Styling
As all three specifications (see Value section, below) of the new 4xe are the ones with the off-road remit, then they feature beefier front and rear bumpers, roof rails and a rear-mounted towing eye as standard as befits their rugged status. And all Avengers, four-wheel drive or otherwise, look good on the outside, so here we're focusing purely on what makes The North Face Edition stand out from other 4xe models.
Principally, it's the use of Summit Gold details on the body. Or yellow, if you prefer it simpler than manufacturer paintspeak. You'll spot this in the lower front airdam and on the 'Jeep' emblems in the centre of the black 17-inch alloy wheels, but perhaps the most obvious use of it is for the strip on the side of the huge, non-reflective bonnet decal that's unique to The North Face Edition. This is made up of a larger black portion that features the words 'The North Face', but also then has a sidebar of topographical lines plus a set of co-ordinates.
If you're clever enough and you know what The North Face's corporate logo is supposed to represent, then you probably think these co-ordinates would point you directly to Half Dome, the distinctive curved mountain in the USA's Yosemite National Park which served as the inspiration for said graphic. But no; they are in fact the exact spot on planet Earth occupied by Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain. The reason for this is that although both Jeep and The North Face are, clearly, American companies, the Avenger is a Europe-only model - so the most 'inaccessible' point on the European continent felt like a better fit as the trope for this top-dog 4xe model. It's also why the limited-build run of The North Face Edition is capped to 4,806 units, because that's the height of Mont Blanc in metres.
Anyway, aside from a different interpretation of the famed seven-bar Jeep grille, including more of those contour-line graphics in the centres, the cohesive effect of the Avenger 4xe The North Face Edition's various styling flourishes and its 10mm-higher ride height do add up to a crossover-4x4 that has a fair amount of presence and stance to it as you walk up to the vehicle for the first time. In other, far fewer words, this little Jeep looks
good.
Interior
If the outside of The North Face Edition is a success, the interior is even more so. All Stellantis models on this compact platform have fairly basic cabin architecture with affordable material finishing much in evidence in places. This is not a dealbreaker on vehicles operating at the cheaper end of the market, but when you're in any other Avenger, or even the related
Fiat 600e or supposedly more upmarket
Alfa Romeo Junior, then the unyielding, scratchy, black-plastic door cards and some other budget surfaces don't exactly scream 'quality'.
However, with a ludicrous £4,000 Sabelt seat option, Alfa has shown that you can lift this interior with the right classy details, as indeed did the Scorpion marque in its brilliant
Abarth 600e, and The North Face Edition joins this illustrious crew with its own, excellent take on the passenger compartment. Don't get us wrong, there are still some materials which leave something to be desired in this Avenger, while the twin 10.25-inch digital screens that form the main interface in the car are OK, but nowhere near the cutting edge of configurability, graphical sharpness nor response rates of similar infotainment systems offered by rival manufacturers.
However, the Jeep more than makes up for it with lots of eye-catching yellow flourishes, including on seats which have silver centre sections to look like the puffer jackets of The North Face. On the backs of the front chairs are the clothing-and-outdoor-equipment company's own logos, as well as elasticated strapping to mimic the appearance of a North Face backpack. And in the dash, the silver trim - with more contour lines, as well as a passenger-side motif that reads 'One Of 4806' to notify owners of the model's limited status - is the final finishing touch that makes this feel like a suitably premium ambience in here. It's a really nicely judged series of upgrades, without going to tasteless excess.
Practicality
Like any Avenger, the new 4xe is in a bit of a pickle in this regard. Rear-seat space is cramped, while the fitment of the extra motor on the rear axle reduces the boot capacity down to just 282 litres with all seats in use (Jeep claims the Avenger is a five-seater, but we'd reckon on more like four, at a push); that's the same amount as the Electric but less than either the petrol or the e-Hybrid (321 litres), but once you fold the rear row down then even the Electric (1,252 litres) beats the 4xe (1,218 litres). There are useful stowage places about the interior, yet in terms of sheer volume then both the passenger compartment and the boot of the Avenger 4xe The North Face Edition are lagging behind what you'd get in some similarly keenly priced competitors.
Where it perhaps counters these gripes is with its increased off-road capability. Standing 10mm taller off the deck, The North Face Edition has 210mm of total ground clearance and can ford through 400mm of water without recourse to a snorkel. It has approach, breakover and departure angles of 22, 21 and 35 degrees respectively, although it can tow less weight in a braked trailer (920kg) than either the petrol (1,200kg) or e-Hybrid models (1,100kg). For what it's worth, the Avenger Electric isn't rated to tow anything at all, so the 4xe has the edge there.
