Three thousand miles in, life with an I-Pace couldn't be better - no, really
You know when your new car is a good’n, I think, when you aren’t thinking about the old car very much. It must be a decent upgrade, because there isn’t any longing for what’s been given up. When my Mini blew a head gasket and I tried to be sensible replacing it with a Mazda 3, there wasn’t a journey that went by without yearning for my old car back.
But the opposite is true for; it replaced an X3 M40i, which itself was a great car, and yet I haven’t found myself pining for the Beemer’s charms very much at all. Sometimes I see one going the other way, and it’s a nice reminder of a really good BMW, though I’m not desperate to switch seats. Which is a long way of saying our Jaguar I-Pace is brilliant. I’m almost at the point of wishing we’d changed sooner, however compelling the X3’s blend of straight six sound and 400 miles to a fill was. Put simply, the Jag is doing everything and more that we hoped it would; as well as being more enjoyable on the shorter trips that dominate life with a young family thanks to its cushier ride and EV response, it’s proving likeable on a whole host of journeys. There’s ample space for everyone and everything we ever need to take anywhere; a rear middle seat is more usable than the X3’s without a transmission tunnel robbing foot room. It’s always fast, regardless of what’s been lobbed in the back. And when travelling alone, Jaguar’s expert tuning of suspension, steering and brakes makes the I-Pace really satisfying to drive. Adjusting the regen is buried in a slightly fiddly menu, but we’ve found the strongest setting really easy to adapt to. The flow and finesse that characterises a Jaguar driving experience is most certainly in evidence here. Which was well known from all the glowing I-Pace reviews, of course, but it’s nice to be reminded of the fact. As a driving experience, it isn’t disgraced by newer electric rivals. Indeed there are certain things the Jag still does better than the current crop. I love the interior, with chunky buttons for the transmission as well as the drive modes and those F-Type-style knurled dials for the ventilation. Naturally, there’s greater familiarity with your own car than a press demonstrator, but bear in mind that this basic layout went on sale in 2018 and I think it’s ageing really well. Particularly with the Pivi Pro update that still works so smartly. Gripes are few and far between. At this time of year, a rear wiper would be handy; I can’t believe that any drag advantage outweighs the usefulness of clearing the back screen properly. The grimier weather has found the tyres wanting a couple of times, too, so replacing those might be in order soon. And black over cream is proving tricky to keep clean, but that feels like telling you an I-Pace needs plugging in to charge. Of course it’s hard work. When spick and span, I think the Jag looks fantastic. Speaking of charging, there are no disasters to report. Yet. One will surely follow soon, because that’s life in the UK with an EV. Most of our charging is done at home , and the I-Pace has hooked up to public chargers slow, fast and rapid no problem at all. When conditions have been ideal , it’s achieved close to its maximum 100kW DC charge rate, too. It would be nice if the Jag went a bit further and charged a bit faster, even if that feels like the dream of every EV owner. At the moment, we’re averaging around 3mi/kWh, which in theory would give 270 miles from the 90kWh battery. It goes above that around town, then a little less when cruising at a constant speed. Typically I reckon we’re charging every 230 miles or so, which is absolutely fine. The bigger issue, as is all too well known at the moment, is the cost of public charging, which shows absolutely no signs of easing off. At some of the priciest, you’re paying almost 90p per kilowatt hour, so effectively close to 30p a mile in ‘fuel’ at the 3mi/kWh average. And that’s just crazy, further disincentivising people to make the EV swap. Then, of course, there’s winter to think about. Despite a mild November for us so far, the colder weeks will be coming, and that’ll be the real test of the I-Pace’s mettle. Will it still be as likeable with reduced range? Let’s check back around Christmas time…
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