Top Gear put together this quick drag race. Both the environment and British national pride are on the line. But even though the Tesla is a much older car, the specs still favor it to win. The most significant deficit is weight, almost half a ton extra carried by the I-Pace.
Even though it looks smaller, the UK crossover is heavy. It seems every time Jaguar makes a sporty and light-looking car it ends up being made from railway sleepers instead of the light stuff.
But other than that, the specs are pretty close. The I-Pace makes 394 bhp and 513lb-ft of torque. That's 400 PS and 696 Nm, split between its two 200 PS electric motors.
Meanwhile, the 75D delivers 362 bhp and 486 lb-ft, which is 367 PS and 660 Nm of torque in metric money. Tesla claims a 0-60 in 4.2 seconds while the heavier Jaguar is supposed to be slower at 4.5 seconds. But you never know what will happen in a drag race.
Top Gear's video shows the Model S getting a much better start and stretching its small lead at the beginning of the race. But soon after that, the I-Pace starts pulling it back in for a photo finish.
People have been talking about "the beginning of the end" for Tesla, just like they are predicting the dusk of the Apple phone brand. Just look at the prices being flashed on the screen, which show Tesla can still make a cheaper EV. And it's not like the Model S sells on drag racing results alone.
If anything, what we should be taking away from this video is the fact that the I-Pace is about as fast as the base Model S, which means it's neither slow more mind-blowing.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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