Hello everyone,

I just bought my first EV, which is also my first Jaguar. It's a 2020 I-Pace HSE in Yulong White, with Siena Tan seats and Ebony interior. I'm taking delivery tomorrow, and looking forward to the experience!

 

The I-Pace has had many favourable reviews, (I have seen and sat in one at the local Jaguar dealer near me, but not driven one). However, like most non-Tesla EVs you are totally dependent on the extent and quality of the public charging network. Of course if you install a home charger, you can at least start out with 280-odd miles range every day. Use of an EV for long journeys needs careful planning.

 

Thanks. Owning an EV definitely requires a different mindset than a gasoline powered vehicle. My wife and I have discussed it and thought about it for some time, and I think we are ready for it. The I-Pace will mostly be driven around the Denver, Colorado metro area. She works part time, only 2 or 3 days a week and her commute is about 50 miles, round trip. Most other drives she makes are under 15 miles. For longer trips, we have two gasoline powered cars. We have a full-sized GMC crew cab pickup truck for utility, and we have a Porsche 911 cabriolet for long weekend trips to the mountains. We will have to choose our vehicle based on the purpose of the trip.

My only small concern about the I-Pace at this point is the range up in the mountains in winter conditions. I know it will be reduced, but I don’t know how much. We live at roughly 8,000 feet of elevation, and it gets quite cold here in the winter months. Two of my neighbors own EVs (one Tesla Model S and one Audi e-Tron), and they don’t seem to have any issues.

Looking forward to picking up the I-Pace today!

 

I picked up the car today. Everything went smoothly, and I really like it so far. The dealership is about 85 miles from my house, and I don't yet have a fast charger in my garage. I decided to stop at a public charging station and give it a try. I found the station using the ChargePoint app, but when I got there it was an Electrify America station, and wouldn't recognize my ChargePoint credentials. I had to sign up for an Electrify America account, and even then I had trouble. I finally found a charging station that worked, and just used my credit card. After that initial fumbling around, everything went pretty smoothly. I left the car connected to the charger for about 30 to 35 minutes. It was a stage 3 rapid charger, rated up to 350kW. I found my connection to be around 60kW. That said, The battery got back up to 95% in that short period of time. It's all a learning experience!

 

The utter, utter, barminess of having to have an account before you can use a charging point beggars belief, (its the same here in the UK). When I buy petrol or diesel I just use my normal debit card. So what is it about the CP companies that makes them want this extra info ?

 

It is a bit odd. In the US it seems that some charge points are free and some require a payment. I haven’t yet seen a free DC rapid charger. Once my home garage is fitted with a fast charger next week, I won’t use public chargers very often.

 

You'll find the public chargers a mixed bag. But, like you, I virtually always use the charger in my garage so it shouldn't be an issue. I love my car and I think you should love yours as well. It is really an amazing experience. Welcome, and best of luck!!

 

At a petrol pump here in the UK one can present a debit card before fuelling and be debited afterwards for the correct amount. But to buy electric fuel, one must first open an account, disclose one’s email address, give the company an interest-free loan, all before finding out if the charger is working today. I’ve attempted this a handful of times so far and succeeded in half the attempts. I’ve succeeded in creating several accounts that all have a credit balance and my email address, but can’t remember their names. The last time I had to phone the helpline to reboot the machine. The guy before me and the guy after me also had to call for help. One was quite angry that he’d been charged four lots of £30 and received no electricity.

my iPace is fabulous.
But I charge it at home where possible.

I’m guessing that charging is an attractive business. I pay £0.60/kWh on the road and £0.07 at home. Nice markup. Until there’s more competition poor service can be offered with impunity.

 

Here in the US we've had teething problems with chargers as well. I've had to try several of the chargers before finding one that works, the power cables are often just short of the length to reach the Plug (which should be in the front or rear of the car given where they put the damn chargers), and the helplines have been a joke on and off. I have noticed things getting better of late but wonder what will happen now that Siemens is in talks to buy VW out of our largest non-Tesla charging network. (I used to work for Siemens and I'm not a fan of their execution in the US). I expect by 2030 much of this will be well in our past but we are clearly experiencing teething problems in much of the world as we move to electrics. Still, I charge from home better than 97% of the time and that remains painless and I'm enjoying driving by gas stations as the prices are in the nose bleed range. And I love driving the car, I'm sure you'll love yours as well. Best of luck!

 

How have the last two years been since you bought the car?