REVIEW: 2024 Jaguar I-PACE will peel your face off
Is it an SUV? Is it a crossover? Is it a sportscar?
How about all three?
Jaguar's I-PACE is rarely seen in the wild. In fact, I'd never seen one in the flesh, but had always admired pictures of it.
@lancethewit10 Spotted a Jaguar I-PACE EV400 HSE in the wild and decided to explore it for you. #car #carreview #ev #electric #motoring #carsoftiktok @IOLNEWS @Jaguar 📹: @lisa charles ♬ original sound - Lance Witten450
What is it?
The I-PACE is Jaguar's all-electric model, and despite having been introduced back in 2018, it hasn't appeared to have had much impact with South Africans, because they've not really bought them.
The model got a refresh in 2023 — the mesh grille was replaced to replicate many other pure electric models, new bumpers front and rear, and emblem and embellishment colour changes — and really, the design has only grown in appeal.
It is a seriously sexy vehicle.
Fitted with Jaguar Land Rover's incredible terrain-response system and infotainment and instrument modules, the I-PACE is incredibly easy to navigate, although the gear selector buttons take some getting used to. It's giving Aston Martin circa 2000s.
How fast is it?
Electric vehicles are already heavy, due to the massive batteries they need to lug around, and the I-PACE also has the hefty AWD system and its accoutrements as well, but you'd never say from how nimble it is.
It feels light and athletic. And boy is it fast.
The electric motor puts out the equivalent of 294kW and 512Nm and despite its hefty weight is exactly as fast as it sounds.
Remember, with electric cars, the torque is immediate.
It'll do 100km/h in under 5 seconds... 4.8 to be exact.
That's Porsche and Mercedes-Benz AMG territory.
Is it worth it?
The model we had on test — the Jaguar I-PACE EV400 HSE with the 90kWh battery and around R115,000 of added extras — will set you back R2,575,200.
And it is absolutely worth it.
The fit and finish is everything you'd expect from Jaguar. The materials are of the highest quality. The radar-guided cruise control means you don't have to muck about with pedals while you're crawling through traffic. The full fixed glass roof comes standard (and keeps the car surprisingly cooler than a traditional metal roof). Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connect effortlessly, seamlessly and wirelessly. Everything just works, and works well.
There are storage spaces aplenty, and legroom enough for even tall adults to sit comfortably in the back seat.
Things I don't like
I have only two gripes.
For a car costing more than two-and-a-half million of my finest South African Randelas, the digital dials of the instrument cluster are a little pixelated on the uppermost curve of the circular readouts. Small gripe.
But I expect better graphics from a car this pricey. All the other graphics everywhere else are of the highest definition and quality, except this.
The other gripe is slightly larger. About 20" in diameter larger.
The spare wheel in our test model was in the boot. Not recessed into a wheel-well in the boot... in the actual boot, tied down with ratchet-cables and luggage hooks and covered in a really beautiful and hardy Jaguar-branded canvas wheel cover, but in the boot nonetheless, eating up the boot space.
As a family man, boot space is very important to me, and if I owned this Jag, I'd need the boot space for my golf clubs and the baby’s pram.
I found having to pack groceries and laptop bags and other things around the spare wheel a little cumbersome.
@lancethewit10 Had the distinct privilege of driving the @Jaguar I-PACE EV400 AWD HSE for the past week. 0-100: 4.8sec Power: 294kW Torque: 512Nm Price (as tested): R2,575,200 Verdict: WORTH IT! #Jaguar #JaguarLandRover #JLR #EV #fyp #electricvehicles #car @IOLNEWS ♬ original sound - Lance Witten450
Verdict
I like the saying that you can sleep in a car, but you can’t drive a house. So with for a touch over 2.5 bar, I’d choose this over a roof over my head every day of the week.
The I-PACE evokes the kind of emotion you want from a car. It gives you all the inner butterflies you’d expect from a throaty V8, accelerates like a bat out of hell, and will have you glancing back at it after you’ve parked just to admire it’s good looks.
The interior is seriously one of the nicest places you’ll ever sit, and the attention to detail is phenomenal. Even the roof liner — finished in what feels like the most lush alcantara you’ve ever run your grubby fingertips over — is of the finest quality.
The fact it was South Africa’s Car of Year 2020 should give you a great indication of its class as well.
The battery capacity is enough to commute for more than a week before recharging, making it practical as well.
And the greatest selling point?
It’s a Jaaaaaag *smug face*.
IOL Motoring