Would you be interested in riding around in a battery-powered Jaguar? Because the luxury car maker has today unexpectedly shown off its electric SUV concept ‘I-Pace’ ahead of the LA Auto Show, starting this week. Expected to debut in 2018, this will be the first electric sports utility vehicle launched by the British brand owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd.
Since Jaguar was taking its first step towards embracing a completely emission-free future, the company also decided to add its own spin to the launch event as well. The I-Pace concept car, which shares DNA with the automaker’s F-Pace SUV line, was unveiled to those present at the venue through some more future tech — virtual reality.
The virtual reality session featured Jaguar’s director of design Ian Callum, who guided the users through the basics of their concept sports utility vehicle and gave them a chance to experience the concept car from the front seat, back seat, and even through the glass panoramic sunroof. Once the session was over and overwhelmed users removed their VR headsets, they were greeted to the prototype of this beauty standing right in front of them.
As one would expect nothing less from Jaguar, the luxury car maker has laid immense emphasis on the size and style of its electric vehicle. The company has embodied its sports vehicle F-Pace in the designing of this concept car. Since the internal combustion engine has been replaced with a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the front of this car has been compressed to make it look sleek and trendy. The interiors of the I-Pace are also at par with its primary competitor Tesla Model X.
But since Jaguar’s I-Pace concept car is an electric vehicle, the highlight and most important details about the same should be its mileage. And the automaker hasn’t mad any compromises on that front, the I-Pace is expected to deliver a range of 220 miles(approx 350 km) on a single charge. Such driving range between charges is a big feat for Jaguar as it makes their sports vehicle concept comparable to the likes of electric vehicles from Tesla and Chevy.
Talking about power delivery, this all-wheel drive electric vehicle is powered by electric motors attached to both the front and rear axles. This combine to deliver an output power of 400 horsepower and 516 pounds of torque. Also, the Jaguar I-Pace has been designed to reach a speed of 60 mph in just a mere 4 seconds.
This concept sports utility vehicle from Jaguar is expected to start production in the coming months. The company aims to debut the first production model of the I-Pace electric vehicle by the end of 2017, with the same being made available for purchase at dealers in early 2018. Jaguar is yet to dispense any details regarding pricing but it most likely wouldn’t be available for cheap.
