Jaguar I-Pace Review 2024

The Jaguar I-Pace isn’t quite the sports car that Jaguar would have you believe, but it’s still the best electric car to drive, with epic speed, sharp handling and decent ride comfort. The cabin is roomy and family-friendly, and there’s plenty of standard equipment, too. A good all-rounder, and has a longer driving range than many rivals. An Audi E-Tron feels plusher, a Mercedes EQC feels more tech-savvy and a Tesla Model X is more practical. If it’s fun you’re after, though, the I-Pace is the one for you.

If we were asked to name the two areas of most rapid growth for the car market these days, our answer would be simple: SUVs and electric cars. So, as an all-electric luxury SUV, the Jaguar I-Pace looks to have it made, right?

However desirable it is, though, the I-Pace isn’t about to have the masses ditching the combustion engine entirely and going electric. It’s too expensive for mass adoption on that scale. It has succeeded, though, in injecting some extra coolness and fun into electric motoring.

Fun in particular. That’s because the I-Pace is without doubt one of the most enjoyable cars of its type to drive. It handles sharply, steers sweetly, and although it never quite shakes off its considerable weight, it’s still great fun to thread around your favourite country road.

It’s also blisteringly quick. The twin electric motors combine to punt out a sports-car-worrying 400PS, and the muscle is never further than a quick flex of your right ankle away.

A pretty comfortable ride also makes the I-Pace family-friendly, as does the roomy cabin and big boot. The build quality can’t match the best-in-class, perhaps, with one or two trim pieces that don’t quite match up to the standards of the rest, but it’s still a very pleasant environment in which to spend time. Lots of luxury kit comes as standard, meanwhile, and it’s well stocked on the safety front, too.

And importantly for lots of electric car buyers, it has an impressively long driving range, longer than most EVs and longer than the direct rivals from Audi and Mercedes with which it competes. This will make it a realistic proposition for more would-be EV drivers.

True, EVs don’t come with as many financial incentives as they once did, but there are still some very handy savings to be made, particularly if you’re a company car driver.

So the I-Pace manages to take the style and practicality of an SUV, and the feel-good-factor and low running costs of an EV, and wrap it all up in one package that’s fun to drive and a pleasure to live with.

Looking for a second opinion? Why not read heycar's Jaguar I-Pace review.

Jaguar has always been obsessed with making its cars the sportiest and most fun to drive of their type, and that’s difficult in a car that tips the scales at well over two tonnes.

However, while that weight is evident when you first turn the car into a corner, making life difficult for the outside wheels, the car quickly settles into the bend and feels stable, alert and eager.

Compared with a regular car, the weight means the I-Pace isn’t the last word in agility, but it’s also true that you’ll struggle to find a more enjoyable electric car than this.

The ride feels comfortable in most situations, too, doing a decent job of filtering out lumps and bumps, and only the very worst of them will cause you any annoyance. It should be noted, though, that up until this point, we’ve only tried cars fitted with the optional adaptive air suspension. That means we’re still in the dark somewhat about how the car behaves on its standard steel-spring setup.

The I-Pace is powered by two electric motors – one for the front wheels and one for the rears – and together they have a combined power output of 400PS. That’s pretty similar to rivals like the Audi e-tron and Mercedes EQC, and it’s enough to put the frighteners on many sports cars. 

More important than the power, though, is the torque, and there’s even more of that. And, because an electric motor’s maximum torque is available the very instant it starts to spin, the I-Pace’s considerable muscle is never far away.

Press the accelerator pedal like you mean it – whether you’re setting off from a standstill or picking up speed on the move – and you’re hurled forward with properly savage force. The 0-60mph dash is said to take 4.5 seconds according to the official figures, but even though that number is impressive, it still doesn’t do justice to the sensation of speed that the I-Pace gives you. The single gear also means that this epic acceleration is uninterrupted.

Those inside the car get six airbags to help protect them in the event of a crash, and even pedestrians get one to help reduce injuries.

Automatic emergency braking should hopefully mean that airbag never gets deployed, though, while lane keeping assist, a driver condition monitor and traffic sign recognition with automatic speed limiting are also on hand to keep you out of trouble.

Upgrade from S to SE trim, and you’ll also get blind spot assist and adaptive cruise control with automatic stop and go, while HSE trim adds steering assistance to the adaptive cruise, effectively allowing the car to drive itself in the right circumstances. The I-Pace has already earned the full five stars in Euro NCAP crash tests.

Towing with the Jaguar I-Pace is limited to small trailers as it has a maximum capacity of 750kg for an unbraked trailer. Handy for trips to the DIY store, but not if you want to head off on holiday with the caravan.

The I-Pace is very roomy despite its compact size. It gives you really impressive legroom in any of the five seats, and headroom is also very generous.

There’s even enough shoulder space for three adults to sit across the rear bench in reasonable comfort, and two bulky child seats will fit easily. Yes, rivals like the Audi E-Tron give you a wee bit more interior space to play with, but don’t forget that the Audi is a considerably bigger car.

