News : Jaguar I-Pace previews next SUV

jaguar_i-pace_concept_17

Say hello to the new Jaguar I-Pace, revealed at the 2016 Los Angeles Motor Show. The concept not only underlines the JLR’s commitment to battery drivetrains for its future models, but also previews the styling for its next crossover, as well as further iterations of the X760 platform.

Strip away the motor show hype, and here’s a car that promises to be a game changer for Jaguar, which will slot in the range below the F-Pace. It’s an all-new battery-electric SUV, and will go head to head with Tesla’s forthcoming Model X. It’ll be fast, silent, and looks – from these images – close to production ready in terms of design.

The styling incorporates all the styling cues introduced with the Jaguar XE and XF, so it retains a low and sporting look, despite having a roomy interior. It also gains distinct haunches – a core part of Jaguar’s styling DNA – which make it far more visually appealing than the car’s potential opposition. Its two-box shape also gives clues to any future entry-level Jaguars, which may be introduced to fight the BMW 1-series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

This clever packaging been achieved by strategic positioning of its motors and battery packs. It makes use of JLR’s aluminium platform and houses two electric motors. Power for the I-Pace is provided by two synchronous permanent magnet electric motors, which are integrated into the front and rear axles, and paired with a high-efficiency infinitely variable transmission system.

jaguar_i-pace_concept_4

With that, you get four-wheel drive, maximum torque from zero revs and variable and rapid torque distribution between the two axles. Each motor produces around 200bhp, meaning the I-Pace Concept has sports car power allied with its 516lb ft of maximum torque. Given that Tesla has redefined the expectations of battery-powered car drivers, we’re expecting it to be effortlessly fast. Jaguar’s claimed 0-60mph time of 4.0 seconds tells only part of the story – it’s the real-world range of around 300 miles that really excites.

Jaguar has yet to announce when the production version of the I-Pace will hit the showroom, but informed speculation suggests that the car will be shown in production form at the end of 2017, before going on sale in 2018. It will be priced above the F-Pace, taking into account its higher specification, starting at around £65,000.

Keith Adams
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43 Comments

  1. Not interested in an electric car, but love the styling, much more modern and memorable than the rather conservative XE.

    • Agree wholeheartedly – much more distinctive and with more of a Jaguar stance, albeit in a very modern way.

  2. The car looks beautiful. Really fresh but linked to the existing line up.

    500km range is still too short until speed and availability of charging improves. Tell me I can half charge it in 15 mins and there’s a charger at every fifth petrol station, and I’m starting to get interested.

    Of course this is placed at the top of the range, which out of my league anyway.

    • I’d say 500km / 300 miles is plenty for most commuting, where most cars spend their days. Even the occasional sub-100 mile weekend trip.

      Agree though it would be good to know that a fast charge while you stretch your legs could get you the final stretch from London to Edinburgh (330 miles as the crow flies, by road probably closer to 400 miles /600km), but that’s what the diesel XE/XF/XJ/F-Pace other car in the garage Jag wants to sell you is for surely? 😉

      Renault had an interesting idea with the now bankrupt Better Place, battery packs were a bit like gas canisters (for house cookers in rural / non-gas piplined areas), whereby you exchange the entire pack for a fresh one. Though you have to pay a monthly fee for the battery.

      Do see plenty of regular chargers in car parks, albeit the space is usually taken by diesel Audis for some reason. Would the dashboard of the i-Pace have an up to date map of the location of these chargers?

      My concern would be that my driveway is quite open plan, while we could nail a heavy duty power outlet to the side of the house, what is to stop it getting used when we aren’t there, or otherwise played with or damaged?

      And what about urban townhouses on busy streets where people may not be able to park right outside their door? Run a lead down the road? Who is to blame if someone trips over it?

  3. Love it, especially the seats – the vast majority of car seats seem to waste an awful lot of interior volume. Can’t help thinking that this JLR car is Rover sized (but still called a Jag)

  4. When I look at this car I wonder can the next XJ be anything but electric?

    I can’t see how this car can be viewed as anything but a crossover it’s clearly not an SUV. How tempting must it be for Land Rover to chuck a Range Rover body style on it and call it crossover?

  5. Is this what was going to be the E-Pace, the F-Pace’s little brother? Or will there be an E-Pace as well (much needed if Jaguar really wants to compete with the big boys)?

    And where will it be built?

    Looks great outside and inside.

