The Jeep Avenger 4xe Is Jeep’s Littlest 4×4 Yet

We rather like the Jeep Avenger. We’ve sampled it in both electric and hybrid forms and found that it packs quite a lot of character into a small footprint and a reasonably affordable package. Because it has a Jeep badge, the company has gone some way to ensuring that even the basic front-wheel drive version has some degree of off-road capability, but now there’s one that seeks to build on that further.

It’s called the 4xe (pronounced ‘4-by-e’), and that’s the badge Jeep uses to signify its four-wheel drive hybrids. It’s the first time a car on Stellantis’ widely-used CMP small car platform has gained the option of four driven wheels, although it doesn’t do it the old-fashioned way.

Jeep Avenger 4xe at debut event

Driving the front axle is the same setup as the two-wheel drive Avenger e-Hybrid: a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, and a little 28bhp electric motor. It uses the same six-speed dual-clutch auto, too. Sending power to the rear wheels, though, is another, identical 28bhp motor. This gives the 4xe a modest peak power boost over the FWD hybrid from 127 to 136bhp. Jeep cheekily claims it makes 1400lb ft of torque, but this is likely calculated by multiplying the motors’ torque by the gear ratios. The 4xe will not, rest assured, keep up with a Rimac Nevera off the line. In fact, it’s only a little quicker than the FWD car, with a 9.5-second 0-62mph time and a 120mph top speed.

It may sit on the same platform as a Peugeot 208, but the 4xe will apparently wade through 400mm of water, which is over 50 per cent of the way to a Wrangler’s wading depth. Not bad. We assume that afterwards, it’ll run around, squealing about being a real Jeep, just like its big brother.

Jeep Avenger 4xe design sketch

Further efforts to make it capable of running with the big kids include a 10mm increase in ride height and newly developed multilink rear suspension for greater rear wheel articulation. If you’re a serious Jeepist wondering about the all-important approach, breakover and departure angles, they’re 22, 21 and 35 degrees, respectively. It even gets standard mud and snow tyres, with optional all-terrain rubber.

It looks largely like the design sketches we saw a few months ago; in other words, like an Avenger, but beefier. The bumpers are scratch-resistant, with the front designed to keep things like the lower grille and radar sensor well out of harm’s way. The interior, which we don’t have any pictures of yet, apparently features ‘washable’ and ‘durable’ fabrics.

You probably won’t see a 4xe taking on the trails of Moab at next year’s Easter Jeep Safari (mainly because the Avenger isn’t sold in the US), but it’s nevertheless nice to see a diddy crossover like this that might actually be able to cash some of the off-roading cheques its rough-and-tumble looks write.