Ageing F-Pace stalls time with electricity

Jaguar's 2016 model now has a plug-in hybrid system for more oomph and fuel economy

- Christopher Tan

Jaguar has not had an all-new product since its electric I-Pace in 2018.

Unlike its sister brand Land Rover, which has undergone a mini revival since Tata Group acquired it in 2008, Jaguar has languished. Its controversial rebranding exercise in 2024, which pushed abstract design and avant-garde aesthetics, has not helped.

I watch from the sidelines with sadness. I have long had a soft spot for Jaguar, ever since driving a regal XJ some 30 years ago. The car had questionable fit and finish, with wiring hanging visibly below the glovebox. But it had tonnes of charm, with its creamy V8 purring as it propelled the elegant saloon along.

At the time, nothing came close to matching its "grace, space and pace"—a marketing tagline which the marque lived up to for many decades. To some degree, it even applied to the 5-litre V8 F-Pace SVR, the last Jaguar I drove, in 2021.

But the tagline does not quite fit the car we have here now—the F-Pace 2.0 R-Dynamic S, a plug-in hybrid targeted at markets with lofty emission or electrification goals.