What's the news?
It's mere weeks now until the Jaguar I-Pace, the brand's first electric car and a major rival to the likes of Tesla, BMW i, and Audi e-Tron, gets a public unveiling ahead of its debut at the Geneva motor show. Ahead of this, Jaguar has been out and about in some snowy, chilly climes, testing the car's cold-weather abilities, and making claims for its charging times.
Expected to have a one-charge range of 500km or thereabouts, Jaguar claims that the I-Pace will suck down an 80 per cent charge from a 100kW fast charger in just 45 minutes. That's more or less 100km of range every ten minutes on charge, which is pretty impressive.
Right now, the cars are testing their cold-weather performance, basking in the balmy -40 degrees Celsius temperatures up in Arjeplog, northern Sweden. Well inside the Arctic Circle. As well as testing battery and motor performance, it's also a chance to fine-tune the I-Pace's stability and traction control systems in the slipperiest conditions imaginable. And do a little snow-drifting, because why not?
"Not only will the I-Pace charge quickly enough for our customers to carry out their everyday lives, it will offer powerful and precise performance in a variety of conditions and climactic extremes. Allied with the versatile credentials of our celebrated Pace family, this will be an electric performance SUV like no other" said Ian Hoban, Jaguar Vehicle Line Director.
Of course, on colder days, I-Pace owners will be able to set the car to warm up before unplugging it from a charger, meaning that less battery energy is wasted on heaters and demisters etc. That can be done either from the InControl Touch Pro infotainment system, or via a smarpthone app.
We'll find out more about the I-Pace when it's officially shown to the public on the 1st of March.