Jaguar I-PACE could start at $100K

Jaguar’s first ever electric vehicle is likely to start from about $100,000 when it lands in Australia in 2018.

The British car-maker gave a select group of journalists including motoring.com.au a sneak peak of the highly-touted I-PACE Concept before its Los Angeles motor show debut last week.

Here it confirmed that a production version will reach showrooms in the second half of 2018 replete with a range of at least 500km and a zero to 100km/h time of about four seconds.

According to initial predictions from Jaguar stakeholders, a “10 to 15 per cent” price premium is likely to be attached to the I-PACE over the equivalent but slightly larger internal combustion offering, the F-PACE.

In the most basic terms, that means the I-PACE would ordinarily start from about $100,000 (plus on-road costs in Australia), a slight bump on the current F-PACE range, which starts at $74,340 and tops out at $120,415 plus ORCs.

“It’s market-dependent obviously so it can vary depending on tariffs and taxes but typically it would be around 10 to 15 per cent more than the equivalent internal combustion F-PACE,” a global spokesman said.

The Australian price of the I-PACE could rise considerably given the only direct competition for the new model is the soon-to-be-released Tesla Model X, which starts from $122,812 plus ORCs.

The global approximation was tempered by a Jaguar Land Rover Australia spokesman, who suggested the figure may be subject to give or take in Australia, where the Luxury Car Tax and other fiscal factors differ from the rest of the world.

“In Australia we have a lot of extra taxes and things to consider. Whilst that 10 to 15 per cent figure is a global number Australia is still being looked at,” the spokesman said.

Jaguar wasn’t willing to talk about annual production volumes for its I-PACE, but the car’s chief designer, Ian Callum, believes it has all the hallmarks of a big seller.

Citing the demand for the recently introduced F-PACE, which has soared to the top of the sales charts internally for Jaguar, Callum said the I-PACE had significant sales potential with markets around the world.

“One day most cars in the world will be electric, I think it’s inevitable,” Callum said.

“I think it won’t be out of legislation or political choice, I think it will happen naturally. Most car concentrated parts of the world, within 10 years it will become the choice of the people. That’s my personal belief.”