Jaguar I-Pace

GOODBYE

£69,995 OTR/£78,490 as tested/£785pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Can this new breed of Jaguar tackle the dominance of Tesla?

DRIVER

Paul Horrell

TO SAY FAREWELL, I WANTED A TRIP TO REMIND MYSELF WHY I LOVE having the I-Pace. Which is summed up in ‘Good Stuff’ below right.

But also, 2020 is supposed to be the year EVs take off, lifted by tax changes. Has there been any easing of the reason I’ve occasionally loathed having the I-Pace: Britain’s insanely inconvenient and catastrophically unreliable roadtrip rapid-charge network?

Final reason for the trip, I had a home-charge point installed on my family’s farm in Cornwall, powered by our solar array. I wanted to test it.

There are lots of street-side overnight charging points in London. I plug in and set the timer for my 6am departure to precondition the car’s temperatures (battery and cabin) while it’s still drawing from the mains.

Sustained high speed is the enemy of electric range. So instead of my M4 and M5 route I take the slower A303, saving 22 miles and improving consumption too. I get 2.6 miles per kWh as far as Exeter. And it took only a very few minutes longer than it would have on the motorway.

Even so I need a quick top-up. As it nearly always does, Ecotricity’s “Electric Highway” network lets me down. Luckily Morrisons, a 30 minute cross-city detour, has a free, working GeniePoint. As it charges, I pull my pushbike out of the Jaguar’s hatch and take a delightful ride along the banks of the Exe.

That adds 150 miles. I set off for the farm. Our new 7.4kW charger is working peachily. I drive up to the solar array, making use of the I-Pace’s 4WD and lifting air suspension to get up through the rutted field gateway.

On the way home I stop at a pair of Instavolt posts. I just swipe my card and get about 85kW, the Jag’s maximum rating. By the time I’ve eaten at the adjacent diner I’ve enough charge to drive home in a manner that dare not speak its name. Reminding me why I’ve loved the I-Pace so much.