The boot is also bigger than you might think, matching the E-Tron’s and beating the Mercedes EQC’s thanks to 656 litres in normal use and up to 1453 litres with the back seats folded down. What’s more, there’s no load lip to negotiate when you’re hauling in heavy items. However, the backrests don’t lie completely flat when tipped forward, meaning you’ll need to push your items up a shallow incline. The boot also conceals a pot of tyre sealant, rather than a spare wheel.

Many Jaguar models aren’t exactly the last word in quality craftsmanship. They manage to give you a posh feeling overall, but usually, there are a few trim pieces or finishes dotted around the place that aren’t up to the same standard as the rest of the cabin.

In fairness, the I-Pace is the highest-quality Jaguar we’ve seen yet, with a more uniformly high standard of materials and assembly.

However, while the weak spots are fewer in number and harder to spot, a couple still remain. They’re nothing that’ll ruin the general feeling of classiness.

The centre of the dashboard has a touchscreen that has to deal with a great deal of functionality. Most of the menus are pretty logical, making it reasonably easy to find your way around, but one or two functions are tucked away in some fairly odd places, so it could be more intuitive. The graphics are pretty sharp, but the system can be a wee bit slow to react to your inputs, and screen transitions are a little clunky at times.

Below this sits another touch-sensitive panel that controls other secondary functions like the climate control.

It also has a couple of physical dials inset that change what they do according to which menu you’re in at the time. It looks very swish and works quite well, but despite the theatre, it’s still more distracting to use on the move than physical buttons would be. All the functionality you’d expect is supported: navigation, Bluetooth, DAB radio, wifi and smartphone mirroring.

If you were buying brand new at the time of writing, you’d be paying (as near as makes no difference) between £70,000 and £80,000 for your Jaguar I-Pace, depending on which trim you fancy. There are evenly spaced financial jumps with the R-Dynamic models, while the 400 Sport sits at the pinnacle of the pricing structure.

More crucially, those prices are on a par with those of key rivals like the Audi E-Tron and Mercedes EQC, and because the three cars are likely to depreciate at similar rates, prices for used examples should also be pretty close.

The Tesla Model X, meanwhile, is considerably more expensive than the rest as a new car, but because depreciation losses are heavier, the price difference on used ones should’ve disappeared after around three or four years.

The similarity in prices and residual values between the Jag, Audi, and Merc should also mean that monthly payments for finance agreements should also be pretty similar, but it’s always worth checking Jaguar’s website for promotions and offers.

At the time of writing, the cheapest deal we saw was the SE being offered for £710 per month on a four-year PCP deal, following a customer deposit of just over £6400. However, it did restrict the user to an annual limit of 5000 miles.

Each full charge of the batteries should cost you less than a fiver, and how long it takes will depend on how you charge it.

Most buyers will have a 7kW wallbox charger fitted at their home (which Jaguar can assist with), and one of these will fill your batteries in just under 13 hours.  Find a 50kW public rapid charger, and you’ll get topped up with 168 miles of charge in just an hour.

We’d never recommend trying to juice your I-Pace up from a regular domestic three-pin socket on a regular basis for fear of frying your home’s circuits, but even if you did try, it'd take days rather than hours.

According to official WLTP figures, the I-Pace will take you between 258 and 292 miles on a full charge, depending on the spec of the car you buy.

Quite a difference, that, considering all cars get the same batteries and motors. What’s more, as these are laboratory figures and not real-world ones, you shouldn’t be relying on them day to day. The I-Pace starts in Group 49 for insurance, but most models sit in group 50, which is the most expensive group there is, so premiums won’t be cheap.

All versions of the Jaguar I-Pace have flush-fitting door handles that pop out to let you get inside. They also come with LED headlights, though the basic R-Dynamic S model does without the signature daytime driving lights.

The R-Dynamic S gets the ball rolling with 19-inch alloy wheels, powered tailgate, and heated door mirrors. It also has cruise control with speed limiter, while tech in the cabin includes Amazon Alexa, Apple CarPlay, and the 10-inch Pivi Pro infotainment display. Wireless phone charging is standard, along with 12-way electric front seat adjustment, and DuoLeather upholstery and sports front seats.

Changing up to the R-Dynamic SE Black brings 20-inch wheels, a panoramic glass roof, and reversing camera. The car’s occupants enjoy a Meridian Sound System and the infotainment upgrades to the Pivi Touch Pro Duo. Next in line is the R-Dynamic HSE Black comes with a head-up display for the driver and a lower touchscreen for the Pivi Pro infotainment. Windsor leather covers the seats, while the fronts are heated and cooled, and have 16-way powered adjustment with memory function.

At the top of the I-Pace pile sits the 400 Sport model that has its own 22-inch alloy wheels and a spoiler on the tailgate. It too has Windsor leather upholstery but makes do with 14-way electric adjustment for its Performance seats. The other items that set this model apart are its JaguarDrive modes with Adaptive Surface Response, electronic air suspension, and Adaptive Dynamics so the driver can fine tune the car to suit the road conditions.