Wow, to the untrained eye, that looks exactly the same as the old I-Pace. Look a bit closer though, and you’ll see some tasteful styling updates. For starters, the lower fascia and lower door trim is now body-color for a sleeker appearance, as it should be. Black bezels and window trims are now standard from the R-Dynamic SE trim up, while the false grille ditches internal combustion pretensions in favor of an honest shade of gray. Speaking of paint, the filler panel behind the panoramic roof can now be painted black. The overall result of these alterations is a cleaner look that makes Jaguar’s EV seem a bit more demure.
Alright, so a new grille and fresh trim. What else? Well, the current I-Pace already has Jaguar’s Pivi Pro infotainment system, so there’s no upgrade there. The powertrain is unchanged, the interior looks the same, and there’s not much talk of added features. However, there is a new top trim level on tap that’s sort of a best-of I-Pace collection.
Called the 400 Sport, it’s what Jaguar really should’ve launched when the Jaguar I-Pace had its own one-make race series going. While this new trim doesn’t turn up the wick, it bundles some nifty visual and performance parts into one convenient package. A set of 22-inch wheels and the lack of a lower grille badge are the biggest visual indicators of a 400 Sport model, especially since the other big tweaks are inside and under the skin. Jaguar’s well-bolstered performance seats come standard on this trim, as does air suspension with adaptive dampers. Admittedly, these aren’t huge tweaks, but they are certainly nice options to have, at least for the duration of a lease.
It’s a shame that the I-Pace has been largely forgotten. Not only is it largely a good car, it’s handsome, satisfying to drive, and distinctive. Jaguar sunk a whole bunch of money into developing this electric crossover, then did absolutely nothing with its heavily-modified variant of the D7 platform. There’s no electric Land Rover models, nor electric sedans based on this architecture, meaning it’s an expensive dead-end for the marque. Although a zero-to-60 time of 4.5 seconds is fairly good, a range rating of 246 miles and relatively slow 100 kW charging are a one-two punch that render Jag’s EV unappealing to most consumers. It certainly wasn’t bad by 2018 standards, but the game’s moved on so far since the I-Pace came out.
In a way, the I-Pace serves a reminder that the EV you buy today could seem quite outdated a few years down the line as range and charging tech continue to improve, despite still being lovely. While a few tweaks to Jag’s EV likely won’t help it stay in the running with the competition, it’s still a very attractive, very unique electric crossover. Ian Callum’s cab-forward adaptation of Jaguar’s signature styling language works well here, the cabin gets plenty of leather and wood, and the underpinnings make it great to drive.
While I’d be genuinely surprised if anyone ponies up list price for a 2024 Jaguar I-Pace due to range and charging shortcomings, the I-Pace in general seems like a good deal on the used market. Pricing for the 2024 model hasn’t been announced yet, but expect more information to follow as the year rolls on. (Photo credits: Jaguar)
The Jaguar F-Type 75 And R 75 Special Editions Remind Me Why I’m Going To Miss The Absolute Hell Out Of The F-Type Why The Dirt-Cheap Broken Jaguar X-Type For Sale In Every Town Might Actually Be Worth Buying And Fixing Some Mad Scientist Put A Jaguar XJS Body On Top Of An Old Camaro That Time Jaguar Almost Invented The Dune Buggy Jaguar Land Rover Wants To Hire A Whole Bunch Of Laid-Off Twitter Employees Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member. Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage. Mine is almost exclusively a commuter car (though I do have a long commute) so the relative lack of range and slow charging speed are not a problem for me. The driving experience and interior accommodations take my Boston-area commute (we were just ranked the #4 worst city in the entire world for traffic – go us!) almost pleasant. This write up is a little bit lazy in that it quotes from the press release about changes but omitted the fact that most (maybe all?) of these changes in trim only apply to UK models. Anyway, these are decent looking cars and apparently they drive very well for EVs. Sadly the range and slower charging make them kind of DOA, as you suggest…but I’ll always have a soft spot for jaaaaaaaags for reasons I can’t fully explain. The only reason I’ve been able to keep it straight is that I’m a car nerd so I’m both aware of the short-lived XE and am already “groomed” by Mercedes’ car & suv naming conventions. It was a gross oversight by Jaguar to think that the general public would have the same understanding. In the 2019 model year, it was the only non-Tesla EV SUV, and it competed directly with the Tesla Model X 75D. It came very close to critical specs with 234 miles (vs 238 for the X), 10-80% charging around 48 min (vs 40), 0-60mph of 4.5s (vs 4.9), but it was $12k cheaper than the Tesla. It was the first EV, in my opinion, that genuinely challenged Tesla on even footing, and I think that might be why Tesla cut the X 75D months after the release of the I-Pace. Tesla’s growth relied on people believing they were head-and-shoulders above the competition. Fast forward to now, and the I-Pace has swapped LG Chem for Samsung cells, it’s gotten a new infotainment system, and its charging is 10-80% in 42 min with 91.5kW average due to a flatter curve (Kris Rifa made a video demo last year). Small improvements to be sure, but reviewers still speak highly of its handling, and it’s at least serviceable now. I won’t go so far as to say the I-Pace is GOOD, but I will say it’s an underappreciated story of how a scrappy little automaker decided to out-Tesla Tesla, and for once, for a brief moment, they proved the unstoppable tech juggernaut could bleed. The I-Pace does ALMOST everything right, and it’s fascinating and infuriating. It’s comfortable, good quality, and Jaguar managed to wrangle the weight to make it handle well in the curves without rearranging your spine every time it hits a pothole the way a lot of sporty EVs do. The air suspension gives it plenty of ground clearance, and I’ve seen them do startling things on off-road trails. The efficiency is probably the one “mistake” they made. Dual always-on synchronous motors means it needs a lot of battery for not a lot of range, and the 100kW charge rate gets harder to overlook. If they changed the motors, they could hit Ioniq 5 efficiency (it’s the same size and weight after all), and then they’d get 300 miles out of that battery, and the 42 minute charge time wouldn’t be such a ball and chain. I think the thing that keeps me coming back to the I-Pace is the sheer defiant audacity of it as an engineering project. Jaguar isn’t a young, innovative company. It’s dwindling and nearly forgotten. I wouldn’t expect them to attempt a risky electrical project like this. But the I-Pace is there to remind us that they might be old and forgotten, but they have way more fight left in them than you might think.
