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Jaguar I-Pace concept previews all-electric SUV for 2018

It seemed that Tesla would stand alone for years with a battery-electric SUV. The Germans were coming, of course, but they appeared content to time their battery push until government regulations forced them there around 2020. That's all changed. Jaguar is promising to turn its I-Pace concept SUV into a full-fledged production crossover SUV within two years. It's Jaguar's way of leaping from internal-combustion power, clean over the top of plug-in hybrids, straight to zero-emission battery-electric vehicles. It says a lot about Jaguar's focus that the second SUV in its production history will also be its first electric car. It debuts this week at the Los Angeles auto show. The Indian-owned carmaker is promising the five-seat I-Pace will look, feel, handle, and perform like a proper Jaguar, too, with a 0-60-mph time of around four seconds. With 516 pound-feet of torque being pumped out of its two electric motors, the I-Pace has as much gristle as the pure-bred F-Type SVR sports car, and it has it from zero rpm. It's also promising the two motors will combine for 400 horsepower, too. It won't need to compromise on range to get its performance, with Jaguar promising the I-Pace will stretch across to 220 miles of range from its 90-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. It will also take two hours to charge on a 50-kW fast-charging DC station, or achieve 80 percent charging in 90 minutes, and Jaguar insists commuters who drive about 30 miles a day would only need charging once a week. It won't be the last EV from Jaguar Land Rover, either, with its scalable modular architecture designed from scratch to spread across the corporate portfolio and to move down to smaller sedans and coupes or up to full-sized Range Rover contenders. The crossover SUV uses the alloy battery casing as an integral, stressed part of the I-Pace's chassis architecture, lowering the ride height and adding body rigidity. After entering the all-electric Formula E championship this year, Jaguar says it designed and engineered the batteries and the electric motors in-house. "This is an uncompromised electric vehicle designed from a clean sheet of paper: we've developed a new architecture and selected only the best technology available," said Jaguar Land Rover's technical development leader, Wolfgang Ziebart.

Lister is now taking offers for 200 mph LFP SUV

Lister is now taking orders for its new LFP SUV, which is a heavily tuned version of the Jaguar F-Pace. Stock, the F-Pace's supercharged V8 engine makes a handsome 380 horsepower, and the SVR version is good for 550 hp. Lister is intent on making the LFP the world's fastest SUV, so that power output has grown to 670 horsepower. The 0-62 mph sprint will only take 3.5 seconds, and Lister says the LFP will go on to reach a top speed of 200 mph. This would leave the 190 mph Lamborghini Urus in second place. While the 707-horsepower Grand Cherokee Trackhawk can hit 62mph in 3.6 seconds, its top speed is "just" 180 mph; the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is good for 176 mph and it hits 62 mph in 3.8 seconds. The Tesla Model X, on the other hand, is capable of a 2.9-second 0-62 mph blast, but it will only reach a limited top speed of 155 mph. The company says the LFP's bold top speed figure can be achieved partly thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber – however, the wording is still served with a grain of salt, as Lister says the LFP will "potentially" be the world's fastest SUV, and the claims are yet unverified. The carbon-aided weight reduction also has handling benefits for the large SUV. Lister also released these photos of the LFP, complete with interior shots depicting a more racing-inspired cabin, yet trimmed with luxurious materials. Or as the company blurb says: "Take a look at the interior to see how comfortable 200mph can be". Lister prices the LFP at GBP140,000, or a touch over $180,000. Related Video:

Jaguar planning two bodystyles for next XJ

As we alluded to in today's F-Type first drive, Jaguar hasn't been selling its wares in China for very long, and as a result, buyers there usually don't have the same appreciation for the brand's history. So you might reasonably think that the company's recent radical styling shift (kicked off by the 2008 XF) wouldn't be as jarring to the nation's buying populace since they really didn't have the automaker's more traditionally styled models from years past to compare them against.
Yet while Jaguar and its sister marque, Land Rover, continue to pick up steam in China's developing market, that apparently isn't necessarily the case. Local buyers there tend to have more conservative tastes when it comes to styling, preferring more upright dimensions, big back seats and larger quantities of traditional luxury materials (think: chrome and wood) than other markets currently find desirable. Thus, the very bold current-generation XJ sedan may be leaving some sales on the table.
According to Edmunds, Jag doesn't want to risk that, and as such, it is preparing two bodystyles for the next-generation XJ - one with the rakish coupe-like styling of the current model, and a more "old-school" three-box sedan designed to appeal to a wider swath of Chinese buyers.