A new legion Electric Car was launched in the last few years, so it’s easy to forget about one of the earliest entries in the electrical revolution: Jaguar I-Pace. In fact, the I-Pace is so old now that it’s getting a mid-cycle refresh to model year 2022. Automatic log already have “First Drive” of this futuristic-looking crossover-hatchback almost 4 years ago, so it’s time to see where the electric Jag stands when it has more competition.
To really understand where the I-Pace fits in today, I decided to use road trip from Detroit, Michigan, to Buffalo, New York, and back. This will test the car’s real-world highway range, charging capabilities, and luxury power like a premium car. intersection. It also becomes a test of the Rust Belt’s charging infrastructure and ability to facilitate tripping on EV roads.
The trip started at 100% charge in Michigan, the weather was 50 degrees, and the road ahead of me was 381 miles. According to the sticker for this 2022 Jaguar I-Pace EV400 HSE, it has a range of 222 miles on a full charge – down from the 234 miles it is rated for in 2021. I set out, and it was all great. good to start. This I-Pace comes with standard 20-inch wheels (not optional, giant 22), which pair perfectly with the air suspension for a truly comfortable ride. Adaptive cruise control makes it easy to deal with rush hour traffic through Detroit, and the I-Pace’s dual-motor powertrain is good for 394 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. -feet, is fun when you pave the way. Even at 60 mph, the I-Pace has plenty of ways to pin you down like other fast EVs available today.
As I head to Ohio and navigate through Toledo, several highlights emerge. The lane centering system is sometimes complicated and downright scary. Poor lane marking causes the car to suddenly jerk left or right and you need to be quick to steer so it doesn’t swerve or worse – other vehicles with similar lane-following technology perform significantly better on top roads. All the more frustrating when I learned how good it was on the highway with clear and consistent lane markings, nice tracking… until the road was no longer cooperative. The inability to cope when the lane markings suddenly deteriorated makes this system hardly worth using. Tracking its bad behavior is more taxing on the mind than just shutting down the system and driving without.
Another catch: Before I set off, I tried using Jaguar’s new stop-charge planner in the new-for-2022 Pivi Pro infotainment system. It’s scarier than the old Jaguar setup The original I-Pace was there, but the ability to automatically plan your trip around charging needs wasn’t ready for prime time. Once plugged in to my destination, it took 30 seconds to determine the charging stop, then worked out a 9 hour drive. I almost spat through the windshield. A trip from Detroit to Buffalo in a gasoline-powered car takes about 6 hours, including gas stops and restrooms.
As an alternative, I mapped out a route in the trusted PlugShare app frequently and quickly found that the circuit route the I-Pace had generated made very little sense. Apparently it didn’t recognize the many chargers located right near major highways, including many Electrify America stations with very fast charging capabilities (beyond what the I-Pace can actually do), to the chargers it knows about. already exist.
After 156 miles, I’m at my first stop. It was the Electrify America station (the first of many) rated for 150 kilowatts of fast charging, just west of Cleveland, Ohio. The I-Pace records a 20% charge, which is the perfect time to see how quickly the Jag can go from 20% or more at a maximum charge rate of approximately 100 kW. I use the toll booth to go to dinner at a nearby pizza restaurant – not all toll stations have such facilities. I unplug first hours and 6 minutes later. The I-Pace read 97% of the charge and I was $34.35 poorer. It’s not cheap for energy that can take me about 170 miles in ideal conditions – in fact, it’s only a few dollars cheaper than EPA says it would be expensive to drive on gasoline, 22 mpg Jaguar F-Pace P340. This would be why it’s best to recharge at home, but at least the Electrify America station worked perfectly, which is no doubt. That includes seeing charging rates around the I-Pace’s 100 kW peak charge rate for a long time before it slows down when the battery reach a higher charge state.
My next stop is 120 miles away at a Walmart in Erie, Pennsylvania. I dashed in with 34% charge still healthy and with only 104 miles to my destination from here, all I needed was a quick blast of electrons before the final stretch. Unfortunately, Walmart was closing stores when I arrived, so I spent this fee waiting around a remote area of an empty parking lot – this is the reality of charging EV road trips, often than no. After 37 minutes and spending $11.86, I’m back on the road with a 78% charge. Once again, the Electrify America chargers worked perfectly, but not all worked at this charger location – again, something we’ve noticed elsewhere in the Electrify America network.
The trip to Buffalo ended smoothly just 104 miles later, with 28% of the charge remaining. It’s cold at this point, as temperatures slowly enter the low 40s range, cutting the overall range for the duration. It’s hard to imagine this trip going so much smoother with the I-Pace, as the overall ride time was only 7.5 hours and I had a nice dinner halfway through.
