JAGUAR CHARGING AHEAD
Richard Bosselman gets behind the wheel of the Jaguar IPace to find out what the buzz is about.
BY latest count, about 13,000 electric vehicles are being driven in New Zealand.
Quite a gathering if all brought together, for sure, but to put that into context it’s not even 0.3% of our fleet, and there is serious doubt about reaching the goal of 64,000 EVs on our roads by 2021. So basically, if you’re on team fossil fuels, there is no need to worry. Right?
Except, change is occurring nonetheless. Electrics are here and more are coming, ready or not.
Over the next few years, expect to see an increasing amount of new and used EVs on the road. It’s hard to imagine New Zealand not being massively affected by a world swing expected to deliver 140 million EVs by 2030.
Longer battery ranges and hightech features designed to tempt ever more motorists into making the switch are core ingredients. Many incoming products are falling into a place consumers aspire to reach; the sports utility category, albeit at the premium end where most regular motorists cannot afford to shop.
Because? Well, there’s three reasons: it’s where the money is, battery tech coalesces around premium products and, finally, SUV platforms are a neat fit for this hardware.
The Jaguar IPace must surely embolden any upmarket buyer considering relinquishing fossil fuel reliance for full immersion
into plugin power play.
Save for a change of ‘‘fuel’’, we’re talking product from recognised and respected industry stalwarts. All aspects of the purchasing, servicing and support story are just as they are for any other new premium car purchase.
Spending less than 60 minutes driving on rural roads in an IPace was a limited first taste, yet it left an impression that this car has far more driving delights than any electric previously evaluated.
Even the aspects that meet the SUV remit — the slightly elevated ride height and the air suspension in particular — don’t inhibit the sense that it’s crafted to put ‘‘feelgood’’ first.
The pace, the tenacity of the roadholding, the steering precision and the appealing (when out of regen) brake feel are regular Jaguar.
It’s only when the car gets floaty that you have to remind yourself that this is a 2.2tonne machine and that it is more aligned to the FPace than the FType and therefore tailored, ultimately, for tracks that feature dirt and gravel rather than finish lines and braking markers.
True, it has to be good. It’s a premium product, spanning in the $144,900 S to $164,900 HSE model, with the $154,900 SE, as driven, placing in between.
New Zealand models are EV400s, so have a battery capacity of 90kWh with a range of 470km (gauged by WTLP testing, which is as close to realworld driving as current standards can get) provided you aren’t too heavyfooted.
The temptation is there, with a healthy 294kW and 696Nm of torque available from rest. Thanks to two electric motors, the IPace goes from 0100kmh in 4.8 seconds, which makes it the first serious alternative to a Tesla.
It’ll recharge to 80% in 40 minutes on a fast charge. Presently, it’s optimised for a 100kWh replenishment but when the 150kWh network comes on stream, Jaguar will send out a recode allowing an upgrade.
Lining up an IPace against the FPace would be interesting. The EV is shorter, yet battery packaging compels it to be a little wider. The wheelbase is also longer, which accentuates the car’s leanness. Although ride height is slightly elevated to conform with category expectation, the low roof and the length impress a rakish, almost groundhugging air.
Without need to make provision for an engine, the nose is short, holding a welllocated 27L luggage cavity — ‘‘froot’’ in Jagspeak. The main luggage area is under the tailgate — 656L swelling to 1453L when the rear seats are pushed forward.
Familial Jaguar design imperatives, the location of the battery and aerodynamic requirements all shape this car. The signature oval Jaguar grille feeds air through to exit in the bonnet vent. Active vanes also open and close depending on the cooling required.
Aerodynamics also dictate a sharp, cutoff rear end. You’ll notice the lack of a rear wiper; instead, Jaguar fits the IPace with hydrophobic glass that water and dirt streams off, helped along the way by a roof spoiler. Another aerooptimised feature? Door handles that retract flush. It’s why you photograph the car after it’s locked — the shape seems cleaner.
The cabin has a modern, minimised layout. The lack of a rotary gear controller seems strange, but there’s no need for it. Drive, park, reverse are push buttons, and most operations run through the two touchscreens. An abundance of menus and submenus required more learning than time allowed. The big rotary dials are primarily to adjust cabin temperature, but double as seat heater controls. The instrument panel is conventional, but you’re glad for the head up display.
Softtouch materials adorn most of the touch points and expensivefeeling plastics are extensive. A trim rattle that just couldn’t be heard by the brandaligned passenger (gosh, really?) serves as a reminder that EVs are so quiet they do tend to betray noises you tend not to hear when an engine is involved. Still, overall assembly quality suggests the assembly line in Austria is up to scratch. Also, the degree that external sounds are expunged is impressive; those big, lowprofile tyres were quiet on even coarsechip roads, and wind roar was hardly noticeable.
Even with its massive sunroof, the cabin has good head room. Tall types won’t be bothered for leg room either. What makes the rear seat better for two than three is that the floor in the back has a small longitudinal hump, like a driveshaft tunnel (which it obviously isn’t).
How the IPace will stand the test of history is anyone’s guess. Yet, in all likelihood, those who dare call it something of a landmark will not, by my estimation, be overstepping.
This year, for something different, our pictorial review of last weekend’s Otago Rally puts the spotlight on the topplaced finishers comprising one or both of an Otagobased driver and codriver.