Jaguar Land Rover unveiled Thursday its first all-electric vehicle, the sporty looking 2019 I-PACE crossover sport utility vehicle that aims to compete with Tesla’s larger Model X SUV.
The vehicle is priced at 63,495 pounds ($87,152) in the UK. The U.S. Pricing, which is expected to be different, will be announced March 6. A base model Tesla Model X, which has three rows and seats seven and gets an estimated 237 miles on a single car, starts at $79,500. Both prices, for the Tesla and Jaguar I-PACE are listed excluding federal incentives.
The five-seat SUV, which was revealed via livestream from Graz, Austria, will come standard with all-wheel drive and a 90-kilowatt battery can travel 240 miles on a single charge. The battery can reach an 80% charge in around 40 minutes using publicly available DC rapid chargers. Home charging with a 230-volt system will reach 80% charge in just over 10 hours, which would most likely occur overnight.
The vehicle will hit U.S. Dealerships in the second half of the year as a 2019 model in three trim levels, the S, SE, and HSE versions. A first edition model in the HSE will also be available.
Jaguar equipped the vehicle with all the technology one might expect from a brand new model, including Amazon Alexa, which will be linked to the Jaguar InControl Remote App. Owners will be able to ask an Alexa-enabled device for information such as “Is my car locked?,” or “What is the charging level?,”and “Do I have enough range to get to work?” Among other things.
Jaguar will also be able to update software over the air, or wirelessly, a technique that helped set Tesla apart from major automakers.
The new I-PACE clearly pulls its design inspiration from its other model designs, namely its C-X75 hybrid concept in the front and the F-PACE performance SUV in the rear. The I-PACE’s cab is pushed forward; designers, untethered from the constraints of an internal combustion engine, were able to push the cabin forward and extend the wheelbase. The battery is under the vehicle giving it a low center of gravity.
The I-PACE doesn’t have the same 0 to 60 mph neck-snapping zoom as the Tesla Model S in ludicrous mode. But it has punch. The vehicle can travel from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds.
The British automaker brought the I-PACE to Los Angeles for the LA Auto Show in November for its final range and durability tests. Coins2Day was along for a portion of the ride. Jaguar wasn’t ready to show off the final exterior and interior touches at the time—the interior was completely covered. So it wasn’t until Thursday that Coins2Day saw the finished product.
Jaguar first unveiled its I-PACE all-electric concept in 2016 during a presentation in Milk Studios in Hollywood.
