The Future, Today

Tesla is not the only e-game in town! JLR’s first battery electric vehicle, the Jaguar I-Pace is here

- Sirish Chandran

IT’S A SUNNY AFTERNOON AT the Algarve circuit in Portimao, Portugal. 4.7km in length, crazy elevation changes that remind you of the Nurburgring and Spa, blind crests over scarily quick corners, a wide and never ending corner leading on to the main straight that I remember trying out the driftability of the M3 on, a few years ago. It’s a fast and challenging circuit in the middle of nowhere connected by tarmac-rally-type roads and forever drenched in glorious sunshine – in consequence a favourite destination for press launches and races series’ that aren’t exclusive to Tilke-designed circuits. Ducati camped out here for the Panigale introduction. It’s a stop on the World Endurance Championship, the GT sportscars, the World Superbikes. It’s a petrolhead’s paradise. And we’re not burning a drop of petrol today. Welcome to the world of electric cars. The speeds are hardly any different from that M3 launch, except there’s no noise, no tyre smoke, just the rush of air, and that too is rather subdued from inside the cabin. Electricity for the circuit comes from the acres of solar farms dotting the hillside. And that electricity has juiced up Jaguar’s first all-electric car, the I-Pace. This is the future. Maybe more than a few years away in India while the infrastructure catches up (and electric scooters proliferate and ease the path for cars), but it is inevitable. Electric cars are coming. And now that we’ve gone through four seasons of the Formula E series and devoured YouTube videos of Tesla’s Ludicrous mode smoking supercars on drag strips, an electric car at a race circuit should come as no surprise. Except it is.