Jaguar I-Pace is a real car
And this is a car in the truest sense of the word. Electricity doesn't change the fact that it's great anyway. Its shape is a mixture of sporty Jaguar models and, of course, the latest crossovers, and now designers find the right amount of courage, rationality and enthusiasm. When you give away a car like the I-Pace, you can be proud of it.
The I-Pace would be attractive and enticing even if it wasn't electric. Of course, some body parts will be different, but you will still like the car. We can congratulate Jaguar for being bold in that the design of the I-Pace is not much different from the exploration with which Jaguar began hinting at an all-electric vehicle. And we can shamelessly confirm that the I-Pace is the electric car drivers have been waiting for. If so far EVs have mostly been reserved for enthusiasts, environmentalists and performers, the I-Pace may also be for people who just want to drive. And they will get the perfect car kit, including electric. With a coupe roof, sharply cut edges and a front grille that directs air with active louvers when cooling is needed, into the car's interior and around it otherwise. And the result? The air resistance coefficient is only 0,29.
What's perhaps even more gratifying is that the I-Pace is also above average on the inside. I am in favor of the idea that you should like the interior of the car first of all. Of course, it happens when you look out the window or see on the street, but most of the time car owners spend in them. They spend much less time on them. And also or mainly because it is all the more important that you like the interior. And that you're good at that too.
I-Pace offers an interior in which both driver and passengers are comfortable. Excellent workmanship, carefully selected materials and good ergonomics. They only disturb the lower screen on the center console, which at times does not respond or while driving, and a part of the center console under it. At the junction of the center console and dashboard, the designers found a place for a box, which in more equipped versions also serves for wireless charging of smartphones. The spaces are already hard to reach, and above all, the top edge is missing, as the phone can slide out easily with a quick twist. The space is also difficult to access due to the two cross members that connect the center console and dashboard above said space. But they justify themselves by the fact that they are not only designed to connect, but also have buttons on them. On the left, closer to the driver, are the gear shift control buttons. There is no longer the classic lever or even the recognizable rotary knob. There are only four keys: D, N, R and P. Which in practice turns out to be quite enough. We drive (D), stand (N) and sometimes drive backward (R). However, it is parked most of the time (P). On the right cross-member there are cleverly placed buttons for adjusting the height of the car or chassis, stabilization systems and driving programs.
But probably one of the most important things about an electric car is the engine. Two electric motors, one for each axle, together provide 294kW and 696Nm of torque. Enough for a good two-ton mass to go from standstill to 100 kilometers per hour in just 4,8 seconds. Of course, an electric motor is of no real value if it is not backed by a sufficient set of electrical or battery power. A lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 90 kilowatt-hours in ideal conditions will provide a distance of up to 480 kilometers. But since we're not riding in ideal conditions (at least 480 miles), a more realistic number from three hundred onwards would be in the worst conditions; and four hundred miles won't be a difficult number. This means that there is plenty of electricity for day trips, and there will be no problems on weekends or on the way to holidays. At a public fast charging station, batteries can be charged from 0 to 80 percent in 40 minutes, and a 15-minute charge provides 100 kilometers. But, unfortunately, this data is for a 100 kilowatt charging station, on the 50 kilowatt charger that we have, it will take 85 minutes to charge. But the fast charging infrastructure is constantly improving, and there are already many charging stations abroad that support 150 kilowatts of power there, and sooner or later they will appear in our country and the surrounding area.
What about charging at home? A household outlet (with a 16A fuse) will charge the battery from empty to fully charged for an entire day (or longer). If you think of a home charging station that takes full advantage of the power of the built-in 12kW charger, it takes a lot less time, just a good 35 hours. It's even easier to imagine the following information: at seven kilowatts, the I-Pace is charged for about 280 kilometers of driving every hour, thus accumulating 50 kilometers of range in an average of eight hours of the night. Of course, a suitable electrical wiring or a sufficiently strong connection is a prerequisite. And when I talk about the latter, a big problem for potential buyers is the inadequate infrastructure of the house. Here's the situation now: if you don't have a house and a garage, charging overnight is a difficult project. But, of course, it very, very rarely happens that the battery will have to be charged overnight from completely discharged to fully charged. The average driver drives less than 10 kilometers a day, which means only about XNUMX kilowatt-hours, which the i-Pace can go in a maximum of three hours, and with a home charging station in an hour and a half. Sounds very different, doesn't it?
Despite the aforementioned misgivings, driving the I-Pace is pure pleasure. Instantaneous acceleration (which we improved by driving around a race track where the car performed above average), driving calmness and silence if the driver wants it (including the ability to create electronic silence using the audio system), a new level. Separately, it is worth noting the navigation system. This, when entering the final destination, calculates how much energy is needed to get there. If the destination is reachable, it will calculate how much power will be left in the batteries, at the same time it will add waypoints where the chargers are while driving, and for each it will provide information on how much power will be left in the batteries when we get to them and how long will it last.
In addition, the Jaguar I-Pace fully copes with the task of off-road driving - showing what kind of family it comes from. And if you know that Land Rover is not afraid of even the most difficult terrain, it is understandable why even the I-Pace is not afraid of it. That's one reason why it offers an Adaptive Surface Response Mode that keeps you moving at a constant speed whether you're going up or down. And if the descent is still so steep. I must admit that driving an electric car off-road was extremely interesting. However, hip torque isn't an issue if you need to go even harder uphill. And when you ride with batteries and all the electricity under your ass in half a meter of water, you find that the car can really be trusted!
With all possible settings (in fact, the driver in the car can install almost everything) of both different systems and driving style, regeneration should be highlighted. There are two settings: at normal regeneration, which is so gentle that the driver and passengers do not feel it, and at a higher one, the car brakes as soon as we take our foot off the accelerator pedal. Thus, it is really necessary to press the brake only at critical moments, and as a result, electricity consumption is much lower. So besides the BMW i8 and Nissan Leaf, the I-Pace is another EV that masters driving with just one pedal.
To summarize very simply: the Jaguar I-Pace is the first electric car to get it right away, without any hesitation. This is a complete package, it looks great and is technologically advanced. For pessimists, such information is that the battery has an eight-year warranty or 160.000 kilometers.
The I-Pace is expected to arrive in our areas in the fall. In Europe and especially in England it is of course already available to order (as the famous tennis player Andy Murray did), on the island a minimum of 63.495 to 72.500 pounds, or a good XNUMX XNUMX, is required. A lot or not!
