When Steve Penman (Sales Director at Jardine's Jaguar Land Rover) asked whether I'd be interested in taking a Jaguar iPace for a few weeks and blogging my experience and journeys, I'm not sure he had finished asking before I'd said "YES". There wasn't much to think about!

Life with the Jaguar iPace

I've now been living with the Jaguar iPace EV400 HSE for a month and I have to say it's some car. You could argue that it should be given it's price tag of ~£74k and I would agree, however I've really been focussed on how it performs, it's capabilities and how it works as part of my day-to-day life (especially how it meets my travel requirements).

The EV400 HSE is the top of the range iPace. The one I'm driving (see image above) is fully spec'd up with 22" alloy wheels and a black pack on the logos (which I do love). Basically if you like black, you'll love the spec of this car! It's got a 90kWh battery and has enough torque to get you to 60mph in ~4.5 seconds... which is quite fast enough.

What's the ACTUAL range?

Looking on the Jaguar site it states the WLTP range of the car is ~280 miles, however, having driven the car for a while now, it's more like 230 miles based on 'normal driving' i.e. keeping to the speed limit. This drop seems considerable i.e. 50 off 280 is quite a lot, however this is fairly standard with most EVs 'predicted' vs 'actual' range. The proof is really is in the pudding in terms of how it drives.

So how does the iPace drive?

Like a dream. A short answer but true. You've got the Jaguar brand's luxury with the ability to do long journeys without worrying about charging and your next stop. I've done 3 long journeys now, 1 from Milton Keynes to Knutsford, 1 to Leeds and back from Knutsford and the final trip was a 182 mile round trip from Knutsford to Cheltenham. I didn't charge at a public charging station once. No need. Now I'm not saying everyone is like me and wouldn't have recharged, in fact, I had the opportunity to do so during my trip to Cheltenham as on the way back I stopped at a services. So if I had really needed to charge I could have done, however I had 71 miles on the clock and only 50 miles to go..... easy.

You can see my feedback in the following Youtube video

The OOMPH factor

As with all EVs, the immediate torque really gets to you and is pretty addictive. Put your foot down in the iPace from a standing start and it's like being in Fast and Furious when they push the little red button and everything gets put on fast forward. 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds.... keep your head back against the headrest! (See Youtube video from a standing start)

The Tech

What I love about EVs is the technology in them and the iPace is well set up. As soon as I see the speed limit, I flick the little lever and cruise control is on, plus the lane monitoring system is on too. At this point my foot is off the accelerator and the car takes over, breaking itself in accordance to the cars in front of me and keeping me central (albeit I am still driving with my hands on the wheel - just to be clear!). This technology and the fact I have a heads up display showing my speed and the GPS on both the main screen and on my driver panel behind the wheel means that travel is so unbelievably easy. Driving the iPace on these journeys is so much less taxing than my experience in other vehicles.

Comfort and Style

Again, you get the Jaguar 'premium feel' in the iPace with its interior. However what I do really like is that from a dashboard perspective everything is clear and simple but still premium. I've been in some EVs and they've come up with a seemingly complicated dashboard just because it's an EV. Jaguar haven't done this but it's a really good interior feel. What I really noticed with the iPace is that whilst it's got that SUV tag and it's smaller than its E-Tron / EQC counterparts, you do get a lot of space but it feels more compact at the same time. The openness comes from the long windscreen and the canopy roof, whilst the boot is particularly spacious. In our family we have a buggy and associated child's luggage to contend with which fits no problem. The above is why I personally prefer the iPace to the Audi E-Tron.

Charging

I have to say the charging piece is something I know customers considering EVs always think about. As you'll see from my video following my trip to Cheltenham and back, you 100% CAN DO long journeys in EVs and not utilise the public charging network and simply wait until you get home. Home charging makes EVs as easy as anything, plus it makes it significantly more cost effective to own one of these cars. However where you do need to use the public charging network there are a variety of options to choose from. The things I watch out for now on public charging are whether the chargers are available and whether they are working. With more EVs on the road, it's getting more competitive for spaces at a charger (especially when petrol of diesel drivers park in EV bays - "you've been iced").

The public charging / home charging / EV home energy elements are a piece of the EV puzzle that we address for customers upfront when they're considering getting electrified vehicles. So if you're considering getting an iPace from our partners Jardine Motors Group Jaguar Land Rover, you know that you'll be covered with everything you need when you go electric.

I've got a few more days in the iPace which I'm going to enjoy but if you'd like any further information or maybe you want to experience the iPace, you can do so via the Zoom EV platform.

I'm looking forward to the last few remaining days driving this car. I might have to come up with some more video content and therefore need to have it for another month... what do you think Steve?!