Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-05)

PRICE

40

OTHER
EXCITING
ADVANCES
2019 EDITION

THE
MERCEDES-
BENZ GLE 450’S
AUGMENTED-
REALITY
DIRECTION
SYSTEM
Like Pokémon
Go (remember
that?) but more
useful.

FIAT 500

ABARTH’S

BOOST GAUGE

It’s huge, the

size of a New

Yo r k ba gel. We

thought it was

a tach.

RAVENSBURGER
3D PORSCHE
911R PUZZLE
The 108 pieces
are numbered.
That doesn’t
make it easy.

WE WOULDN’T HAVE GUESSED, back when the

Tesla Model S first upended EV expectations, that

it would take seven years for the first challenger to arrive,

nor would we have guessed that Jaguar would be the com-

pany to build it. But here we are with the I-Pace, which is

not only unlike any other Jaguar, but unlike any other lux-

ury car yet on the market. If you’ve ever wondered, “What

would a Tesla look like if the company had more capital

and a better hang of interiors?” here’s your answer. The

I-Pace is handsome, inside and out, accruing the usual EV

packaging benefits: wheels pushed to the corners, front

trunk, airy cabin unmarred by a transmission tunnel

or driveshaft hump. With the front and rear

motors teaming up for 394 combined

horsepower and 512 lb-ft of torque, the I-Pace is rapid

enough to give you that roller-coaster stomach lurch when

you flatten the potentiometer—or whatever we’re calling

the gas pedal now. The I-Pace also exhibits that relentless

EV road-holding, its weightiest component (that would be

the battery) snugged low beneath the floor. There are some

design choices that point to the I-Pace’s role as a bridge

to the future from an entrenched company—the tradi-

tional grille on the nose, the thankfully optional synth

vroom vroom piped in by the stereo. But as a whole, the

I-Pace is a wonderful machine, one that should make us

all optimistic for what’s to come. The world is changing.

Jag uar gets it.

JAGUAR I-PACE

LUXURY CAR OF THE YEAR