Can the facelift improve on the great i-Pace or has the competition caught up with it?
Exterior – Front
So, lets start with the front of the i-Pace. We do get some changes. To start with we get a blanked off grill to make the car look more aerodynamic. Apart from that everything else is the same. This means we get the same bumper and even the same headlights. To be honest I would have liked to have seen a different bumper to give us a glimpse of the future of jaguar.
Exterior – Side
Moving round to the side there are no changes to report of apart from the gloss black finishes are now body colour. There are even no new wheel options. You do get flush door handles though and a sporty silhouette.
Exterior – Rear
Moving round to the back of the i-Pace and again just like the side there are no changes. We get the same taillights and bumpers which again is a shame really. Let’s have a look and see if the battery and motor options have improved.
Car and engine specs and price
So, the i-Pace only has one battery and motor option. This is a 395 bhp motor with a 90kWh battery pack giving this car a 0-62 time of 4.5 seconds and a range of 300 miles but in the real world it would be about 240 to 250 miles. This all sounds great even for a 5-year-old car but when it comes down to charging this is where it is let down. The Audi Q8 E-Tron has a 170kW charging speed. The Jaguar i-Pace on the other hand only has 100kW charging speed. Even some cheaper cars have 150kW charging speed. This lets the car down as it will take longer to charge. If it had a more efficient motor and better charging speeds it again would have put it ahead of its rivals. The price of the new Jaguar i-Pace facelift starts at £69,995. Let’s have a look at the interior.
Interior – Design
So, getting inside and if you have an i-Pace, it will feel identical to your car. This is because we get the same infotainment system that you will find from the 2020 model onwards and the same dashboard design with the 2-screen setup. We also still get the touch sensitive buttons and a digital instrument cluster. We also get the button gear selector and the same sport seats. The interior is high end and premium, for 2018. If we have a look at the rest of the Jaguar Lineup apart from the F-Type and the XE, the rest of the cars have a curved Pivi Pro display which is much bigger than what is in this car. I would have liked to have seen this in the i-Pace as this would make the car feel much more premium, modern, and better than the Q8 E-Tron and EQC. Its just starting to feel outdated. Let’s have a look at the rear seats to see if things can improve with the i-Pace.
Practicality
So, getting into the rear seats a legroom is more than enough and so I headroom. This is the same with its rivals. We also get again premium materials, USB sockets, your own climate control and a armrest. Let’s look at the boot
Boot Size
So, opening the boot and you are welcomed with a generous 656 litre boot which is about the same again as its rivals.
Summary
So, in summary then what do I think of the Jaguar i-Pace. Well, when it was revealed back in 2018 it was so ahead of its time that it is still a great car from the ground up today. It drives great and it can easily beat its rivals in that aspect. Its just a shame that the changes that were made aren’t enough for me to suggest for an i-Pace customer to upgrade to the facelifted version. If they gave it a different front end and changed the interior to have the newer curved Pivi Pro infotainment system and upgraded the charging architecture, it would make this an excellent electric SUV. It just feels that Jaguar has neglected the i-Pace and have not wanted to try hard enough.
Exterior 3/5
Interior 3/5
Practicality 4/5
Total 10/15
Model | Jaguar i Pace R Dynamic HSE Back |
Engine | 1 Electric Motor, 395 bhp, 90kWh, 4 Wheel drive, 300mi Range |
Trnasmission | Automatic 1 Speed |
Price | £77,495 |
On Sale | Now |
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