  6. Great looking car and some good engineering and packaging work going on underneath too.Electric cars are our immediate to medium term mobility solution whether we like it or not and at least this one looks good…

    I test rode an electric super-bike recently, an Energica E90…electric doesn’t always mean no fun! This Jag and the Tesla range just confirm that all the more

    http://bikemeet.net/index.php?topic=8146.0

    I remain a bit of petrol engine nut though!

    Well done JLR…again

  7. A shame Rover has not made a comeback here, Jaguar could use it in a simular vein to Citroen and its DS moniker, with daring futuristic styling (much more daring than this) and high quality to rival Tesla.

    • Unfortunately Rover seems tarnished thanks to a biased media which pushed for trendy marques like Audi while running the Rover name into the dirt, focusing on HGF and ‘grandad’s car’ image. Sadly it seems now to be as dead as Austin. The Americans think ‘Rover’ is ‘Land Rover’/’Range Rover’, so relaunching the brand may just cause confusion in that market.

      DS was a model which, for all it’s faults, was universally loved. So while Citroen themselves seem to have (in my opinion, not justified) an image of cost cutting, reliability woes and overly complex suspension, they picked out a jewel from their back catalogue.
      Reminiscent of anything? A 1960s iconic model made into a premium brand? (Though new DS followed MINI)….

      The original Mini was more of a competitor to the 2CV, the luxury Rover P5 as a brand might not have much of a resonance unfortunately (and would cue daft jokes about P45s etc.).

      • How do you re-launch a brand that as far as the Americans are concerned is already there? would cause no confusion at all, only in the UK is the Rover name tarnished, and that can be fixed (see Skoda)

        • You clearly have no idea of the joke that Rover was in the US market. The SD1 destroyed any vestige of reputation in the North American market.

          • Two words for you….Massive warranty.

            Until Ford took Solihull by the scruff of the neck, Range Rover, Disco, etc were huge loss makers. They dragged down the entire company. BMW were glad to get shot.

          • You are clearly stuck in the 70s and have no idea how the last 4 decades have changed things

    • You guys really need to get over your fixation with ‘Rover’. It has no chance of returning. The name has been loosing value for decades. It was even necessary to invent a brand – Stirling – for the US market, because Rover was held in such contempt. Outside of the UK, the name is almost meaningless (at best!). Inside the UK, the name is a byword for junk. It’s a shame that Triumph is not available to use!

      • “Stirling” was invented to protect the Range Rover which was doing and still is doing rather well in the US. Over there the all LR products are “Rovers”

        • It was actually the other way around. At the time, a product with ‘Rover’ in the name struggled to be given away free with cornflakes in North America. Stirling was created to distance a Honda based product from the Rover name. In the 80’s Land Rover was almost dead in the US.

          This isn’t bias, it’s the truth.

          • Rover began selling the Range Rover officially in the U.S. in March 1987, it was sold as the Range Rover, and Solihull could not keep up with the demand for the NADA market it sold so well there with the rover badge still on it.
            Sterling was launched in February 1987.. one month before.. so that’s your argument shot full of holes and sunk

          • Allow me to quote from this very site:

            “The idea came about in 1984, when the plans for exporting the upcoming Rover 800 model were being formulated. Austin-Rover management were acutely aware of the failure of the SD1 in the USA and felt that re-launching a Rover over there so soon after the company’s previous withdrawal would prove to be commercial suicide. Customers have long memories and the SD1’s reputation for unreliability and poor quality was still fresh in their minds.”

            Beyond which (unlike you), I was there. Clearly, you have no idea of how the industry worked.

          • And so why was the Range Rover when it was launched less than a month later not called the ‘range sterling’ then?. The fact remains that the Rover name in the US is associated with top end SUV’s these days and no longer with the dark days of the SD1, the Sterling is long long forgotten. Any car sold with the rover badge in the US would sell very well indeed. In fact the Range Rover brand was so valuable in the US that Ford required BMW make sure that MG rover could not make an SUV with the Rover badge on it as part of the deal when they bought Land Rover and as soon as MG Rover went under paid BMW a lot of money for it to protect the Land Rover brand

        • I agree. None of the old BL marques stand a snowball in hells chance of being re-animated.
          Rover, Triumph, Riley, Austin, Morris, Wolseley mean virtually nothing to anyone outside the confines of classic car circles and even if they did get relaunched even most enthusiasts would be highly unlikely to open their wallets. The MG fiasco has proved that beyond doubt.