Would a vehicle with longer range and significantly faster charging be a better companion? Sure. The I-Pace is essentially behind time in every significant EV factor. It has less range, in part because it’s one of the least efficient EVs at 75 mpg-e, and recharges more slowly. The cars boast 800-volt electrical architecture, including Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Porsche Taycan and Audi E-Tron GT, a 20-80% sprint can be charged in about 20 minutes taking advantage of the available 350 kW fast charger. In contrast, the I-Pace requires twice that time and practically cannot use up the 150 kW fast charger.
Having said all that, let’s take a moment to remember that there’s a lot to cars beyond their range, performance, and refueling times. Because even if other cars pass it at an Electrify America station, the I-Pace is still a popular car everywhere else. The combination of its low center of gravity, 50:50 weight distribution and all-wheel drive gives it incredible agility, and its brake-based torque is just enough to help ensure that you are using power effectively. Even if you just skim the highways on the highway like I used to, it’s clear that tossing around is just as enjoyable as it was back in 2019. All the competition. That doesn’t change that – the Jaguar I -Pace remains one of the best EVs for those who love to drive, ranking closer a taycan on a more interesting scale than a Kia EV6. And it must, with the price tag.
The interior likewise offers an uplifting experience that by itself allows you to stumble and get comfortable on a daily basis. Jaguar makes the climate control and seats a bit too complicated for its own good with the extra touchscreen and push/pull buttons, but that’s my worst complaint. There are plenty of places to put personal belongings, the seats are comfortable for hours on end, and wind noise is kept to a minimum. The roar of the winter rubber tires fitted to the test car was the loudest effect of the noise, and while we’re on the subject of tyres, I’ll point out that this winter rubber is solid. Definitely not ideal for maximum road trip range as stock all-season tyres.
But! I am very happy to have winter tires fit, because shortly after setting off for the return trip to Michigan, it started to snow. Of course, this also means temperatures have dropped since the trip to Buffalo (now in their mid-20s), and it is likely the cause of all of our problems. I.
I started, again, under the most ideal circumstances with 100% fee by being able to join the Free Level 2 The overnight ChargePoint charger is just a few blocks from where I live. Unfortunately, cold weather is having a far-reaching effect on the range at the moment. After an hour of off-road driving at 70 mph, I quickly realized that there was no way I could make the 175-mile trip to my first scheduled charging stop. Even after I turn off the climate control completely, the predictive range is still short, 25 miles, and it drops off quickly.
To that end, I went to the same Electrify America station in Erie that had treated me well before. This time, it was much less pleasant. The charge rate peaked around 60 kW when I was at 30-40% of the charge range and it only dropped from there. It took me 22 minutes to collect 16% of the fee and just enough to get me to my final dinner destination east of Cleveland. It’s hard to say what’s the problem with such slow charging, but weather or bad charger is the cause.
My bad luck continued on the next charge just 76 miles down the road. I continued when there was only 13% charge left and again this charger reached a peak charge rate of about 60 kW even though the maximum output was 350 kW and differed from the 100 kW rate for which the I-Pace was rated. I spent 1 hour 18 minutes waiting here and left with a 79% charge, paying $29.84.
By the time I got to the last charging point, the temperature had already risen to 32 degrees and was continuing to rise. When plugged in at 15%, the charging speed spiked to 100 kW. I was surprised. It only took 37 minutes to charge from 15-70%, which is remarkably fast compared to the day I’ve had so far. Again, it’s not cheap at $24.79. This brought me back home to Detroit, and I ended up with a pretty nasty final ride time of 8.5 hours.
This excruciatingly long ride is the result of slow highway driving to maximize efficiency, the cold weather forcing three charging stops instead of two sluggish Electrify America chargers. It was not only the time penalty I faced, but also the financial penalty. My total charging costs for the whole weekend totaled $143.51, which is significantly higher than the $110 I paid for premium fuel to make the same trip over our long term. BMW 330e. It’s important to note that I started each way with 100% of the fees earned without paying a dime.
If the road trip is short, the I-Pace is a lovely companion, but the multi-stop trips are annoying. Electric vehicles with wide range, better efficiency and faster charging can help you combat the effects of the cold weather that the I-Pace is a victim of. If you’re looking for an electric vehicle to use as a daily driver around town, the I-Pace is still a perfectly valid option. Its car model looks like aliens; There was never a dull moment of driving, and the cabin’s quality matched my tester’s asking price of $73,095. However, if you’re not after Jaguar luxury, options like Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ford Mustang Mach-E all offer superior charging/electrical technology in terms of charging range and speed.
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