Performance
As we said in the intro, the very simplest way of understanding the Avenger 4xe is to take the basic architecture of the existing e-Hybrid variant, and then add a second electric motor to it. This means the newcomer has the same 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, the same 21kW front e-motor, the same six-speed dual-clutch e-DSC6 transmission, and the same 0.9kWh gross lithium-ion battery pack, but then boasts another 21kW motor on the trailing axle that's designed to work in tandem with the one up front.
This lifts drivetrain power and torque by 36hp and 25Nm from the petrol and e-Hybrid models' figures, to peaks of 136hp and 230Nm for the 4xe. That places it neatly between the two lesser Avenger variants and the 156hp/260Nm Electric above, although it's ever so slightly quicker to 62mph than the zero-emission model with a 9.5-second sprint beating the EV's 9.6-second run. The 4xe is also the fastest Avenger flat out, with a 121mph V-max - some way in advance of the Electric's necessarily limited 93mph top speed. For reference, the two 100hp models of the Jeep run 0-62mph in around 10.5 seconds and go on to a 114mph maximum.
In terms of the straight-line performance, the 1,475kg 4xe is fine. On a purely subjective basis without strapping it to timing gear, then it doesn't feel much quicker for acceleration than the e-Hybrid, despite what the on-paper stats say, but it's swift enough and torquey enough that you can whip it up into a decent lick on more challenging roads. The brakes feel nice and progressive, even if that six-speed e-DSC6 is not the smoothest or quickest transmission in the world, and apart from some odd whooshing and whistling from the powertrain when it's under heavier load at lower speeds, generally this Avenger drives perfectly fine and sounds pretty pleasant too.
When it comes to the eco-stats, Jeep claims despite its extra power and set of driven wheels, this 4xe is not appreciably worse on fuel than the e-Hybrid, although we didn't see the greatest returns on a relatively gentle pootle around the Yorkshire Dales; we'd have expected better than 34.9mpg from the Avenger in those circumstances, and the speedo turning light blue (an indication the 1.2-litre engine has dropped out and left the e-motors to run the show) instead of white was a relatively rare occurrence.
Ride & Handling
Right, make no mistake, despite not being a plug-in hybrid the Avenger 4xe really does bring some serious off-road prowess to the party, making it befitting of the 'Jeep' badge. Working without locking diffs or dedicated low-ratio 'boxes, and not deemed capable enough to wear the company's much-vaunted 'Trail Rated' badge, the 4xe is clearly not going to give a
Wrangler Rubicon sleepless nights when it comes to how they traverse the rough stuff, but for a B-segment, heavily urban-centric crossover, the Avenger is far more talented than it has any right, or maybe even need, to be.
The chief weapon in its armoury is a 22.7:1 reducer on the rear axle, which results in a goliath 1,900Nm of torque at the rear wheels. In plainer terms, this means the secondary e-motor ensures the Jeep always has traction (at least 20 per cent, so it is claimed), even on steeper inclines, and so it can get up 40 per cent slopes no matter if it's travelling on gravel.
There are then four modes in the drive select system, running Snow, Auto, Sport and then Sand/Mud. According to which one of these it's in, the Avenger 4xe maintains a 50:50 full-time torque split at speeds of up to 19mph, then goes into part-time 4WD from 19-56mph where it only utilises the rear motor when necessary, before becoming a two-wheel-drive (front) machine from 56mph upwards to save fuel. Add in the impressive axle articulation brought about by the Avenger's multilink rear suspension set-up, and what you have here is a 4x4 that will far outstrip whatever its owners could reasonably need of it.
We scrambled it up tough ascents with no bother, these made up of a mix of loose scree and compacted, slippery grass. We descended vertiginious hillsides with disinterested Yorkshire cows watching on as we comfortably crept back down to lower land. We angled across a difficult transverse slope and the Avenger didn't stumble for a second, even when it was cocking a rear wheel and spinning it fruitlessly in the air. We drove it through a pretty deep river with ease. In brief, aside from extreme rock crawls or plugging through the claggiest of mud, it's difficult to know what could possibly stop the Avenger 4xe when it's travelling off the beaten track. It's genuinely superb what it can do in the scenery.
But, even here, there are a couple of caveats. The first is that our test car, and indeed all the test cars on the event, were fitted with
optional off-road-optimised Falken WildPeak all-terrain tyres; quite how well The North Face, or alternatively any Avenger 4xe, will fare on the regular mud-and-snow rubber remains to be seen.