          It’s a real shame but Rover has gone and its not coming back folks.

  8. It least it has moved on the styling from the nice but conservative style of the XE/XF. Haunches are back which is nice but from certain angles it looks awkward. However the issue with electric cars is charging and distance it can cover. 300 miles is Ok for most users on a day to day basis but for distance driving its not great. In addition unless you have a secure location to charge your car its going to be pretty daft. Many people, especially in cities don’t have a dedicated space and the car is parked on a street.

    Electric is just small crossover until hydrogen becomes affordable and they can find cheaper and greener ways to make the stuff – once that has happened it will be a small detour on the evolution of the motor car just like steam was back in the 19th century.

    • Sadly Hydrogen technology still seems a far way off with many challenges, including actually generating it which takes a huge amount of energy (which can come from renewable sources, or more likely fossil fuels), storing and transporting it as it needs kept under pressure (and the associated safety aspects) and needs more storage for the same range as petrol, and there are still emissions of nitrous oxide (urea is actually used to reduce this…)

      http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-la-motor-show/hydrogen-fuel-cells-complete-nonsense-says-jlrs-technical-design

      • Add the fact there isn’t a container for Hydrogen that can actually contain it!
        Yes that’s true, all hydrogen cylinders leak, which is why the only practical way to use it is to generate it using a fuel cell on board the car

      • It depends on whom you listen to – some academics believe that in 20 years hydrogen will be a commercially viable product, however some have stated that with current technologies it wont be financially viable or possible to set up the required network.

        However the motor companies believe it is viable and GM, Mercedes, Honda and Nissan have all announced they will be launching hydrogen fuel cell cars in the future, while Toyota and Hyundai already offer such vehicles.

        Secondly the amount of nitrous oxide produced is extremely small, and comparison with the emissions produced by making and disposing of batteries is miniscule.

        The main issue at the moment is the production of the Hydrogen itself. Huge amounts of energy are needed to split Water into it’s atomic substance, and currently there is no way we could produce this amount of energy cleanly to meet the global need for hydrogen. However this is being researched as we speak, as the same fuel cell process is being looked at as a viable clean portable energy source.

  9. Astounded that someone has produced a crossover SUV that I would consider. Never thought I’d see the day!!

    This is a seriously good looking car.

    Sporting, rakish, a degree of elegance while still looking chunky with those big wheels in a Hot Wheels fun kind of way, rather than the usual crossover formula of making a tall car look like a cross between a London taxi and an MPV, with roof rails, grey plastic cladding and more ground clearance than a dock container loader.

    Even other crossover SUV coupes such as the Merc GLC seem to IMO miss the mark, just look like a hatchback variant of the base SUV. Same with the X6.
    I guess it could be the sideskirts on the Jag here that make the difference, give it less of a monster truck look, more like a rakish fastback. Would be interesting to see if they make production, or are just for the ‘R’ spec, with base models looking more like a traditional crossover? Wait and see!

  10. At last, a return to the promising direction shown by the original XF, XK and new XJ. Jaguar haunches and curves interpreted in a modern way, with a luxurious but minimalist, elegant interior rendered in gorgeous materials. The electric powertrain is totally in keeping with Jaguar’s of old – smooth, silent power with instantaneous response. Think series 3 XJ12.

    And even better, it doesn’t have the bloody stupid J A G U A R script under the leaper on the boot.

    This is exactly what I’ve been criticising the latest models for failing to achieve. Well done Jaguar.

    Now all they need to do is lock the bloody bean counters in a sealed container and keep the ex-Audi and BMW guys away from the styling while they develop the production version. I really don’t want to see a toned-down, generic silhouette with crappy plastic interior and borrowed parts from other models, a’la F-Pace.

    Here’s hoping.

  11. Oh dear, looks like a metallic grey cowpat with cheap alloys (speaking of which has anyone seen the ones on the new Maybach 650? I’d commit a small war crime for a set of those in 14″ 100/⁴ pcd)
    Perfect name, could be translated as “fast idiot”.
    Electric cars are no cleaner, in fact they’re more damaging to the environment (dirty gensets will be run at higher capacity, most of which are much nastier than even a VW diesel) , they soon won’t be cheaper to run because as soon as enough are in service the electricity companies will proceed to ravish your wallets like a celebrity in a womble suit, if they catch fire they’re almost impossible to extinguish and as soon as they’re over a few years old the residuals will go down faster than the Kursk (because of battery replacement prices & possible repairs on high voltage backplane soon after..). Need I go on?
    I fervently hope too that Jaguar has gotten rid of the alternating brake light/indicator setup – someone should be sacked for that – even Americans worked out that combining brake signals & indicators in the same array was a bad idea (a separate indicator in amber reduced signalling related crashes by something like 60%!).

