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London skyscraper caught melting cars

A new skyscraper under construction in London is apparently to blame for some mysteriously melting car parts on the city's surrounding streets. The 37-story building at 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed the "Walkie Talkie" for how it looks, features a convex side of glass windows that apparently concentrates the sun's rays like a kid with a magnifying glass. Instead of smiting ants, however, the building was caught focusing its sun-sourced laser death beam on an innocent Jaguar XJ parked on Eastcheap street. The intense heat managed to melt a sideview mirror, plastic C-pillar cover and Jaguar emblem (scroll down for an image of the damage).
Fortunately, the construction company, Land Securities, had some scruples and reportedly left a note on the car for its owner reading "Your car's buckled, could you give us a call?" They've also since apologized and agreed to pay for the £946 done - about $1,500 - in damages by their blazing hot building. A joint statement with the Canary Wharf district in which the building's located was also released. In it, the developer acknowledges concerns about the reflected light and says it's looking into the matter. The city has also decided to close a few parking bays that could be in the building's line of fire, so to speak, until a solution can be engineered. Since news of the melting Jag broke, other vehicle owners have also come forward claiming the building, re-nicknamed the "Walkie Scorchie," has damaged their cars, as well.
This isn't the first shiny-new-building-attacks-cars story we've heard - architect Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles was built amidst concern that its polished ribbons of stainless steel were blinding motorists and causing accidents, along with raising the temperatures of nearby buildings with its reflected light. The building's surfaces were later given a matte polish.

Jaguar's XF diesel isn't just fuel efficient, it's the cheapest XF available

Jaguar announced the 2017 Jaguar XF will now offer the 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel the company introduced on the XE. In addition to returning an impressive 42 miles per gallon on the highway and 31 in the city, the diesel is the cheapest XF available at $48,445. This means that picking the oil-burner will save you $3,040 over the cheapest gas V6 version, which only manages 29 mpg on the highway and 20 in the city. With 180 horsepower, the diesel is significantly down on power compared with the base V6 model. As a result, the diesel moves slower. Jaguar estimates the base V6 is good for a 5.2-second 0-60 time and the diesel should be able to do the same in 8 seconds. However, that's the only real downside. Even with the slower acceleration times, the diesel still has a very usable 317 lb-ft of torque available from 1,750-2,500 rpm. Based on our test drive of a diesel-equipped XE, the engine also breaks the old diesel stereotypes. It's both quite smooth and responsive. Unless you seriously need that straight-line performance, the Jaguar XF diesel arguably makes the most sense. It provides significant price savings and better fuel economy. The diesel XF also joins the XE and F-Pace diesels, leaving just the XJ and F-Type as the only Jaguars without compression-ignition engines. The British automaker is planning to remedy that, as a Jaguar Land Rover executive said the company plans to also add a diesel XJ variant in the US, even in the wake of the VW diesel scandal. Related Video: Related Gallery 2016 Jaguar XF: Review View 24 Photos Image Credit: Jaguar Land Rover Green Jaguar Diesel Vehicles Luxury Sedan jaguar land rover ingenium

Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy: New EV, new series — Jaguar's going racing

Luxury carmaker Jaguar is teasing the 2018 launch of a five-seat electric sports car based on its I-Pace concept as its first battery-electric vehicle. The Indian-owned automaker released images of the sports car as part of its announcement that it will launch the world's first international production EV race series in 2018. A performance SUV version of the I-Pace, previously reported and presumably based on a concept revealed late last year, is also planned for late 2018. Jaguar has said it plans to electrify all new models after 2020, part of a wave of similar announcements as governments in England, China and elsewhere have announced plans to eventually ban the sale of gasoline or diesel cars. In its announcement, Jaguar said only that the race series would "support the launch" of the I-Pace five-seater. View 7 Photos At the Los Angeles auto show last year, Jaguar said its concept I-Pace crossover SUV would have a 220-mile range from its 90-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, designed and engineered entirely in-house. The Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy series is a support series for the FIA Formula E championship and will exclusively feature up to 20 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace racecars across 10 races in cities including Hong Kong, Paris, Sao Paolo and New York. The racecars will be built at the Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations in Warwickshire, England. "With the launch of the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, we have strengthened our commitment to battery electric vehicles, international motorsport and Formula E," Gerd Mauser, chairman of Jaguar Racing, said in a statement. "As a British team, we are proud to announce today the launch of the world's first production battery electric vehicle championship." He added: "Ultimately this innovative series will enhance the technology in our future electric vehicles and benefit our customers." Jaguar says it will release technical specifications, race calendar and costs for the I-Pace eTrophy in 2018. Related Video: Green Frankfurt Motor Show Jaguar Electric Racing Vehicles Performance Sedan Frankfurt 2017 jaguar i-pace