And second, the Jeep's hill descent control (HDC) works in the most bizarre fashion. Keep the car in 'D' and engage the HDC, and it will typically crawl downhill at about 6mph, although it is said to be operational up to 19mph in such situations; yet, as you drive down the slope, the instrument cluster flashes up an instruction to switch to Neutral for the best HDC operation. And, sure enough, we were instructed to do this by the off-road instructors overseeing our progress around the prescribed course. It seems totally counter-intuitive, when you're trying to gently rock an automatic vehicle over a crest onto a precipitous downhill and you're in D, to then have to quickly stab at the 'N' button on the gear selector pad to get it to maintain a careful 3mph descent thereafter. It also doesn't help as you transition out of the slope at the bottom of the hill, where you need to remember to go back into 'D' lest you roll to a halt on the level, and we can't fathom why Jeep didn't just do the usual HDC adjustment process of engaging the system, then adjusting your descent speed by a few mph either way via the cruise-control buttons on the steering wheel. Oh well; a minor foible, and one that doesn't detract from the 4xe's supreme capabilities in the wilderness.
On tarmac, the 4xe is every bit as likeable and smooth as the other Avengers. By no means perfect for either ride comfort - you feel a few too many lumps and bumps in the road, even when only on 17s with chunky AT rubber sidewalls - or mechanical refinement, the Jeep nevertheless strikes up a truly amiable blend of rolling pliancy mixed with decent body control. The steering's too light and feel-free, sure, but it's accurate and quick enough to allow the driver to develop a quick rapport with the Avenger's chassis, so you can hustle it nicely through a series of technical bends, crests and compressions on your typical B-road. It maybe doesn't feel any more special from behind the wheel than either the e-Hybrid or the Electric models, granted, but it does drive better than most rival B-segment crossovers and it gives the impression it's probably the best-sorted Jeep product of them all when it comes to on-road manners.
Value
The major issue with The North Face Edition is the price. At £35,219, it's not particularly extortionate at first glance, but put into context with other B-segment crossovers and, indeed, its own range, it looks OTT - and is why we have to take half-a-star off the car's overall rating when compared to the e-Hybrid, despite the fact the 4xe drives just as well and brings lots of extra off-road talent to the party.
Aside from all the touches that are specific to The North Face Edition that we've already outlined, the basic equipment list of this flagship Avenger 4xe is generous and includes luxuries such as LED exterior lights, privacy glass, a heated windscreen and front seats, keyless entry, a hands-free and powered tailgate, 360-degree parking sensors, Level 2 assisted driving with blind spot monitor, and wireless smartphone charging, among more. However, you get a lot of that stuff on the Overland from £33,219, while the 4xe Upland (from £31,219) is hardly lacking in kit either. Which is to say nothing of the top-spec Summit variants of all of the petrol (£30,050), e-Hybrid (£31,050) and Electric (£33,999) Avengers, that all come with bounteous standard equipment counts for less cash than the TNFE.
One unusual set of extras that might swing you in the direction of The North Face Edition, though: all examples of this most luxurious Avenger 4xe come with a two-man tent, a collapsible storage box with table-like lid, and a drinks flask in the boot as standard, this trio of items rendered in bright yellow and then adorned with both The North Face and Jeep logos. Very swish. And, um... eBayable...
Verdict
We like a lot of what the Jeep Avenger 4xe The North Face Edition is all about. It looks really smart on the outside, the interior is suitably enlivened by the branding tie-up touches, the limited-run status confers upon it a sprinkling of extra desirability, it drives as well on the road as any other Avenger does, and then it tops it all off by being the only variant in the range with some serious off-road chops. From a more detached, casual viewpoint, then it's easy to see that if you ended up with one of these deeply capable small Jeeps for some reason, you'd certainly be more than happy with it.
But taken as a whole, the 4xe The North Face Edition feels a tad too pricey. It's four grand more than a basic dual-motor hybrid Avenger, which'll still be a lovely thing with lots of off-road prowess, and then every single version of the 4xe is dearer than even a top-spec Summit version of the brilliant e-Hybrid. You've got to really need The North Face Edition's insane abilities away from tarmac, or either be a huge fan of The North Face as a company, to justify dropping more than 35 large on this. A great little car, it's nevertheless too costly and not improved enough on the road to truly justify the inflated pricing. Luckily, any of the front-driven Avengers will make a fine alternative instead.