  12. And oh look, a clear glass roof to the cabin, in an electric car, where we’re trying to SAVE energy… How much power do you think that’s going to waste when the air con is trying to fight constant strong sun? I’ll bet deleting that or taping over it will save 5-10% of the hvac energy on a good day..
    And from the wrong angle the backend resembles a neanderthal with a serious sinus infection – niiiice.
    I will say this again slowly – we do not need nor do we benefit from electric cars. It would be far better to use lpg or alcohol based two stroke ICE engines. In addition we can now, experimentally at least, pull carbon & other compounds from the air and make petroleum analogues from them, as we have been able to do from coal SINCE THE 30s. I’ll repeat that, Nazi Germany & others made (a not fantastic) petrol substitute from hydrogenated coal. We, at current reserves have 45 mega tonnes of coal mostly sitting around doing nowt.
    Even piston ported stratified charge two strokes have 10-15% improved power density over four stroke, add valving & tuned exhaust its 40%.. I very much doubt they’re much dirtier than a real world VW or Audi (or Renault or Fiat, or…).
    When you look at it the arguments for electric start to look weaker and weaker.

    • Really?
      What’s the betting that the clear glass roof has a blind, as much for comfort as for any energy saving properties, just like any other glass roofed car.
      Have you considered approaching JLR or any other manufacturer directly? I’m sure that they would be interested in how your conclusions regarding the viability of alternative fuels are more thoroughly researched and have more validity than theirs.

      • I would have thought solar panels would be a better bet for an electric car. Help to charge it whilst parked.

        • Interesting point. Audi had a Solar Sun Roof option on A8 about 20 years ago. No doubt other manufacturers had something similar too.
          A solar panel mounted in a standard size glass sun roof was enough to power the aircon to keep the cabin cool with the engine off while parked in the sun but no more than that.

          No doubt there have been advancements in solar cell tech since then but who knows if it would be enough to provide a meaningful amount of battery charge. Maybe Jemma can enlighten us?

  13. Not usually a SUV fan but I must say this looks great 🙂
    300 mile range and fast charging would be more than adequate for “most”, in my opinion.
    Shame, it isn’t available right now..
    A potential game changer this though.
    Although,it will be Interesting to see how Hydrogen cars develop over time.Toyota, seem to be pushing towards hydrogen.

    • I wonder how many of us non-SUV-fans Jag have managed to convert with this?

      Is it the modern equivalent of people in the 70s who didn’t like hatchbacks seeing an SD1 for the first time?…

  14. You guys must be looking at different pictures to me. This is one fugly car. Particularly from front and rear view. Far too much bulk below the window line. Hideous from behind could be a Hyundai or Kia with those proportions.
    As a general comment on Jags wish they would drop the leaping cat from the boot lid and replace it with the jaguar head as on the grill. From behind it looks like the the badge has slipped. Not a good image for a prestige make.

  15. Tesla have announced a solar roof for one of their models just lately as well as the Tesla home roof solar tiles. I don’t see the reason why it has taken a long time for this not so new technology to catch on in the mass commercial auto industry?
    The theory of solar panels for production cars has been a concept since the mid 1980’s. Since before that, for some time there has already been cars built for solar power races and that’s still the case today.

    • In fact to add to that point, the 30th anniversary Bridgestone World Solar Challenge event will be held October 8–15, 2017. To quote from Wikipedia;- this a biennial solar-powered car race which covers 3,022 km (1,878 mi) through the Australian Outback, from Darwin, Northern Territory to Adelaide, South Australia.

      The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools. The race has a 28-year history spanning thirteen races, with the inaugural event taking place in 1987.
      https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/

  16. Love it, but for one tiny detail:- the cat on the boot lid should be leaping from left-to-right. It’s the same on all Jags, leaping to the left just looks wrong to me.

    I’m sure Jag’s designers have their reasons for choosing right-to-left, and I wonder how many man-hours were spend in meetings deciding which way it should be ?

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