Jaguar I-Pace full review
This Jaguar I-Pace is very much a concept car, but with a twist: this is no show car flight of fancy – an electric SUV looking very much like this could be on your driveway in 2018.
Production I-Pace will look like the concept
Given the proliferation of F-Paces already peppering the roadscape, it already seems difficult to believe that there hadn’t been a Jaguar SUV until recently, but that model will soon be sharing showroom space with a smaller E-Pace and the production I-Pace. The latter is appreciably more radical.
Jaguar promises that the battery-powered I-Paces you’ll be able to have on a company car scheme will look incredibly close to this bright – and it is very bright – Photon Red show car, albeit with some sensible modifications for the real world.
It won’t ride on those 23-inch alloy wheels shod in bespoke Jaguar branded tyres, but high-spec versions of the real thing will likely come with 22-inchers, albeit with chunkier sidewalls for the rubber.
It’s unlikely that the interior will have such a flat floor – and seatbelts will naturally be part of the package – but the trio of display screens is expected, given the new Range Rover Velar has a similar arrangement, as is the overall airiness.
But its cabin-forwards stance, coupe-like roofline and that immediately recognisable modern Jaguar grille and lights design will make it.
Performance promise
Jaguar’s coy about the production I-Pace’s powertrain but we do know its two electric motors – one up front, the other at the back – will send in the region of 400hp to all four wheels. For a marque steeped in performance history, this electric crossover will be suitably unsloth-like.
Similarly, details of how quickly it can be recharged will come later, but it’s safe to expect a claimed range of 300 miles. Whether this will translate into such an impressive real-world figure remains to be seen, but the running costs will be significantly lower than if it was fuelled by petrol or diesel.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming the crossover body-style and 4WD means the I-Pace will be capable off the beaten track, though – it will remain wholly road-biased car, albeit with lofty bodywork.
High P11D, low BIK
There’s no definitive word yet on prices for the I-Pace but we’re expecting Jaguar to set a P11D figure in the region of £60,000.
Given its zero emissions, benefit-in-kind taxation will be at 13% for 2018/19, meaning a higher band 40% rate payer is likely to face a monthly tariff around the £260 mark.
Not that the I-Pace will have the electric SUV market all to itself, of course: Tesla’s larger Model X is already here, while 2018’s also likely to see the Audi Q6 E-Tron’s debut.
Times are definitely changing for high-end, low-BIK company cars – it will be interesting to see whether Jaguar can capitalise on that.
