Jaguar I-Pace won the SA Car of the Year
This all-electric SUV is the Jaguar I-Pace and it won the South African Car of the Year award. It became the first EV to take that title which is rather surprising since South Africa’s electric market is not as advanced yet.
The Jaguar I-Pace has a stunning design.
Many brands are taking their time with EV’s in SA but I am very glad to hear that this SUV took a step ahead of time. It’s a stunning looking car with an aerodynamic design to help with range. Even though there are no extreme styling decisions like massive grilles and crazy LED headlights, it still sells you on that sporty look an SUV should have.
The door handles lie flush with the body until you press a button to extend them, adding to that aerodynamic feel. There are a few smaller touches too in the reflectors where you will find a little Jaguar embossed in them. The only less fortunate thing about the exterior design is the lack of a rear windscreen wiper. So, if that gets dirty you will have to clean it the old-fashioned way, not very future EV of them.
Inside the I-Pace is just as good.
Overall, the interior is just as great as the exterior. They didn’t lean into the feeling of the technology which for some drivers will be extremely nice. You get all the monitors and features without it yelling I’m an EV at you. I, on the other hand, prefer the all-in technology launch me into the future that something like the BMW i4 promises but I can respect the effectiveness of what Jaguar has done here.
Emotional feel out the way, the material used for the physical feel is great. Lots of soft-touch and high-quality material used throughout the interior. I love the centre console design, the way it creates more storage space in a stylish way. There are also two touch screen monitors. One, the widescreen infotainment and the other is for your climate control. While physical buttons are at a minimal, there are still easy to use dials, so you won’t be struggling to drive on the road. There is a third monitor too and it’s the Digital Driver’s Display. Even here the design of the UI is simple and not flashy but still effective.
Enough about the driver. What about the passengers?
In the back seats, there is plenty of space for two adults (it may be an issue with three) with lots of legroom and nice headroom too. Even with the optional panoramic sunroof, the space is still great. The connectivity goes all the way to the back with USB and 12-vault sockets available too. Going even further back is a massive boot that is not affected by the batteries. Just underneath the boot is a small storage space for your charger cable, however, if you’re not careful you will struggle to get it to fit. There is also a tiny boot under the front bonnet if you need the extra bit of space. 
The I-Pace is a monster of an EV SUV.
With dual electric motors running on a 90kWh lithium-ion battery, this Jaguar puts 294 kW and 696 Nm into all four wheels. Keep in mind that this is an electric car, so the torque is instant making it’s acceleration really through you into the back of your seat. It will get you from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds and the drive just gets even better when you go faster.
Even though this is a very heavy Jaguar with its batteries, it still holds onto corners really well making this I-Pace really fun to drive. As for that drive, Jaguar says the I-Pace will get up to 470km of range in South Africa, weather dependent of course as is with all EVs. To get that range though you will have to be at full charge, something that will take you over a day to get to charging at home. On the road, at a 50kW fast charger, you could easily get to 80 percent in 90 minutes which is all you need for driving around.
This Jaguar comes with many accessories.
Usually, I talk about optional features with the standard features but there are a few that I want to highlight, this is also coming from Jaguar’s video that didn’t list them but rather showed them. From the video, we clearly see Jaguar is targeting wealthy active people with optional features like a roof rack for your surfboard, bicycle rack that attaches to the back of the car and a hardbody boot for dirty equipment.
There are also some personal style options for vanity like a light-up jaguar logo and custom nameplates in the door frame. Inside the car, they also showed three accessories for behind the front seats. A monitor holder, clothes hanger and bag holder. All very showy and cool stuff.
Two options that I thought were cool are with the keys. The first is a smart key that remembers all your favourite setting inside the car like climate control and driving mode. When you enter your car, the key will put your Jaguar I-Pace into those settings for you. The other is an active key that works like a bracelet That way you can go out and not worry about where you will put your key or if you have lost it. 
The price in South Africa
There are three Jaguar I-Pace models in South Africa, and they start at a high R 1,717,300. If you are in the market for a Jaguar or an EV SUV, this car is definitely one you should put on your list of options. Without a doubt, it’s one of the best in its range, no wonder why it took the South African Car of the Year award.
Source: Carwow | Car and Driver | Jaguar
