Jaguar readying Tesla Model X rival
Brit car-maker to sell first ever all-electric vehicle. It will be an SUV and is set to be called E-PACEJaguar, according to new media reports, is secretly working on an all-new rival to the Tesla Model X SUV.
Set to be called be called the E-PACE, the new pure-electric Jag will share its silhouette with SUVs such as BMW’s X6.
This, says US magazine Automobile, will help the E-PACE achieve a drag coefficient of just 0.28Cd -- lower than any other current SUV.
The decision to make an all-electric SUV, instead of a luxury sedan to rival Tesla’s Model S, follows in the tyre tracks of Audi which last month revealed its all-electric Q6 e-tron concept at the Frankfurt motor show.
Instead of being made in the UK, according to the senior Jaguar source speaking to the US mag, the company plans to hand over production to third party manufacturer Magna Steyr, which will make the E-PACE at its plant in Graz, Austria.
For it to be successful, Jaguar will need to sell over 20,000 E-PACEs a year when the new SUV goes on sale around 2020. This is to cover the high cost of R&D, according to Automobile magazine.
And it’s not just a state-of-the-art, all-electric vehicle the luxury British car-maker is readying.
According to the same source, Jaguar and sibling brand Land Rover are both working to expand the new Ingenium range of petrol and diesel engines to replace the current ageing 3.0-litre V6s.
The new engines are rumoured to swap the 3.0-litre V6-configuration for a range of inline six-cylinder petrol and diesels to match German car-maker BMW.
The new petrol and diesel engines will come with three different power outputs.
On the petrol side, the normally aspirated version is expected to produce 220kW, while a turbo version should pump out a more muscular 300kW. An even more powerful twin-turbo version, that could replace the current Ford-made 5.0-litre V8, will spearhead the new engine range and produce at least 370kW.
The diesel, meanwhile, is expected to produce 250kW in the base version and 300kW in the range-topping variant that could also feature a novel triple turbo set-up.
It's understood the new range of inline six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines will be offered in Jaguars and Land Rovers by late 2017.
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