Jaguar has revealed pricing for the upcoming I-Pace electric SUV which arrives in SA early in 2019, and going green doesn’t come cheap.
The Eskom-powered vehicle will be available in three trim grades, while a limited run of First Edition models will act as range-toppers for a year.
All variants have identical powertrains comprising a 90kWh battery positioned in the floor for a low centre of gravity, and two axle-mounted synchronous electric motors paired with concentric single speed transmissions.
Its 294kW power and 696Nm torque is enough to launch the all-wheel drive SUV from 0-100km/h in a claimed 4.8 seconds, and a single full charge provides a range of up to 470km on the worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure cycle — more than enough to cover an average 300km weekly commute, Jaguar says.
Though the running costs are cheap the initial outlay isn’t, with the I-Pace to retail between R1,687,000 and R1,920,700 — representing huge premiums over Jaguar’s similarly-sized but combustion-powered F-Pace SUV which ranges in price from R785,704 to R1,208,559.
It would take a long time for fuel-cost savings to make up the price difference. For instance, the range-topping F-Pace 35T AWD S, which with its 280kW and 450Nm is the most similar in outputs to the I-Pace, uses about 36l of petrol over the 300km weekly commute. This means that at current petrol and electricity prices it would take about 26 years of driving the top-of-the-range I-Pace to make back its R712,141 price premium over the F-Pace in fuel savings.