Jaguar I-Pace trial
The Jaguar I-Pace is a luxury electric “performance SUV” costing a cool $164,900. Do its enhanced features justify the price tag?
The Jaguar I-Pace is a luxury electric “performance SUV” costing a cool $164,900. Do its enhanced features justify the price tag?
I test drove a Tesla Model S and the iPace before deciding which one to buy. The iPace is much more 'lively' to drive. It has more responsive steering, road holding dynamics are superior and it is more spacious inside with a slightly higher seating position so one gets a better view of the road. It is a delight to drive long distances on the open road. I took it to New Plymouth from Auckland, stopping for 35 minutes in Te Kuiti to charge it from 40 to 80% ( time to walk the length of the town's shopping area, buy a pie and a coffee.... exercise on a long trip is good for you!). Distance to NP is about 348 km whereas range of iPace in winter mode with 'aircon' going and heated seats is 325 km so a charge en-route was essential. In summer mode with aircon and heated seats off and by pre-conditioning the main battery before charging then a range of 420km is said to be possible. It's energy use on this trip was 23kw/100 Km with one person on board.
I have a 7kw home charger used on the cheap electricity from 11pm for top-up charging. For going to work and driving around town I only need to recharge it once a week on a Friday night. My wife drives a Porsche Cayenne 3.0L diesel and the iPace's road-holding and dynamics are as good as the Cayenne. I also own a Porsche 911 Turbo which does 0-100kph in 4.4 secs, the same as the iPace, but one does not drive that fast in normal driving but good to do when one's neighbour says 'what'll she do mate' and wants to come for the astonishing ride!
The iPace is a fantastic piece of engineering, it is a luxury sports SUV, expensive, yes, but worth it. Martin R.
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