Back To The Future: Electrifying Ride

Jaguar’s electric SUV, the I-Pace, heralds in the future of luxury and impossibly fast EVs.

- Glenda Williams

I remember two things from my very first Jaguar experience as a young child. The Jaguar Mark ll I was traveling in was a beauty… and it backfired a lot.

Fast-forward to 2020 and to Jaguar’s sophisticated pure electric SUV, the I-Pace. It too is a knockout, but there is no backfiring. That’s because there is no combustion engine to tune incorrectly, nor an exhaust system to emit loud popping noises. Now I’m in a car that is silent, has two electric motors, a raft of lithium-ion battery cells and loads of tech.

It has been quite a leap coming from the basic cars of yesteryear that I learned to drive in. Those naturally-aspirated combustion engine vehicles were rudimentary; steering wheel, gears, clutch, brake, accelerator, and handbrake were the only driving tools – a stark contrast to the abundance of technology in cars nowadays that pretty much save drivers from themselves. Trappings too were virtually unheard of; the lucky few had a built-in radio and the forerunner to the air conditioner – a fan blowing out hot air.

But those unpretentious cars had personality aplenty and were exciting to drive. So, how excited could I get while being given the silent treatment from a sophisticated car with an electric powertrain? To find out, I spent time in the top-of-the-range Jaguar I-Pace EV 400 HSE all-wheel-drive.

Sleek, feline form