Jaguar officially announces the I-PACE, its Model X killer

Since debuting at the L.A. Auto Show in November 2016, Jaguar has been endlessly teasing us with its gorgeous EV concept, the I-PACE. Its first electric vehicle, one it hopes will disrupt the EV market, is a crossover SUV that looks absolutely stunning. Up until now, the I-PACE was just pie in the sky, but today, that dream became a reality.

Jaguar took the wraps off the production model of the I-PACE on Thursday, revealing the variant you can buy right now.

Not much has changed in terms of design. Director of Design Ian Cullen stated Jaguar made a concept car. That’s welcome news, because the car is already quite appealing. Cullen did reveal the genesis for the design: it was all about the battery.

The I-PACE was designed completely around the battery. Other car makers usually just cram in the battery into an existing design, but Jaguar wanted do something different. This allowed the car’s design to be trimmed down to something much sleeker, unlike the albatross that is the Model X, making the battery a structural part of the car’s frame.

Speaking of the battery, it is a 90kWh battery that will deliver 240 miles of range. Jaguar revealed the battery comprises of 432 individual battery cells. It will be able to charge up to 80-percent in 45 minutes via a DC 100kWh charger. That’s great and all, but most people will still charge via standard AC 7kWh charging at home, which will top off the car in 12.9 hours.

The I-PACE is outfitted with dual-motors for all wheel drive: one is in the front axle and the second is in the back axle. This will deliver 394 horsepower, 512-foot pound of torque, a top speed of 124 miles per hour and a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. Jaguar is so proud of this fact, it compared it to Tesla’s Model X in a 0 to 60 race. After all, this is the car the I-PACE is gunning for.

The object of the race was to reach 60 miles per hour and come to a standstill position as quickly as possible. Jaguar put the I-PACE against Tesla’s Model X (75D and 100D variants) and it handily beat the two versions by half a car length. Unfortunately, Jaguar did not put the I-PACE against Tesla’s best: the P100D. That’s probably because the I-PACE would have most assuredly lost, but it’s still something we wanted to see.

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2018/03/01/jaguar-officially-announces-the-i-pace-its-model-x-killer/