STUD OR DUD? Is The Jaguar iPace Going To Redefine The Segment?

On the ground floor of a dim multi-storey car park somewhere in East London sits what might be the most daring and important new Jaguar there has been in more than five decades.

Glowing in a coat of ‘Photon Red’ paint so vibrant you’d swear it was luminescent – and defying your every attempt at classification but for reasons that only invite your eyes to linger – the I-Pace looks bold and exciting even here amongst the striplight yellow and concrete grey. It’s part-supercar, part utility car; somehow all-Jaguar and yet not really like any Jaguar there has ever been. By the standards of the most far-fetched show cars, it’s stunning. Except here and now, away from the motor show stand where thousands have already admired it, the I-Pace is clearly not fantasy; it looks ready to be driven. And today, it will be.

 

llaroo - 3/15/2017 12:34:45 PM

+4 Boost

get it right and it will be cool. So, somewhere between car and SUV now a dime a dozen so looks and performance ( and price ) is what will make it successful.

cidflekken - 3/15/2017 4:54:16 PM

+3 Boost

Price will be its biggest friend or enemy. I think the styling is distinct enough for the "Look at me, I'm being green" crowd. But if, like the ELR, this isn't smartly priced, it'll be DOA, especially for a Jaguar.

HoustonMidtown - 3/16/2017 7:09:13 AM

+2 Boost

A recent article in C&D said they want the price to be "below $100K"

MDarringer - 3/16/2017 8:40:49 AM

+2 Boost

It needs to be closer to $50K so as to generate significant sales. An EV will be a footnote for sales anyway. People say how well Tesla is doing, but their volume is tiny even as popular as they are. This needs to be the entry-level Jaguar and the truly terrible XE needs to get canned.

qwertyfla - 3/15/2017 5:15:50 PM

-1 Boost

Cute chic car but too small for my fat ass and liking. Price will ultimately determine sales volume as a established name will only carry you so far.

Good looking front and side profile for an electric car in whereby all the other e-cars look ridiculous except the model S. The ass end of this car is akward and doesn't transition well from the other quarters. Nor is this a SUV but rather a CUV or have the rules been changed again?

TomM - 3/15/2017 6:30:42 PM

+3 Boost

While technically your are correct about it being a CUV - the terms are now blurred enough that SUV may eventually be used for the whole segment now that most are not truck based anymore.

However - the I-pace need not REDEFINE the segment - it only needs to sell well for Jaguar. As they continue to move car features to crossovers - the "segment" itself has to be defined first.

MDarringer - 3/15/2017 7:08:05 PM

+1 Boost

Redefine? Nope! Give Jaguar some much needed incremental sales? Yes!

1lostVW - 3/16/2017 6:41:50 PM

+1 Boost

I have to say Vanilla. Not ugly, not a beauty. It seems that every new Electric car companies are designing has to have a prerequisite electric car look... Why?
Did the monstrously UGLY BMW i3 persuade every automotive designer that the way to the future for electric is strange and or unusual... this Jaguar is never going to have all the details this one does once/if it hits production, then we will have a big red Jelly Bean to look at with a Jaguar grille... ok..Electric happened again..