Jaguar plotting hi-po SVR electric car

Tuned by Jaguar's Special Vehicle Operations hot-shop, or SVO, Jag's next supercar is going to be crazy fast and will look like nothing else before it.

It will also be greener than a wind turbine placed on top a hemp factory, but will it be silent and genteel like some electric cars? Don't bet on it!

Jaguar's first electric vehicle (EV) must have real character, says Mike Cross, the British brand's chief engineer, who has been at the company for more than three decades.

"I've driven the Tesla," he said, before adding: "The challenge is going to be making the car engaging to drive.

"The Tesla is a fantastic achievement but I find it a difficult car to [connect with emotionally]," he opined.

"You know in the way you can enjoy driving a combustion engine on challenging roads? We're going to have to work hard to bringing that character to an electric car," said Cross, in a subtle backhand to the US-built Tesla Model S.

Jaguar's new model is understood to be in development with Williams Advanced Engineering, or WAE, with which Jaguar is already allied as part of its tilt at the Formula E championship later in 2016. WAE is also run by ex-HRT and Walkinshaw Performance boss Craig Wilson, who has deep ties with Jaguar.

Cross said EVs were appealing, particularly due to the fact they pump out peak torque at low speeds. But he added that Jaguar will seek to address the tendency of EV performance to taper off quickly after the explosive initial acceleration 'hit'.

"I think we're going to have to be clever in making the car feel more linear, more engaging," said Cross.

How Jaguar will achieve this feat and when, is not common knowledge but Jaguar Land Rover's global PR chief, Richard Agnew, said he was excited about just how rapid an SVR-badged, SVO-tuned version of an electric supercar could be.

"We've stated we are going to have an electric car. The one thing about electric cars is that performance is, dare I say, electric.

"They're game-changers in terms of torque and power delivery. In the future, when we have an electric car, what would an SVR version of it be like? I know it'd be bloody quick!" he grinned.

Jaguar has experience in the field of go-fast electric vehicles, having come tantalisingly close to building a short run of the 2013 CX-75 concept (pictured), a hard-core hypercar that made use of a compact 1.6-litre turbo-petrol and twin electric motors.

"That car never made it to production, because it came at the wrong time for us as a brand," said Agnew.

But he reiterated his colleague's assertion than any Jaguar EV would have to be engaging to drive.

"No matter what the powertrain is, it has to deliver the essence of what the brand is about and what consumers want," he said.

He even suggested that the new EV supercar will headed to Australia, and that range anxiety is not the barrier it used to be.

"Our research tells is that we're at the point where people are not avoiding electric cars because of range anxiety," he said, stating that potential customers of Jag's first EV who "want to drive from Melbourne to Perth" will be offered "one of our other vehicles for the weekend to get to where they need to get to."

Best of all, the impending Jaguar supercar will have a striking appearance, Agnew hinted.

"Take the internal combustion powerplant out [of a car and replace it with electric motors] and you get more freedom -- it completely changes the rules around car design.

"In the past you designed a car around an engine. That's gone now."

So can we expect a design that'll channel the gorgeous CX-75 concept, or perhaps even the Jaguar XJ 220 supercar from the 1990s? Agnew wouldn't be drawn on this point but it's clear the company is planning something radical.