Being a leader requires making some bold moves. That’s part of the Tesla appeal, perhaps more so than the product itself. How many established manufacturers with large coffers wanted to take electric cars seriously before the Model S? And now electric is the only thing that gets the public’s attention. The Model S was released in 2012, nearly 6 years ago. It’s pretty much the beginning of the end of its lifecycle by most estimates. Yet in Germany, last year, more Tesla Model S (16,132 units) vehicles were sold than S-Class (13,359 units) or 7-Series (11,735 units), as reported by Automotive News Europe.
Yes, you may argue (correctly) that the Model S is a segment smaller. But it is price in the same price bracket as the S-Class and 7-Series and is a more diverse vehicle, configurable to accommodate an additional row of backwards-facing seats. There’s also the counter-counter-argument about tax incentives and fuel costs. It’s very complex. But the point is a young, brave AMERICAN car company is selling as many cars as the oldest German players in its own home turf.
In the 6 years that have passed, the premium brands from Germany, Sweden, the UK, Japan, Korea and the US have all come up with their own hybrid or plug-in hybrids as a middle way. They’ve got shareholders to worry about, so nobody wants to launch something that fails completely. And while there are pure-electric concept cars and even production cars being readied for launch, one brand is actually leading the pack… Or should we say the clowder… or is it the jamboree? We’re not sure what the correct collective term is, the point is, Jaguar’s closer to a production electric vehicle than any of their rivals.
For once, Jaguar is actually going to set the tone for other mass-market manufacturers, and we have to say the car in question is quite remarkable.
It’s called the I-Pace and it will be available starting mid-2018. We might even see it here before the year is out. It’s quite a good looking car with specs that are phenomenal. We appreciate that the engineers have put practicality above being too competitive with Tesla. Let the Model S have the ridiculous acceleration times, this electric cat will have enough space and grace to make up for the lack of pace.
Here are some key specs:
- 0-100km/h in 4 seconds
- 90kw/h battery enabling a 500km range
- 400PS and 700Nm from 2 electric motors
- Empty-80% charge in 90 minutes
Despite Jaguar taking the lead, we doubt this is going to make a serious dent in premium German car sales.
