Jaguar joins EV race with I-Pace SUV

LOS ANGELES -- Jaguar previewed its first full-electric car here today with the I-Pace concept for a sporty midsize SUV.

The production version will go on sale in dealerships globally in the second half of 2018, giving the British brand a rival to EVs planned by German competitors Audi and Mercedes-Benz as traditional premium automakers seek to recapture ground lost to Tesla Motors.

Jaguar says the I-Pace's cab-forward design is a styling breakthrough for EVs. The car combines sports-car performance and five-seat SUV versatility, it says. The brand also touts the concept’s roominess, long range and quick charging times as advances that will attract customers.

"Electric vehicles are inevitable -- Jaguar will make them desirable," Ian Hoban, Jaguar Land Rover's vehicle line director, said in a statement. Cars such as the I-Pace will make drivers appreciate that an EV can be "rewarding and practical enough to drive every day," he said.

The I-Pace will have its public unveiling at the Los Angeles auto show this week.

Hoban said the car's electric drivetrain gives it superior torque delivery that "transforms the driving experience" compared with internal combustion engines. "Electric motors provide immediate response with no lag, no gearshifts and no interruptions," he said.

The drivetrain has one motor per axle, creating an all-wheel-drive vehicle with 400 hp and 700 Newton meters (516 pounds-feet) of torque. The I-Pace accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in about four seconds, Jaguar said.

The 90-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack covers the entire floor of the vehicle, lowering the center of gravity and boosting the dynamic performance.

The I-Pace production car will have a range of more than 500 km (311 miles) under the New European Driving Cycle test procedure and more than 355 km (220 miles) under the tougher U.S. Environmental Protection Agency measurements, Jaguar said

With an average daily commute of 40 km to 50 km, most customers will need to charge the car just once a week, making it practical for everyday use, Hoban said. An 80 percent charge achieved in 90 minutes and 100 percent in just over two hours using 50-kilowatt DC charging.

‘Radical’ design

The I-Pace’s cab-forward design inspired by the C-X75 concept unveiled in 2010 combines supercar contours with the smooth silhouette of a coupe. The concept resembles a tall hatchback derived from the brand’s F-Pace midsize SUV. Jaguar said the I-Pace's architecture is new and is specific to EVs.

Jaguar’s design chief, Ian Callum, called the I-Pace a "radical departure" for electric vehicles that represents the next generation of battery electric vehicle design. "It's a dramatic, future-facing design -- the product of authentic Jaguar DNA matched with beautiful, premium details and British craftsmanship,” he said.

Callum said he was determined from the very beginning of the project to create a design that reflected this change in the mechanics of the car. This led to the sporty cab-forward profile rather than a car with a hood and an engine, he said. "The profile is possible because this car is electric. It's not just that we wanted to create something that was very different from anything else we do. We wanted the design to celebrate the new battery electric technology," Callum said.

The production car will keep the I-Pace name. It will be "very close to the concept, you won't be disappointed," Callum said at a press event here today.

Big cabin

The I-Pace's cabin has more room for passengers and luggage than conventional larger SUVs because it does not need room for an internal combustion engine and transmission tunnel.

This means Jaguar could bring forward the cabin, extend the wheelbase and shorten the overhangs. The I-Pace occupies less road space than conventional midsize SUVs while being roomier inside, Jaguar said.

With no engine bay and a battery pack that sits flat between the axles, the long wheelbase and short overhangs enable a footprint of 4680mm (184 inches) in length, 1890mm (74 inches) in width with a wheelbase of 2990mm (118 inches).

Jaguar used the free space created by the lack of transmission tunnel and traditional gear shifter to create an 8-liter storage area in the central console for phones, keys and other small items. At the same time, with no engine, the front luggage compartment under the hood offers an additional 28 liters of capacity, alongside the 530-liter rear luggage compartment volume.

The I-Pace’s energy comes from a liquid-cooled 90kWh lithium-ion battery pack that was designed and developed in-house. The battery’s housing is lightweight aluminum and forms an integral part of the body structure.

Energy efficiency is further enhanced by integrating an advanced heat pump into the climate control system. The heat pump is far more efficient than conventional electric heaters because it uses energy from the outside air to heat the cabin rather than relying solely on drawing current from the battery. As a result it can increase the I-Pace’s range by up to 50 km, even in freezing conditions when most needed.

In addition, to reduce energy consumption during highway driving the I-Pace benefits from a drag coefficient of 0.29, which is very low for a SUV.

The I-Pace will cost between 10 percent and 15 percent more than a comparably equipped F-Pace, a Jaguar spokesman said. Customers can now submit an order for the car on the company’s website.

Jaguar is joining the EV segment just as Mercedes, Audi and Porsche are developing battery-powered luxury models as a response to the success of Tesla and in order to meet toughening emissions and fuel economy regulations.

Audi will launch sales of its Q6 e-tron electric SUV in 2018 while Mercedes' EQ concept unveiled at the Paris auto show on Sept. 29 previews a coupe-like SUV that will launch before the end of the decade. Porsche plans to sell a production version of its Mission E battery-powered sports car by the end of the decade.