Does the highly-anticipated Jaguar I-Pace live-up to the hype?

The design of the Jaguar I-Pace - a mix of sportscar meets crossover - is eye-poppingly unconventional.

Much has been made of the Jaguar I-Pace since it arrived on the scene in 2018. It started out as a teaser for what Jaguar’s future had in store for us, but soon grew to take on greater significance in the EV (electric vehicle) solar system. Its impeccable build quality and performance elevated the I-Pace into becoming the old guard’s snappy rebuttal to the usurping EV startups mushrooming all over the world.

Where prestige carmakers, and indeed, even Tesla, wanted their EVs to come with a comforting sense of familiarity that wouldn’t alienate buyers crossing over to EVs for the first time, the I-Pace was eye-poppingly unconventional. Its brazen design was a mix of sportscar meets crossover and it was the first battery electric vehicle from the down-but-not-out British carmaker. It was a Hail Mary. And it worked. The former World Car of The Year, the I-Pace was lauded because it was an unabashed vision of the future. 

It’s arrival in India comes at a time when EVs have just started to gain momentum. And while luxury EVs are yet to get the sort of concession that entry-level ones are receiving, the buzz around battery electrics is louder than it has ever been. So, is the I-Pace all that it's purported to be? 

Unlike anything else

It takes a moment to register the I-Pace’s design language. It’s got trademark Jaguar features, with a muscular, hunkered stance and that predatory feline motif that’s been a mainstay of the brand’s design since inception. Given that the EV design playbook differs considerably from the ICE-powered car, Jaguar clearly had fun while penning the I-Pace. It’s shaped like a stretch hot-hatch, with an extended shoulder-line that creates plenty of room for passengers, while short overhangs make it very easy to look out of the car. There are large 19-inch wheels which further enhance its sporty character, but on the whole, it’s a design that prioritises functionality, and instead of hiding under the garb of familiarity, it utilises every bit of space that the minimalist EV powertrain allows, and comes out looking otherworldly. 

Then we come to the power levels. There’s a dual-motor setup here, with an electric motor at each axle, drawing power from a large 90 Kwh battery, which in EV world, is considerable firepower. To put things in perspective, the entry-level EVs in India pack between 30-44Kwh of battery power. This gives the I-Pace 398bhp to play with and 696 Nm of torque. 

It’s not quite as unconventional on the inside. Yes, you get an opaque, panoramic glass roof, and button-operated transmission, which takes some getting used to (I much prefer the e-tron’s nifty lever-operated transmission). But there’s a 10-inch touchscreen, and a dual-tone, leather-swathed dash, the view from which seems optimised for Indian driving conditions. There’s a sense of space in the I-Pace that feels very refreshing – the driving position, the size of the greenhouse, it’s all meticulously calibrated to serve as suitable competition to the likes of Tesla. 

Yes, the view of the rear is a bit narrow, owing to large C-pillars and a sporty, sloping roofline. But Jag fixed that with a ‘ClearSight’ feature on the rear-view mirror that provides a camera-operated view of the rear and works better than an analog mirror.

Performance

This is where the I-Pace crushes the competition. It’s a 2.2-tonne vehicle, but no EV I’ve driven thus far masks its weight with as much success as the I-Pace.

Yes, as an EV with a 90 Kwh battery and sub-400bhp to spare, it’s understandably quick. I say understandably, because in a fairly short span, I find myself acclimatising to the linear speed that pretty much all EVs come with. The main trouble with EVs is how they all run the risk of feeling very similar in their driving mannerisms, but it’s a bullet the I-Pace has effectively managed to dodge.

It doesn’t feel bottom-heavy, it’s momentum doesn’t come hurtling away at you upon braking – it’s lithe and composed like its namesake. Even with the ride height raised to max (through a button) the I-Pace doesn’t wallow around corners. Those large wheels keep it perfectly planted, and few performance cars have managed potholes and undulations with the ease that the I-Pace does. 

You might brace yourself for the spine-crunching bottoming-out of the front wheel and yet, it never does. You might think such a supple set-up compromises dynamism and yet, even in the pouring Mumbai rain, the I-Pace remained utterly unfazed. Even during deceleration, the regenerative brakes get to work instantly, and, as a result, even hard braking doesn’t make the car’s bottom-heavy nature apparent. 

If there’s one thing that remains to be tested, it’s the I-Pace’s WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Lightweight Test Procedure) range of 480km, which does seem a bit far-fetched. However, in suburban Mumbai’s rain-soaked, start-stop traffic, I found 35km subtracted from its overall range, during a 35km drive, which featured frequent, spirited bursts of acceleration, on a battery with roughly 80 per cent charge and 395 km range on display. Dense traffic, which happens to be a reality in most urban cities in India, does go a long way in restoring charge, thanks to regenerative braking. Apart from a road tax waiver and no registration fee, it’s yet another reason for the well-heeled to consider an electric SUV rather than a conventional one. 

A 90 Kwh battery and sub-400bhp make the Jaguar I-Pace understandably quick.

Verdict

The Jaguar I-Pace is a remarkable feat of engineering and a spectacular way for Jaguar to reclaim its fading glory. At Rs 1.12 crore (ex-showroom) for the top-end HSE variant (and Rs 1.06 for the S version) it certainly isn’t for the masses, but it is the sort of halo car that EV evangelists need. Fast, spacious, thrilling and comfortable, if the future of personal mobility looks and feels like the Jaguar I-Pace, the transition to EVs will be a quick one.