Jaguar iPace electric SUV will be Jaguar-Land Rover’s first electric car for India

Jaguar-Land Rover have big plans for India’s electric vehicle space. The British luxury car and SUV marques – owned  by Tata Motors – will begin by launching hybrid cars and SUVs by the end of this year. These hybrid vehicles will be  based on the current range of cars that Jaguar and Land Rover sell in India. Next year, a full electric vehicle in  the form of the Jaguar iPace electric SUV will arrive.

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd. (JLRIL) said:

Jaguar Land Rover’s focus is to commit itself to a more sustainable future and our engineers have developed just the right products to lead us on this path. The introduction of electrified vehicles in Jaguar Land Rover India’s  portfolio is in line with the government’s thrust towards electric vehicles. The company is encouraged by the  introduction of FAME-II by the Government of India and it focus on expansion of the charging infrastructure in the  country. This is bound to help with faster adoption of all kinds of Electric Vehicles in due course.

The Jaguar iPace is the electric version of the FPace, the only SUV that the automaker sells in the Indian market.  The iPace comes with very impressive specifications and performance numbers, and will be imported to India as a
completely built unit. It’ll be used to give high end car buyers a taste of what a high performance electric car is  all about, and will be more of a presence marker than a vehicle aimed at high volumes.

Designed by noted designer Ian Callum, the Jaguar iPace is a sporty crossover that can seat five adults. It’s form  factor is similar to that of the FPace, and the 5 door crossover gets two electric motors – one driving the front  wheels and the other driving the rear wheels. Interestingly, the electric SUV is not built in England, by Jaguar, but  is built in Austria, by Magna Steyr – a contract car manufacturing specialist.

Each of the Jaguar iPace’s two electric motors make 200 PS of peak power and 348 Nm of peak torque. Together, the motors manage to generate 400 PS of peak power and a whopping 696 Nm of peak torque right from idle. An all wheel drive layout is standard, and so is an automatic gearbox. The electric motors are juiced by a 90 KwH lithium ion battery, and the car can deliver a range of nearly 400 kilometers per charge. There’s a quick charge facility  available as well, which can recharge 80 % of the battery in just 45 minutes.

The iPace, thanks to the massive weight of the lithium ion battery stack, weighs a hefty 2,133 kilograms. The iPace  will hit a top speed of 200 Kmph (Electrically limited go conserve battery life) but the real deal is the  acceleration, which at 4.8 seconds for the 0-100 Kmph sprint is pretty quick. The crossover even has a water wading  depth rating of 500 mm, which is very respectable indeed. When introduced in India, expect to pay a lot more than Rs. 1 crore for this high performance electric crossover, which will give us a glimpse at what the future of Jaguar cars will look like.