Jaguar Drives I-Pace From London to Brussels on a Single Charge

Thought up as a means to showcase the efficiency of the I-Pace in the real world, the trip started on the South Bank of London. Heading to the Channel Tunnel terminal at Folkestone, the I-Pace didn’t cross the pond by train, but drove 50 kilometers through the world’s longest undersea tunnel.

At the other end in Calais, Jaguar vehicle integration manager Stephen Boulter headed east toward Mons Des Arts in Brussels. Upon arriving at the destination, the I-Pace showed eight percent of remaining charge on the digital instrument cluster. Not bad when you think about it, but on the other hand, hypermiling the car would’ve been a better PR stunt for the Leaping Cat.

But still, making the trip without any range anxiety is a feat in its own right, more so if you bear in mind the I-Pace negotiated rush-hour traffic in the summer heat and driving at motorway speeds. If the battery does run out of electricity, using a 100-kW DC fast charger can add up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) of range in 15 minutes. Using a 7-kW wall box, charging from zero to 80 percent takes approximately ten hours.

“We know customers won’t compromise on everyday usability so we engineered our electric performance SUV to deliver outstanding real-world range,” said Boulter. “By driving the 229 miles (369 kilometers) from London to Brussels on a single charge – and arriving with plenty of range left – we’ve demonstrated how comfortably it deals with long-distance journeys.”

In addition to the pre-conditioning system, the I-Pace actively tells the driver how energy can be saved by switching off auxiliaries such as the climate control. When equipped with four-zone climate control, the Smart Climate system can determine how many people are in the car, cutting the air conditioning to the seats that aren't in use.