Stylishly-Camouflaged Jaguar I-Pace Completes Late-Stage Testing in Los Angeles
This electrified beauty isn’t anything like your mother’s drab SUV.
Despite the global reveal of Jaguar's luxury all-electric SUV coming in 2018, the manufacturer sent the Jag out for a spin around the City of Angels during the Los Angeles Auto Show. The goal was for the production-prototype I-Pace to perform some tests regarding its range and overall durability, plus to look damn good while doing it.
This SUV is rather important to Jaguar—it's not only the automaker's first electric SUV, but it's also the first all-electric production car that JLR has ever made. It cares so much about the defining moment of the I-Pace's release that it had developed more than 200 prototypes and passed through the hands of more than 500 engineers before becoming the latest production prototype seen before you.
This hasn't been the first time the I-Pace has been out and about. Though Jaguar's official video only shows a short 200-mile trot from Sunset Boulevard to Morro Bay, Jaguar noted that it has put the SUV through about 1.5 million test miles around the globe to ensure its prototype could live up to its own internal hype. The I-Pace was able to deliver the 200-mile charge with room to spare, as predicted, and will continue to do so well into its battery lifespan of at least 10 years.
In case you were wondering what the I-Pace looks like under its fancy camo, don't fret. Our sources tell us that Jaguar's actual production model will look eerily similar to the concept displayed at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. It's also said to charge quite quickly, likely making use of existing Level 3 charging infrastructure supplied by automakers and charging partners around the world.
"Jaguar's first battery electric vehicle will also be fast to charge," said Jaguar's Vehicle Line Director, Ian Joban. "Our target is a zero to 80 percent charge being achievable in a short break."
For now, the manufacturer is keeping all of the juicy official details under wraps. Performance, battery details, and pricing will be announced closer to March 2018 when Jaguar plans on beginning to take orders on its I-Pace. Judging by the previous information supplied, we expect around 300 miles of range from a battery with similar capacity to the Tesla Model X 100D. Jaguar had previously claimed that the SUV will sprint to 60 miles per hour in just four seconds, and deliver up to 516 pound-feet of instant-access torque to all four wheels.
The attractive styling of the I-Pace makes it a modern-yet-familiar offering that's sure to stand out from the bland SUVs used to commute back and forth from soccer practice. If the British automaker can wrap all of this up into a single offering without any hiccups, it may certainly give the Tesla Model X a run for its money.
