OUR CARS
FEATURED THIS WEEK
FIRST REPORT
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT
To discover how deploying the premium
EV’s mighty acceleration dovetails with
preserving its electric range
ALPINA B 4 S BMW Z4 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT FORD FOCUS JAGUAR I-PACE RENAULT MEGANE RS
64 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 28 AUGUST 2019
Will an extended time at the wheel and newer EV rivals dilute its appeal? Let’s find out
JAGUAR I-PACE
Observer: “Wow, doesn’t it look
g r e at? T h at c olou r ’s f a nt a s t ic. I s it
orange? And the wheels – are they
22-i nc h? T he y lo ok br i l l i a nt. Mu s t
be the best-looking Jaguar ever.
What’s it cost?”
No mention there of the I-Pace’s
90kWh battery pack, or its awesome
capacity for 4.5sec, smooth and silent
s pr i nt s f r om s t a nd s t i l l t o 6 0 mph(delivered with zero wheelspin
because all wheels are driven). No
mention of a predicted range that
seems to vary between 220 and 260
miles. And only secondary attention
to the price – which starts at £71,495
for a standard 400 HSE after the
£3500 government incentive, but
totals £79,740 in our case because of
t he m i g ht y r a f t of op t ion s c a r r ie d.
Everything is secondary, in those
early minutes, to the car’s sleek,
u n ique out l i ne , t o ho w w e l l it w e a r s
its £700 Photon Red paint (which in
de c e nt s u n l i g ht i s a t a s t e f u l Ne a rl y
Orange) and how well it rolls on its
22in five-split-spoke wheels.
If you value the joy of driving extra-
refined cars, as I do, you’ll find there’s
nothing in your memory bank quite
like those first few miles in the I-Pace,
as it demonstrates its near-silence and
total smoothness. There’s a faraway
whine as you accelerate, but the car’s
ability to gain speed without noise or
vibration simply doesn’t compute. It
e v e n sh a de s ot he r e le c t r ic c a r s. A f t e ra few journeys, this consolidates into
a k i nd of g l id i n g ga it t h at i s si mpl y
intoxicating. Ridiculous to introduce
noise into this, even if you could. And
hard to imagine that, just a couple
of years ago, many of us feared that
electric cars would never have the
ability to exhilarate a driver.
Of course, the wheels are in touch
with the road in a conventional way.
This car has a f lat but sporty ride.
But great trouble has clearly been
taken to control road noise (in a way
other electric cars do not) and the
w i nd noi s e i s a l s o low. T he r ide i s
conventional in a sense but, as you
ride, you soon tune into the fact that
this machine has a long wheelbase
with smaller than usual overhangs,
that the major mass is beneath
the floor, that there simply isn’t a
great big metal lump suspended on
rubber over the front wheels and
that because of all this, the self-
levelling air suspension units have
a comparatively easy time keeping
t h i n gs on a n e v e n k e e l.This and the I-Pace’s sophisticated
torque-vectoring system – the
ability to send different amounts of
torque to different wheels as the car
manoeuvres – means the car stays in
line at road speeds whatever you do,
g r ippi n g h a rd a nd r e s p ond i n g ne a r-
instantly to practically any input.
O n t he s ubje c t s of c h a r g i n g
and range, we’re still acquiring
knowledge. The maker claims a 258-
I
f you ever needed proof
that how a car looks is
crucial to its marketacceptance and ultimate
s uc c e s s , y ou’d h av e b e e n w e l l a nd
truly persuaded during our first
w e e k ’s ow ne r sh ip of a Ja g u a r I-Pa c e
400 HSE. You might reckon the car’s
pioneering all-electric propulsion
system would be the major source of
comment given that this is the first
battery-powered Jaguar in history.
But it wasn’t. Not at all.
The comment – and there was
ple nt y of it – u s u a l l y w e nt l i k e t h i s...
Observer: “That the new
electric Jag?”
Autocar: “Sure is...”