Pace Yourself

Jaguar has beaten its German rivals to the punch, and brought a fully electric SUV to market. So, should Tesla be worried – have traditional carmakers finally caught up? We drive the I-Pace to find out. 

- Dhruv Behl

At the launch of any new car, or at the start of the drive program for a new car, you expect the manufacturer to proclaim that it’s the ‘start of a new era!’ And it was no different as we assembled at the Jaguar briefing room at Faro airport, in the Algarve region of Portugal, for the drive of their brand new all-electric SUV – the I-Pace. 

The Jaguar rep started by saying this was the “start of a new chapter… and that it pointed to a confident, forward-looking car maker.” The only difference on this occasion was that the Jaguar Product manager who stood before us was absolutely on the money. This Indian owned British automaker has beaten the Germans to the punch. They’ve become the first mainstream automaker to claw back some real ground against Tesla – the upstart American car maker who’s turned the global automotive industry on its head. While the likes of VW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW continue to showcase EV concept cars at motor shows across the world, Jaguar has beaten them to be punch by launching their very own brand new electric car. BMW’s electric, the i3, is very obviously a city car, while this is a fully usable, versatile and functional electric SUV.

Looks like a ‘Jaaag’

And what a pretty car it is. To start with, it’s instantly recognisable as a Jaguar. The ‘growler’ sits proudly on what is now a very familiar front grille. Why does an EV need a grille, you ask. Well, for starters, the I-Pace has three separate cooling systems – one for the air conditioning, one for the electrical motors and one for the battery pack. The designers have also worked very hard to give the I-Pace a coefficient of drag of just 0.29.