Jaguar Launches the World's First Electric Production Car Race Series at IAA

Out of the traditional premium manufacturers, Jaguar is going to be the first to put a competitive all-electric product on the market when the I-PACE crossover hits the dealerships toward the end of the year. It will beat similar vehicles from Audi and Mercedes-Benz by over a year, which is enough time for the Brits to establish a strong foothold.

At this point, it all comes down to whether the I-PACE is going to be a good vehicle or not. We've seen its design, and we can safely say that part is covered. As for the technical side of things, a 90 kWh battery pack should give it over 200 miles of range by EPA standards while the 400 hp output of the two motors sounds like it's enough for more than decent performance figures.

Well, if there was any doubt still hanging about, you can scratch it off for good now. The Jaguar stand in Frankfurt featured an I-PACE like we had never seen before. Not only was it blue instead of the red the company had gotten us used to, but it was also lowered and had obscene aerodynamic elements including a large rear wing.

The explanation is that Jaguar used the Frankfurt show to announce the world's first all-electric production car race championship, and this is the car the pilots are going to drive. The Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY will be the support series for the FIA Formula E Championship starting late 2018, with these modified electric crossovers racing on the same city circuits as the single-seater competition.

With Roborace set to make its debut soon, it looks as though Formula E racing weekends are going to get even more interesting with the addition of the I-PACE eTROPHY. Jaguar says up to 20 of its battery-powered vehicles will compete over a 10-race season in iconic cities all over the world including Hong Kong, Paris, Sao Paolo and New York.

Jaguar will release further details about the competition next year, but says it expects the demand among drivers to be high.