This playful EV is the ‘European car of 2023’

This month our motorist Rutger drives the ‘Car of the Year 2023’: the all-electric Jeep Avenger. This week: an introduction.

For the second year in a row, the electric car has been the European Car of the Year. Last year the impressive Kia EV6, this year the Jeep Avenger. The EV6 was no big surprise: a new design language, an 800-volt architecture that enabled faster charging and better driver assistance systems. Jeep Avenger is an unexpected winner: it left the modern Volkswagen.Buzz ID and the new Nissan Ariya behind. And that Jeep Avenger is on a chassis and has a drivetrain that we’ve known for a long time.

Peugeots and Citroëns of this generation continue with the same battery and engine. But the Jeep Avenger looks AWESOME. Firm, but not aggressive. Blocky, but not clumsy. Like a modern Jeep, but modern. The interior has also been updated and the infotainment system is outdated in design, but Apple CarPlay and the high-resolution screen ensure that this does not cause any problems.

Happy to be seen

So the first impression is good. In the new yellow color we’re running, it has the same kind of appeal as the ID.Buzz. It’s a car I like to be seen in. A speaker without showing off. Playful, but not childish.

Interior space looks good at first, but for a 1.83-tall driver, legroom is tight for rear passengers. And 350 liters of luggage space is not small, but two sheepdogs must love each other very much.

Now I’ve only met two other Avengers and that’s a little sad, because with a starting price of less than 40,000 euros I expected more. 279 were sold in September. In comparison, MG sold 375 MG4s in the same month.

In the coming weeks we’ll find out if it’s a good idea to order the Avenger.

Rutgers makes Bright a new electric car every month. Follow the updates in Endurance Test.