Is this Jag the best electric ever?
A simply electric...
ABOUT a year ago, my friend and Radio 2 colleague Vassos Alexander told me he’d placed a deposit on a car that didn’t exist. The name of that car was the Jaguar I-Pace. I laughed back then. Well, I’m not laughing any more.
It just so happened that the international launch of Jaguar’s first BEV (battery electric vehicle) was taking place in the Algarve the exact same week as the Evans family were there on our Whitsuntide half-term break.
It was a coincidence too good to miss. ‘Please may I borrow one for a day to write about in my Mail on Sunday column?’ I begged Karen, the nice lady in charge. ‘Oh, all right then,’ she said, and the next day, outside Quinta do Lago Golf Club, appeared the most stunning, all-electric SUV I’ve ever seen.
The beauty of not having an engine up front is that it gives the designers a completely blank canvas. You want your BEV to look like a shark, or a summer house or a cement mixer? Then go right ahead. Fortunately for Vassos and all other future I-Pace owners, Ian Callum and his Jaguar design team resisted any of the above in favour of what is quite the head-turner. Even the image on this page, the one with the old git trying to get in on the action, doesn’t come anywhere close to doing it justice.
The short, aggressive (engineless) nose, which looks as if it’s about to hoover up all the tarmac in its path, is reminiscent of the fabulous midengined GT cars of the 1960s, specifically the Ford GT40 and Ferrari 250 LM, both design icons. Spooky that both came out in the same year, 1964. Not so spooky, however, that the aforementioned Jaguar chief designer is a huge fan. Take a look at the Bond Spectre C-X75 for yet more clues as to why the I-Pace looks so damn pretty.
And we have to wonder what effect such form might have on existing rivals such as Tesla’s SUV, the Model X, a car that suddenly looks like the emperor’s new clothes. Was it ever the genius work of zen-like minimalism fawning doters (guilty as charged) gushed it might be? Or is it actually just a dull and unimaginative blob with a slightly bulbous conk and those fancy falcon-wing doors we all became obsessed with due to its first-past-the-post SUV EV status and its eccentric daddy Elon, he of Planet Musk. Easy to suggest after the fact, I realise, but ‘after the fact’ is the land in which future legends are crowned immortal.
No matter which way one looks at the I-Pace, Jaguar has absolutely nailed the I-Pace from a design aspect. It is simply formidable.
As for the surprisingly spacious interior – also down to the lack of prehistoric inner workings (gearbox, drivetrain, etc) – they’ve only gone and smashed it again. The gorgeous steering wheel sets the tone for yet another dazzling assault of alluring aesthetics. Something so basic and simple is celebrated via a superconfident blend of Art Decostyle panache and Stark Industries fantasy and futurism. Enough to more than reassure the most cynical of doubters that just as much time, money, passion, talent and attention to detail has been lavished on every aspect of the I-Pace. An amazing all-round package surely destined to sweep the board come awards season later this year.
The Jaguar crew, keen to establish their new SUV’s credentials on all sorts of terrain, pointed us in the direction of a very handy river and some acutely bumpy and dusty peaks and troughs – not to mention one of Europe’s best-kept secrets, the Algarve International Circuit at Portimao. A testing ground worthy of any serious 4x4. But it’s how the I-Pace performs on the open road that will be of interest to most people. And it took me and a couple of pals two, maybe three minutes to be able to confirm its prowess at acceleration, cornering and braking via such collective responses as ‘Woah!’, ‘Oh. My. God’, and ‘Woah! again. Please excuse the repetition, but there was a lot of it going on.
With two electric motors (one driving the front wheels, another the rear), perfect 50/50 weight distribution and 394hp to play with, this is a seriously quick car that’s exceptionally fun to chuck around.
Back at the circuit, times all of the above by a thousand. The I-Pace fairly trounced a Model X around the 2.9-mile track, lasting a four laps at full tilt compared to the Tesla’s much less remarkable… well, I’d rather not say. Other highlights included dual infotainment touchscreens, an idea borrowed from the Land Rover Velar and latest Range Rover, but with a new graphics package (thank the Lord). The in-car graduated accelerationsound synthesiser, a pseudo-engine thrum pumped through the speakers that provides a soundtrack to what’s happening beneath you. And then there’s my standout feature: if you go for the non-leather-seat option, not only do they afford rear passengers more legroom, they also bring the I-Pace close to 100 per cent vegan. All Jaguar needs to finish the job is a substitute for a small area of glue – which currently has something or other from horses in it – used to attach the black plastic sill panels.
With a range of up to 290 miles and a satnav that not only tells you where to go but how much charge you’ll have when you get there and gives energy updates en route, I can’t see how rival manufacturers can outdo this electric superstar any time soon. All I-Paces start at £63.5k with a pretty comprehensive spec coming as standard. (Hallelujah to that – take note, Mercedes and BMW.) That said, my car came in at £80k with a panoramic roof, performance seats, carbon fibre trim and more.
Jaguar Land Rover has now entered my top-five car manufacturers that are currently setting the world alight, with Skoda, Volvo, Ford and Tesla still holding their own. (Although Tesla is only clinging on because of the forthcoming Roadster and truck. The Model X and Model S are now dead to me.)
PS: Dacia still wins Best Car In The World, with its formidable sub£7k Duster. Unbeatable value, but surely an endangered species in this new dawn of electric dreams.
‘WOAH!’, ‘OH. MY. GOD’, AND ‘WOAH!’ AGAIN