Might Jaguar F-Pace Go Electric?

SUV could get big wattage, report suggests.

byJonathan Schultz|
Might Jaguar F-Pace Go Electric?
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No fewer than 14 variants of the Jaguar F-Type sports car exist, all of them with the sonic profile of a Rottweiler’s bark. Think of that when you learn that the storied British marque is reportedly developing its first purely electric vehicle, based on the F-Pace crossover.

The report, originating at Germany’s Auto Bild and brought to non-Teutons’ attention by Automobile magazine, suggests that the crossover, which made its global debut in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show, will be the company’s first platform for full electrification.

Not that Jaguar wants to tell you much about it.

“We don't comment of future product speculation,” says Stuart Schorr, vice president of communications for Jaguar Land Rover North America. “We have said electrification is one of the technologies we will employ in the future.”

Electrified crossovers have been fixtures of major carmakers’ motor-show stands for the past few years, though none—save for the Tesla Model X—have entered production. Citing an earlier report by the U.K.’s Auto Express, the Auto Bild report suggests that the F-Pace-derived EV (which may carry the name E-Pace), would enter production by 2020. That would put it two years behind the stated timetable for Audi’s E-tron Quattro SUV, an understandable gap given Jaguar’s relatively late arrival to the luxury EV confab.

And since Jaguar won’t comment on the vehicle’s existence, mulling the eventual price of such a thing is impossible. But based on prior statements at motor shows, luxury carmakers seem content to cede the $125,000-and-up price point to Tesla, and concentrate their efforts on scalable, sub-$100k EV crossovers.

Will this cat hunt? Stay tuned.

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