Jaguar’s electric I-Pace SUV will be in all of the marque’s dealerships across the country.
Product manager James Kealy says the British brand’s first-ever electric vehicle will sit beside its best-selling petrol and diesel Jaguars and Land Rovers in all 41 dealerships.
“All our dealers will have I-Pace in stock from next year and we’ve recently finished a massive technical training campaign with all our dealer service departments,” he says.
“Dealer technicians have had safety training to learn about how to service and work on I-Pace, which has been quite a culture shock for some who have only worked on internal combustion cars,” Kealy explains.
“For them it’s been about getting their head around the units of power, talking in kWh and DC and AC,” he says.
“We’ve had to take something fairly complicated and making it understandable to people who haven’t worked with electric vehicles before,” Kealy adds.
Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director Mark Cameron says with the arrival of the I-Pace, he is now waiting on Canberra to come to the party.
“We’re talking directly to politicians, looking for incentives and legislation in Australia to better allow for EV take-up,” he says.
“I’ve never seen this level of change in the automotive industry, we’re talking about big technological movements,” Cameron explains.
“The tipping point has happened as to what would replace the internal combustion engine.”
Cameron says the industry has spoken.
“Electrification has already begun replacing the internal combustion engine, the cars are getting better, they’re becoming more accessible every year, the range improves with every model and even our Range Rover will soon come with a hybrid system in the near future,” he concedes.
“First Edition” Jaguar I-Pace EV400 retails for $159,700 before on-road costs and incurs Luxury Car Tax, has about 70 units pre-ordered, while the sharply priced entry-level I-Pace S will be in stock in 2019 for a Tesla- rivalling $119,000.
I-Pace offers a maximum range of 470km based on the new European test cycles, thanks to its 90kWh “pouch” type battery pack. A selectable low or high regenerative braking system feeds otherwise lost kinetic energy back into the battery in either a gentle or aggressive level of resistance, which also acts as a brake.
The I-Pace also has an Eco Mode which will throttle the car down in order to achieve the best range in low-range situations in order to get the driver to a charging opportunity.
Kealy says crunching the numbers around charging and travel costs are tricky, but increasingly compelling.
“I-Pace should cost about a third the cost of the equivalent petrol vehicle on a per-100km basis,” he says.
Based on off-peak charging rates, it’s estimated the I-Pace will cost about 15 cents per kWh, totalling around $15 for a full charge at home overnight, with Type 2 and Type 2 CCS charging capabilities.
JetCharge will provide at-home 7kW AC charging systems for $2280 including GST, which is expected to save roughly $1500 per year on fuel, replenishing its battery at about 11km of range per hour on charge.
Jaguar suggests a 30-cent per kWh recharge from a 350kW DC fast charger would offer $5.70 for every 100km of driving.
Two synchronous electric motors (working simultaneously) send 294kW and 696Nm of torque to all four wheels, dashing from 0-100km/w in 4.8 seconds according to Jaguar.
A wading depth of 500mm is nothing to be sneezed at considering a Land Rover Defender will allow the same level of submergence, which is complimented by an adaptive surface response, active air suspension and even a low-traction launch mode.
Radar-based adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, rear cross traffic, parking assistance, and lane keeping features are all standard.
I-Pace also comes with an entertaining artificial acoustics function which makes dynamic driving more audibly interesting, while also being able to provide external sound for pedestrians to be aware of the prowling Jag’s presence.
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