Jaguar I-Pace revealed in full – still want a Tesla?

“We have torn up the rulebook to create the newest member of the Pace family,” said Jaguar Land Rover chief executive officer Dr Ralf Speth during the car’s online unveiling on Thursday evening (1 March), ahead of the highly anticipated electric Jag’s premiere at the Geneva Motor Show next week.

“With zero tailpipe emissions, no CO2 and no particulates the I-Pace moves us dramatically closer to our vision of a clean, safe and sustainable future.”

The I-Pace, expected to be in UK customers’ hands by the summer, combines grace, pace and space with battery electric power for Jaguar’s first dedicated EV. Motors back and front, providing all-wheel-drive traction, offer a combined output of 395bhp with 513 lb-ft of torque from zero revs – 0-60mph is said to take just 4.5 seconds. 

The I-Pace is equipped with a 90kWh lithium-ion battery, made up of 432 cells, mounted centrally under the car’s flat floor. Jaguar says that on the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) cycle now adopted as the EU’s official mileage rating, the I-Pace will be able to travel 298 miles on a charge, helped by the car’s navigation system offering range-optimised routing. A recharge at a DC rapid charge point will yield an 80 per cent top-up in 85 minutes. A full charge from a domestic electric socket will take just over 10 hours.

“For I-Pace customers fuel stations are a thing of the past. After overnight charging they’ll wake up every morning with a full tank of fuel!” said I-Pace line director Ian Hoban.

The radically different vehicle architecture for a Jaguar, with a short bonnet, cab-forward design and long wheelbase, is said to provide space inside for five adults, with the flat floor throughout used for a variety of storage compartments as well as a large hatchback boot: 656 litres seats up, or 1453 litres with them folded down. It promises to be impressively accommodating for a car little longer than the Jaguar XE.

Styling is pretty much as we were led to expect – and a dead ringer for the concept first shown in 2016. Jaguar says it melds SUV and coupe elements, with influences from the C-X75 supercar such as the curved rear screen. 

As well as what the firm calls a true Jaguar feel to luxury features and cabin design, the I-Pace is said to come with a distinct driver focus. The motor and battery layout results in a 50:50 weight distribution and, for a high-riding SUV-style machine, a relatively low centre of gravity. Jaguar also says the aluminium body is the most rigid of any Jaguar, enhancing both ride comfort and driving dynamics. Options include air suspension and an Adaptive Dynamics system offering drive modes to tailor the balance between ride comfort and agile handling. 

We will get an idea how well the I-Pace handles when 20 identical I-Paces race against each other in a one-make electric series to begin in 2018 as support championship to the FIA’s FormulaE.

Each I-Pace comes with Smart Settings, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to tailor driving and cabin choices to individual preferences. Controlling an I-Pace is via a combination of touchscreens and tactile physical controls. Connectivity includes access to Amazon Alexa; owners will be able to ask an Alexa-enabled device things such as how much charge the car has left and if there is enough charge for a particular journey.

Designed and engineered in Britain but to be made by Magna Steyr in Austria, the I-Pace is available to order now, priced from £63,495 in the UK (excluding government incentives). It is available in S, SE and HSE derivatives, plus there’s a First Edition model as flagship. It comes with an eight-year battery warranty and 21,000-mile / two-year servicing intervals. Jaguar says 200 I-Pace prototypes have clocked up 1.5 million miles of testing.

The era of the electric Jaguar has arrived.