JAGUAR IPACE	🔎   UP ONE LEVEL

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Jaguar I-Pace

My dad owns a Jaguar I-Pace which I have driven on a few occasions, including one longer drive of over 200 kilometers on open road and through towns. The I-Pace is a fully electric compact SUV with two electric motors driving all four wheels and developing about 400 horsepower (290 kilowatts) and almost 700 Nm of torque. The weight is 2133 kg and the battery has 90 kWh of capacity.

Obviously driving an electric of any type is quite different from driving a conventional petrol car, so it has to be evaluated in a different way. Electric is better in some ways, and not quite as good in others.

There are two factors which I was always aware of when driving the Jag on a longer drive: power and range. I started with almost a full charge, and the stated range is almost 400 kilometers, so the 220 k drive from Dunedin to Invercargill should have been easy. In the end I arrived with 50ks of range remaning, but I was always aware of that number going down as I drove, and drove a fair part of the journey economically - not my usual style at all.

I did unleash the power on a few occasions, and it is then when your range gets eaten up. But who would own a car like this and not use the power occasionally? I would rate the safe range with normal driving closer to 300 kilometers, rather than 400. There were three possible charging stations I could have used on the trip, but they are fairly rare still, although this is improving all the time.

The display shows the remaining range, and a meter shows power being used to the right and recharging to the left. This allows the driver to manage how they are driving to improve economy and range.

The Jag parked. The styling is pretty nice, and fairly subdued. To me, it looks like half-way between a hot hatch and a compact SUV, which is very much how it feels driving as well.

But enough of this: what you really want to know is what its like to drive, right? Well, while it is not as "engaging" as driving a petrol vehicle, it is very pleasant, and you do feel confident having that power on tap when you need it. I overtook a few vehicles on the way and the pickup from 90 to 140 ks (and beyond) is impressive. There's nothing to it; you just hit the "gas" pedal and it takes off, allowing completing a passing move quickly and safely (I think driving faster than the limit briefly to minimise time spent overtaking is safer than doing the same thing slowly).

I think I could have performed these manoeuvres about as quickly in my twin turbo petrol vehicle (which has an almost identical power to weight ratio), but it would have been so much more complicated, involving gear changes, matching revs, hitting the power band (especially where the second turbo kicks in) to generate the same acceleration the Jag gives by simply pressing the pedal!

And the acceleration from zero, typical of electric vehicles, is very good. It's almost a second faster to 100 ks than my petrol car (4.8 seconds versus 5.7). While 4.8 isn't that impressive compared with modern supercars, which are generally in the range of 2.5 to 4, its plenty fast enough for most uses!

The Jag's steering if fairly tight, and small adjustments result in a fairly immediate response. It feels quite flat on corners, although you are aware of the weight, with a bit of the understeer typical of heavier all wheel drive vehicles. That's easy to manage though, at least at the fairly moderate speeds I was using - I don't thrash vehicles which belong to someone else!

So I completed the trip fairly quickly but never felt as though I was driving too fast for reasonable safety. In fact, I very rarely used the brake, relying on the regenerative braking instead, which is quite substantial.

Once you get used to a few electric quirks, the I-Pace is very easy to drive. Put your foot on the brake, press the start button, the displays and everything else come to life, but there's no engine noise, of course. Press the drive button, gently depress the accelerator (unless you want to do a launch!) and away you go. The lights, wipers, etc are all automatic, and there are no gears, so just point it in the direction you want to go and choose your speed.

On the subject of automation, I have to say that the cruise control works well too. It detects vehicles in front and adjusts your speed automatically, then returns to your preferred speed when it can. It's very usable.

I didn't like the touch screens so much, there was a bit of lag, and the climate controls are a little bit complex, involving pushing and pulling rotating controls, but that's probably just a matter of familiarity. The HUD, which projects your speed and a few other items like cruise control status, onto the windscreen is excellent, although it could probably include more information than it does.

Summary

Overall, I really like this car. I did feel "range anxiety" driving it, and it did feel a bit heaver than I would prefer, but overall you can travel very comfortably in it, and having that power so easily available is great.

Unfortunately, good electric cars are still far too expensive for me to consider, so I'm stuck with the ICE for a while yet, but even for a petrol head like me, electric cars are pretty cool.