PACED OUT

The first of a new breed of strong and silent Jaguars, the I-Pace is India’s best EV yet

- Kartik Ware

In the last year or so, my distant mistrust of electric vehicles has given way to ever-increasing curiosity. The first eye-openers were the Hyundai Kona and the Tata Nexon EV, and last month the Audi e-Tron was a cementer of approval, though some others that I drove seemed to miss one point or another. However, a couple of days with the Jaguar I-Pace convinced me that it’s probably the best one yet. To me, the I-Pace feels like the most cohesive EV in India yet. Or maybe I liked it because of that flaming red it came wearing. Or maybe it’s just that I love cats. Actually, it’s those things and more.

The I-Pace looks downright brilliant; it’s got a long silhouette, a low front, and a high rear, so its poise is always like it’s a feline bum-wiggle away from pouncing on unsuspecting traffic. It’s got an air scoop on the bonnet that people just can’t help peeking into, and an almost-vertical stubby tail that a Manx would be proud of. The air flowing through said air scoop goes over the car’s fixed panoramic roof and through a neat spoiler at the top of the rear windshield, and that stubby tail is no doubt dictated by a wind tunnel. And the door handles sit flush with the body and pop out only while getting in and out. The result? A 0.29 Cd figure.

That’s among the many learnings the I-Pace carries from Jaguar’s I-Type Formula E racer, some others being thermal management, battery efficiency, and software optimization. But the racers obviously have ever had this kind of luxury in their cockpits. The I-Pace’s interior is comfortable and connected in every conceivable manner, and is lined with leather, gloss that, and premium everything. All the finishes that you wouldn’t let a cat near. And I can promise you if a cat ever got into the I-Pace, it’d have a hard time hanging on, claws or not.