Test drove the I Pace
 

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending an hour in the first I Pace in Calgary. My I Pace will only be delivered in February 2019. The car was a Launch edition. Since the car is primarily for my wife she spent the first 30 minutes driving and I enjoyed the back seat.

The ride is firm but not to rough. Not XJ like but more XF with ride setting in comfort. Storage space out back is good, better than my wife's Evoque, more like Velar spacing.

The wife drives like an old lady, so was only able to get her to punch it once and of course the ample ft lbs have quite a bite.

I spent the last 30 minutes driving. Set the car up with Max Regeneration and creep off . Had some spirited driving on empty streets, the low centre of gravity allows for some high speed turns with excellent grip. The car was setup with winter tires so keep that in mind.

Sound system was typical Jaguar, heads up display was convenient showing speed and speed limit, should also show GPS, but we did not program any destinations.

Did find that there was some wind noise in back seat coming from panoramic roof. That was the only issue, but the car just arrived and was not fully prepped, still had shipping stickers on the lights .

Planting the pedal will push you back into the supportive sport seats, other than that drives like a Jaguar should drive. We departed with 80% charge and returned with the same 80% charge showing 285 km range on departure and a 275 km range on return, again car was set on max regeneration so drove mostly with only needing one pedal, never really needed the brake except for a few instances.

Sorry I have to wait until February, but will have a blast driving it once it arrives.

if you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

Nice, thanks for sharing! How did the I Pace feel at around 128 kmh? And how did turns feel? I'm hoping it's a fairly smooth ride.

fit and finish impressions? also, did it have auto pilot all the way to a stop?

the drive was sporty, similar to an F type, again the ride is firm but not jarring.

Fit and finish is typical Jaguar/Range rover very similar to the Velar.

no autopilot, but it will park itself

If you are approaching a corner what is the "engine braking" like? The one thing I dont understand about the absence of transmission (never driven an electric car) is whether the engine braking is similar to dropping it down a few gears to tighten it up before accelerating through the corner.

This is fully user adjustable via the touch screen, you adjust the amount of regeneration for when you take your foot off the throttle.

you can set it at zero and it will drive like a ICE car or you can adjust up to full regeneration which is comparable to applying the brakes at 1/3 brake pressure, in my opinion or dropping down to first gear.

You can also setup the car with or without creep. Take your foot off the brake and the car will creep forward like a ICE car or deactivate creep and you take your foot off the brake and the car just sits there.

Cheers. Last question! Would it be easier if the car had paddle shifters to mimic a traditional auto for regeneration? Like being able to switch from normal mode to sport or dynamic on the move. Or would you usually just have one setting that applies regardless of whether teh roads are straight or twisty?

Good point, being able to switch would probably be handy if you're a driver, but I think this car is setup as a family car, perhaps future sporty Jags could use your idea as a way to have more driver engagement since there are no gears.

Thanks!

Actually I was dropping my car into the service guys today and I was told that having it in max regeneration is ideal anyway as it gives the best recharge. The fellow was really impressed with the car and said that in city driving the range was actually increasing as they went because of the "engine braking" whereas on a smooth run it was heavier on juice, so it is the opposite to what we are used to.

Agreed, Like I mentioned in my first post, we drove around town for and hour and returned with the same 80% charge as when we departed. Obviously we consumed more than we generated but on the battery meter we used little to nothing.

Agreed, Like I mentioned in my first post, we drove around town for a hour and returned with the same 80% charge as when we departed. Obviously we consumed more than we generated but on the battery meter we used little to nothing.