Jaguar mulling EV hypercar

Jaguar has just launched its first electric vehicle, the new I-PACE, but the British luxury brand is already looking towards a future dominated by EVs – almost certainly including a mind-melting hypercar.

The Jaguar I-PACE's engineering manager, Dave Shaw, said the company’s new EV platform is capable of delivering completely independent torque to each axle – one of the benefits of having two electric motors, one front and one rear.

"I think, personally, moving forwards, once people accept that actually there's more benefits that come with an EV rather than negatives, why would that not work in a hypercar?" he said.

"Look around. Rimac is doing an EV hypercar, McLaren is a doing an EV hypercar."

Jaguar toyed with the idea of a petrol-electric turbine-powered hypercar in the form of the C-X75 first revealed as a concept at the 2010 Paris motor show.

The C-X75 then morphed into a petrol-electric hypercar powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that, combined with a pair of electric motors, could punch out 373kW of power and rip to 100km/h in under three seconds.

Ironically, eight years on, the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE is a sold-out hypercar powered by a F1-derived 1.6-litre turbo V6 and four electric motors. It costs $5 million, generates 740kW and elicits strong emotional responses.

Jaguar clearly wants its own electric hypercar and everything from a battery-powered F-TYPE sports car to an XJ limousine is likely too, but don't expect either any time soon.

The company is likely to use the new I-PACE platform for bread-and-butter models first such, as it recoups the exorbitant development costs.

The platform developed for the Jaguar I-PACE has accounted for a fair whack of parent company Tata's $25 billion green R&D budget.

But as the group engineering director for Jaguar Land Rover Dr Wolfgang Ziebart explained, the platform is very much scalable and will find its way underneath other Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

"Other companies are selling just the same concept as the most scalable platform on earth. In reality it's not that easy as some people might make you think, but it is definitely scalable," he said of the I-PACE's architecture.

Shaw observed that the automotive industry could soon undergo a paradigm shift as customers experience a new level of performance through technology which, "because of what it delivers, is ultimately able to fill every hole in the niche.”

"EV is a very elegant solution for an automobile, and that's transferable from something that's a city car all the way up to a hypercar."

Currently the Jaguar I-PACE is underpinned by a 90kWh lithium-ion battery pack with nickel manganese cobalt chemistry, but this battery could be enhanced – or downgraded – for different applications.

"Moving forwards, I think any opportunity will be available with this technology and I think customers would accept it and in the future probably expect it," said Shaw.

"It's an exciting time."

Our Jaguar I-PACE EV review and video – including road, track and off-road impressions -- can be viewed when the embargo lifts on Monday, June 4 at 9:00am AEST.