, the Avenger 4xe features Avenger 4x4 Concept-inspired roof rails. On the other hand, Jeep's designers have retained the headlights, front bumper, and lower front grille of the zero-emission Avenger. The rear end appears virtually unchanged from it as well, and the same can be said about the hexagonal exhaust. Lamborghini did it much, much better on the Murcielago LP 670-4 SV, though.
Similar to the Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida Q4, the Avenger 4xe features a transmission-integrated electric motor and one other electric drive unit for the rear axle. Both are good for 28 horsepower, whereas the 1.2-liter engine develops 134 ponies. The combined rating is 134 hp/136 ps because said motors are connected to a 900-Wh battery pack.
Inadequate by North American standards, but remember that American motorists drive a lot more than European motorists. We also have to remember that population density in European cities is considerably denser than across the pond and that public transport is considerably better as well.
As per a press release that Jeep published back in February 2024, the mild-hybrid crossover targets "urban adventurers to off-road enthusiasts." The order books will open by the end of 2024, making the Avenger 4xe a 2025 model.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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