Photo: Guido ten Brink/SB-Medien
After years of funny-looking (that's another way of saying "ugly") electric cars, it seems like all manufacturers have finally come to grips with the idea that EVs don't necessarily need to look like they just escaped from a circus.
The Renault ZOE was probably an intermediate example and the new Nissan LEAF a full-bodied one, but now it's Jaguar's turn to shine. The British carmaker managed to get ahead of its other traditional competitors by being the first to launch a premium third-gen EV.
What does third-gen mean? Well, think of things this way: the first generation was made up of the very early electric vehicles that were used to let people know such things existed. The most successful one was the Nissan LEAF, but other models like the Mitsubishi i-MiEV also fall into this category.
Then came the slightly more advanced ones as some of the previous continued to evolve (the LEAF) while other got discontinued (i-MiEV & Co.). Others came about as well such as the Renault ZOE or the BMW i3, but they were still far from a real replacement for ICE cars.
The third generation was probably launched by the Chevrolet Bolt late 2016, but it's still numbering very few other models. Actually, the Chevy was pretty much alone, with only the new LEAF and now the Jaguar I-PACE able to make any claims of fulfilling the required criteria to fit in.
Others are expected to join them shortly, but until that happens, the I-PACE has all the time it needs to settle itself nicely in the world's most important markets and make it an uphill battle for the competition. It already has plenty of pre-orders, so if you've just decided to get one, you might be in for a rather long wait.
Much of the vehicle's success must go down to its design, which we feel like it's been around for ages despite the crossover being revealed just a few days ago. That's because the concept car previewing it was shown two years ago and, in a departure from the customary automotive world procedure, it ended up looking almost just like the production model.
On the technical side, the I-PACE features a 90 kWh battery pack - the largest from any mass-market manufacturer apart from Tesla (which you'll notice we've left out completely so far since it plays in a different league) - which grants it a maximum range of 298 NEDC miles (480 km).
Charging up the battery is a very different affair depending on the source used. An 80 percent charge can take from ten hours (via a 7 kW charger), which is what you should use for overnight charging, to just 40 minutes when employing a 100 kW DC fast-charger.
Despite being branded as planet-savers above all, performance is also very important with EVs. That's why the dual-motor crossover from Jaguar has a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) sprint of just 4.8 seconds. That's not as quick as a Tesla Model X - which is also larger - but it's still pretty damn fast.
By this time you probably expect the I-PACE not to be on the cheap side, and you'd be right. The starting price is a considerable £63,495 ($87,000), but it can go as high as £74,495 ($102,000) for the HSE trim level before adding any options. But, hey, at least you'd be driving the future in one of its most beautiful incarnations.
What does third-gen mean? Well, think of things this way: the first generation was made up of the very early electric vehicles that were used to let people know such things existed. The most successful one was the Nissan LEAF, but other models like the Mitsubishi i-MiEV also fall into this category.
Then came the slightly more advanced ones as some of the previous continued to evolve (the LEAF) while other got discontinued (i-MiEV & Co.). Others came about as well such as the Renault ZOE or the BMW i3, but they were still far from a real replacement for ICE cars.
The third generation was probably launched by the Chevrolet Bolt late 2016, but it's still numbering very few other models. Actually, the Chevy was pretty much alone, with only the new LEAF and now the Jaguar I-PACE able to make any claims of fulfilling the required criteria to fit in.
Others are expected to join them shortly, but until that happens, the I-PACE has all the time it needs to settle itself nicely in the world's most important markets and make it an uphill battle for the competition. It already has plenty of pre-orders, so if you've just decided to get one, you might be in for a rather long wait.
Much of the vehicle's success must go down to its design, which we feel like it's been around for ages despite the crossover being revealed just a few days ago. That's because the concept car previewing it was shown two years ago and, in a departure from the customary automotive world procedure, it ended up looking almost just like the production model.
On the technical side, the I-PACE features a 90 kWh battery pack - the largest from any mass-market manufacturer apart from Tesla (which you'll notice we've left out completely so far since it plays in a different league) - which grants it a maximum range of 298 NEDC miles (480 km).
Charging up the battery is a very different affair depending on the source used. An 80 percent charge can take from ten hours (via a 7 kW charger), which is what you should use for overnight charging, to just 40 minutes when employing a 100 kW DC fast-charger.
Despite being branded as planet-savers above all, performance is also very important with EVs. That's why the dual-motor crossover from Jaguar has a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) sprint of just 4.8 seconds. That's not as quick as a Tesla Model X - which is also larger - but it's still pretty damn fast.
By this time you probably expect the I-PACE not to be on the cheap side, and you'd be right. The starting price is a considerable £63,495 ($87,000), but it can go as high as £74,495 ($102,000) for the HSE trim level before adding any options. But, hey, at least you'd be driving the future in one of its most beautiful incarnations.
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