This month our car guy Rutger drives the 2023 Car of the Year, the all-electric Jeep Avenger. This week: How good is the Avenger for long distances?
The first electric car I tested had a 24 kWh battery. This allowed me to make a one-way trip of 60 km from Winsum to Leeuwarden. I had to charge there during work, so that I could return home with a full battery after a few hours. A 30 kWh improvement seemed like a big improvement. Go back and forth without loading the site. But then Opel, Hyundai and Kia came up with more than 60 kWh cars. Now a trip to Amsterdam was also possible free of charge on the way. Fast charging has now increased from 50 kW to over 100 kW. It has now become a new lower limit.
Compared to the first electric cars, the Jeep Avenger has a large battery: 50 kWh and a large charging option of 100 kW. But does that make the Avenger a great long-distance car?
Sometimes you’re missing a piece
With a full battery and a speed of 100 km/h on cruise control, I went to Amsterdam and arrived there with 24% battery left. Clean consumption of 18.3 kWh per 100 km. But when returning it was well after 7:00 PM and I put 130 km / h on the cruise control. Then consumption increased to around 25 kWh/100 km. So my range dropped from 273 to 200 km at that speed. I definitely missed the last 10 kWh that the Kona or Cupra Born have, for example.
For me, it makes the Jeep Avenger a vehicle that is useful for long trips, but not ideal. Sometimes you have to stop a little earlier than you would like. If you take the German autobahn, you will stop every 1.5 hours. On the other hand, you can also travel at 110 km / h with cruise control for two hours, then drink a cup of coffee and continue on your way again. You shouldn’t be in a hurry if you really want to run a mile.
Next week we say goodbye to the Jeep Avenger and the conclusion of four weeks of endurance testing.
Also see Rutger’s video about the Jeep Avenger.
Rutger tests a new electric car for Bright every month. Follow his updates in Endurance Test.