Andy W drives a Jaguar I-PACE 294kW EV 400 SE 90kWh 2019 (2020MY).

This is Andy’s first electric car, he’s owned the Jaguar I-PACE less than 1 year and drives 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 40,000-50,000 miles and he achieves 180 miles from a full charge.

Why did you choose the Jaguar I-PACE?

My previous vehicles have been older Jaguar models and I preferred the styling and handling of the I-PACE over EVs from other manufacturers. I was willing to take the hit on range which would only affect me occasionally over day-to-day comfort.

Positives 

• Performance is great, comparable with my previous 5.0 litre supercharged V8
• Handling is a great setup for fast road driving without being overly harsh. Steering is sharp and nicely weighted.
• Interior comfort is great, even with the standard seats
• App controlled pre-conditioning is excellent, I haven’t got into a cold car or had to scrape ice once.
• The off-road stability system and air suspension have been great
• The cameras that look at the front wheels pretty much saved the day when we took a wrong turn in Cornwall and ended up going through a very narrow village
• The car’s 4G antenna gets a much better signal than our phones. The wi-fi hotspot has really helped out in a couple of places where we’ve been at remote app-only activated chargers and would’ve been stuck otherwise.

Negatives

Major:

• The range prediction is hilarious, it massively overestimates. From 100-50% it pretty much follows spot on, then from 50-10% it has to catch up on reality and drops precipitately & 10-0% drops off a cliff.
• Dealer support has been underwhelming. The car came used with a 2-year warranty but in reality it’s more like a parts insurance. It’s very limited and only really covers specific faults on some components. Service cost is almost the same as for one of their ICE models.

Minor:

• Infotainment system is SLOW, navigation takes a long time to start so even if I’ve pre-planned the route in the app I still have to wait several minutes for the system to load after pressing START.
• The boot is just too shallow to get a suitcase on its side without taking out the parcel shelf which then doesn’t stow neatly in the car.
• If I have the key in my pocket the power tailgate randomly opens when I move around. It has hit the garage door several times now but fortunately not caused any major damage.

Compared to when you first bought the car, does your battery still charge at the same rate & do you still get the same range?

I’ve no noticed any change in range. My recent fast charges have had a maximum rate of 40kW where as I’ve previously seen up to 70kW. However, I don’t fast charge very often and the only ones I’ve used in the last 6 months have been reported as slow by other users of the charger aggregating apps I use, so most likely this has been charger limited.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

The vehicle’s infotainment internet connection was unreliable, this was rectified with a replacement TCU under warranty. This has since been reliable and has helped greatly when we have been at remote app-only activated chargers where the phone signal has been weak.

The front section of the 360-view camera is garbled. This was adjusted and worked for a couple of days but then failed again.

The wind deflector in front of the NSR wheel came off and was refitted under warranty but has since come off again.

The HUD projector internal mirror is grazed and makes part of the image look blurry. Jaguar are refusing to replace this under the warranty due to it being a cosmetic issue.

What are the standout technological features of the car?

The camera system is great, particularly the ones looking at the front wheels which help with narrow gaps and the sideways ones looking front and rear that let you see out of blind junctions/parking spaces.

The manoeuvring traffic detection works really well and has been great at spotting cars or pedestrians cutting behind while reversing.

Assignable profiles to keys so that the seat/mirrors/instruments and infotainment options all automatically adjust as soon as the vehicle unlocks.

Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car

There’s an umbrella stowage under the rear seat that fits a large umbrella with a hooked handle.

There is an assignable multifunction button on the steering wheel that you can select short and long press functions. I have mine set to mute the radio on short press or turn off the screens on long press for less glare when driving at night.

What’s the biggest or funniest myth you’ve heard about EVs?

That they’re slow.

What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?

I would love to go back to a saloon form factor. Hoping for great things with Jaguar’s new line-up.

Home charging unit

Pod Point Solo

Positives:

• The app gives carbon intensity forecast information so I can plan charging around low CO2 times
• The app can record unit rates including off-peak and records charging history so I can track costs easily
• It can be locked remotely through the app or locally with a key (optional).

Negatives:

• Not compatible with solar, we are having a system installed soon and will need to replace the charger so that we can maximise solar usage to charge the car
• Using the app to control the charge can take a long time
• The supplied holster sticks out perpendicular to the wall and blocked the garage door when the cable was holstered. I have since replaced it with a 3D printed one from an Etsy seller that pivots and can be stored flat against the wall.

Electricity supplier & tariff

Intelligent Octopus Go

Positives:

• Very cheap off-peak and fairly close to standard rate peak
• Intelligent charging often allows me to charge at off-peak rate during peak hours when I need to. All household use is charged at the same rate at these times.
• Very good at charging to a battery percentage limit.

Negatives:

• I always have to manually pause charging when I plug in. Otherwise, it can take up to half an hour to detect and pause, all while charging at peak rate.
• Intelligent often schedules multiple concurrent charging blocks, i.e. rather than 02:30-04:00 it will schedule 02:30-03:00, 03:00-03:30 & 03:30-04:00. Each time it will stop at the end of a block and start at the next which a) loses overall charge time, often resulting in the target charge not being achieved and b) sometimes the start command arrives at the car at the same time as the stop is still being processed causing the next block to get missed.
• Intelligent never schedules enough time when set to 100% and never charges to true 100% to balance the battery.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

I always look for anything compatible with Electroverse due to the discounts, particularly combined with the Intelligent Octopus Go discount.

Tesla – the only network left on routes I drive regularly with pricing that is substantially better than others particularly off-peak. Unfortunately, due to the design of the chargers I take up two bays so avoid using them if they’re busy and non-Tesla charging is only at specific locations.

Gridserve – I’ve had several chargers with the card reader freeze up. First time I gave up, second time I called them and ended up getting the charge for free.

InstaVolt and IONITY – have always been reliable and fast for me but expensive. They’re now both partnered with Electroverse.

Insurer

Admiral MultiCar

• This has gone up a lot but seems to be in line with ICE prices. They offered free assistance if you run out of charge.
• All documents etc can be accessed online
• Adjusting the policy is discounted if you use the online system but this has never worked for me.

Please itemise where you’re saving money (or not) owning & running a Jaguar I-PACE

Per month:

• Tax – £51
• Fuel – £150.

See other Jaguar I-PACE Owner Reviews here