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2022 Jaguar I-Pace Road Test Review | 762 miles in Jag's EV

A legion of new electric cars has been launched over the past couple years, so it’s easy to forget about one of the earliest entries in the electric revolution: the Jaguar I-Pace. In fact, the I-Pace is so old now that itÂ’s getting a mid-cycle refresh of sorts for the 2022 model year. Autoblog had its “First Drive” of this futuristic-looking crossover-hatchback nearly four years ago, so itÂ’s time to see where the electric Jag stands now that it has more competition.  To really get a sense of where the I-Pace fits today, I decided to take it on a road trip from Detroit, Michigan, to Buffalo, New York, and back. This would test the carÂ’s real-world highway range, its charging ability and luxury prowess as a premium crossover. It also ended up being a test of the Rust BeltÂ’s charging infrastructure and ability to facilitate EV road tripping. The trip starts with a 100% charge in Michigan, 50-degree weather and a 381-mile drive ahead of me. According to the sticker for this 2022 Jaguar I-Pace EV400 HSE, it has a 222-mile range on a full charge — thatÂ’s down from the 234 miles it was rated for in 2021. I set out, and itÂ’s all good vibes at the start. This I-Pace has the standard 20-inch wheels (not the optional, giant 22s), which pair perfectly with the air suspension to provide a truly comfy ride. The adaptive cruise control makes dealing with rush-hour traffic through Detroit easy, and the I-PaceÂ’s dual-motor powertrain, good for 394 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, is a delight to unleash when the road opens up. Even at 60 mph-plus, the I-Pace has plenty of go to pin you back like other quick EVs do today. As I make my way into Ohio and navigate through Toledo, some gripes pop up. The lane-centering system is finicky and downright scary at times. Poor lane markings cause it to abruptly yank the car left or right, and you need to be quick at the wheel to keep it from driving onto the shoulder or worse — other cars with similar lane-following tech perform significantly better on the same roads. ItÂ’s even more frustrating when I learn how good it is on a highway with clear and proper lane markings, tracking beautifully Â… until the road no longer cooperates. Its inability to cope when lane markings suddenly deteriorate makes this system hardly worth using. Watching out for its bad behavior is more mentally taxing than just turning the system off and driving without.

2019 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 First Drive Review | Cat track fever

It doesn't take long for the cognoscenti to spot me. At stoplights, street corners, and parking lots, the 2019 Jaguar XE SV Project 8's swollen bodywork and park bench-sized tail attract the fanboys like iron to a magnet. My Velocity Blue tester is one of the few Project 8 cars in the States, and I can't remember the last modern Jaguar with so much head-turning charisma. If you're not up to speed, the Project 8 is Jaguar's surprise salvo into sedan madness. And Jag didn't half-ass it, either: it's Jag's biggest engine – a 592-horsepower, supercharged 5.0-liter V8 – stuffed into their smallest steed, the compact XE. Think Aston Martin V12 Vantage, AC Cobra 427, et al. Aiding downforce is a wing that delivers 269 pounds of downforce at 186 mph, so much that Jaguar had to reinforce the trunklid to prevent it from denting at high speeds. There's a flat underbody for reduced lift, and lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum body panels replacing all but the front door skins and roof. The purposeful theme is carried into the cabin, with snug racing buckets up front and seating limited to four. The boy racer cues bely some serious equipment. It's 68 lbs lighter than the next-lightest SE, the 380-hp S AWD supercharged V6. There's also a whole lot of tightening throughout, from the spring rates to the firmer engine mounts. In fact, the stiffening feels like it's been cranked to 11 – even in Comfort mode, the ride is taut and sometimes jarring, never quite feeling at ease enough. If you dig feeling every last ripple in the tarmac, it's wonderful, but anyone seeking a wallowy, coddling ride will find the Project 8 too much. The Project 8's razor sharp feedback begs you to drive on public roads like you're lapping Nardo or the Nurburbring – two of the circuits where the car was developed. But despite its legit origins, dicing such an overtly extroverted car through traffic can also be an enormous social liability. Go-fast sticker graphics? Check. Ginormous wing? Yep. Banana yellow brake calipers? Duh. This is weaponized transport for the street, enough to make the meekest driver look like he or she has something to prove. The Project 8's Alcantara-trimmed interior compliments the aggressive exterior, as do the snug-fitting seats, which use magnesium frames for weight savings (non-U.S. markets go a step further, with carbon fiber seats with four point harnesses). Squeeze the accelerator, and the XE responds with a shove and a snort even from low RPMs.

The Jaguar E-Pace shows off a rather cab-forward look in these spy shots

It seems the Jaguar F-Pace may be getting a little sibling soon. A smaller crossover, which we expect will be called the E-Pace, has been caught during winter testing. The SUV seen here appears to be sized like compact luxury crossovers such as the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. This also fits with Jaguar's brand director's statements that it has been considering an SUV for this class. Much of the car is well camouflaged, but taking a close look, this E-Pace has a surprisingly short dash-to-axle ratio. It's not as drastic as the electric I-Pace concept, but there's so little space between the bumper and the base of the windshield that we sincerely doubt that a longitudinal inline-4 or V6 could be lurking under the hood. And, if the E-Pace does in fact use a transverse-mounted engine, it probably doesn't share a platform with any of its rear-drive-based stablemates. It may seem strange that a company known for its rear-drive cars is considering a transverse, front-drive-based vehicle, but there are reasons it may be going this way. For one thing, Jaguar's brand director said he wasn't sure that the company's existing platforms could be scaled down far enough for such a compact crossover. That would seem to preclude using an existing rear-drive platform or developing a totally new one. In fact, it only leaves one real option in the Jaguar Land Rover line for this vehicle: the Range Rover Evoque platform, which is also shared with the Discovery Sport. It's a small SUV platform with a transverse layout. It's also currently available and should be cheap to adapt; perfect for capitalizing on the hot crossover market. We just hope Jaguar can inject some more fun into it than Land Rover did with the Discovery Sport. Using that platform also means Jaguar would probably borrow one or more engines from the Evoque and Discovery Sport. In the US, both models are only offered with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 making 240 horsepower. Overseas, both vehicles are available with 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinders, making either 150 or 180 horsepower too. Considering that the 180-horsepower diesel model will arrive in the US under the hood of the Jaguar XE, it's possible that it will show up in the E-Pace as well. Don't expect any of the overseas manual transmissions to make the trip, though. Jaguar only offers a manual on the F-Type sports car in the US, so there really isn't any reason to add one to a small crossover.