[Rob]

The revolutionary all-electric Jaguar I-PACE will be making one of its first UK public appearances at Fully Charged Live, taking place at Silverstone from 9th-10th June. Fitted with a state-of-the-art 90kWh Lithium-ion battery, two Jaguar-designed motors and a bespoke aluminum structure, the I-PACE is capable of 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and a range of 298 miles (WLTP).

The C-X75 supercar inspired performance SUV has already received critical acclaim, being named a 'Game Changer' at the 2018 Autocar Awards and collecting the What Car? 2018 Reader Award, securing it the title of the most anticipated new car of 2018.

Enhancing its appeal further, it is now confirmed that the I-PACE will qualify for the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) electric vehicle grant schemes. The first all-electric Jaguar is eligible for both the £4,500 Plug in Car Grant and the £500 Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme.

Fully Charged Live is the electric vehicle and renewable energy event of the year, with dozens of visitor attractions, sixteen live sessions and lots of exciting exhibitors, hosted at Silverstone from 9th-10th June.

Full information on Fully Charged Live and how to attend can be found here: http://www.fullychargedshow.co.uk/fully-charged-live-more-info

 

[Guest]

Already got tickets for the show!

 

[stuorguk]

I just got back from there. The First Addition I-Pace was getting a lot of attention.

I was a bit puzzled by the wheels. They were 20" 5070, but the spec sheet said they were 22" 5069.

It wasn't the only Electric Jaguar there.

 

[zee]

@stuorguk How many I-Pace were at the event? And what were the colours?

 

[jeremyp]

@zee We got a ride from the car park to the event in a Model S and the driver said there was a black one. I only saw the red First Edition stuorguk mentioned

 

[zee]

Today was the first time I saw the I-Pace in Photon Red and wow it blew me away! I was not expecting to like it at all but it is actually a fantastic colour. Its not quite orange and not quite red but the best of both colours. I've ordered an HSE in White but I'm really thinking of changing to an FE now! Just wish we didnt have to have to wood effect panels!

I also managed to have a really really good play with the software and touch screens, I played some music via bluetooth and place a phone call using the built in mic:

Software:
I should mention that I develop mobile apps for a living so I may have a higher expectation for software than others. As a lot of reviews have stated the software is really convoluted. It seems like they have tried to implement a full OS into a car but only got half way. There are features akin to "multiple desktops" on macs, menus that go 3 or 4 levels deep and its not immediately obvious what is clickable and what isn't.

What I will say though is it all seemed quite responsive and the animations are very pretty. All the main features like phone, music, sat nav etc are all easily accessible and work well but there is so much more to the system that just that. I feel maybe they tried to bite off more than they needed to here but the final version of the software will tell.

Touch screens:
I was initially worried about the accuracy of touches as, unlike phones, the screens are quite far from the glass surface. However in practice I had no issues with mis-touches or anything of the like. One of the things I did notice though is that light taps don't register, you have almost press your whole finger tip to the screen. This might be a safety feature to stop accidental touches, I'm not sure, but once I got used it I didn't seem to notice it so much. Everything felt very responsive though and the quality of the screens themselves were gorgeous!

The little screens on the dials were also razor sharp and very satisfying animations. I did notice however that you can be too quick with them. After pulling to change function you have give it a second before turning, otherwise it ends up changing the settings for the previous function. Clearly a responsiveness issue in the software.

Music:
So I currently drive an E class and I have previously driven a Tesla Model S on a few occasions but I have to say the sound system completely blows those two out of the water! The bass is nice and heavy, vocals are clear and the mid tones are nice and crisp. Someone got into the car in the passenger seat and said that it sounds better than the Bose system in his Bentley which is high praise. So if you enjoy your music you're going to absolutely love this car! There seem to be multiple sound decoder options: stereo, Meridian (which sounded the best to me), Dolby Pro Logic IIx and dts neo6 all with bass, treble and subwoofer level adjustments. Oh and the car can get really really loud!

Phone calls:
One thing about my E class I dont like is the mic is a bit weedy and the speakers arent the clearest but I have no issues in the I-Pace. I could hear the caller crystal clear and they heard me great too. There isnt much more to say about that to be honest because it just works really well.

Here are some videos I took of the screens. Ignore the beeping sounds, there was some battery error being shown because it was charging via the generator or something.

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Also those who want to see the difference between tinted and non tinted windows:

Oh and for fun heres whats actually under the frunk!

 

[Raeth]

Thanks for the interesting write up Zee! I ordered the Photon Red and really doubting my color choice as it can look very orange in some pictures but in others proper intense red (which I guess is the whole point). Your comment and pictures help reaffirm my choice, thanks!

Shame about the OS though. Especially since it's such a responsive, speedy car it doesn't seem to fit the overall (driving) experience. Good thing the screens are nice to look at and once the car is configured we hopefully don't have to spend too much time digging in the OS / through the menu's (or can use the phone app).

 

[Pilot]

Depends what you define as «orange», but for me it is very different than orange colour (as in fruit).

I would describe it as intense red, whilst Firenze is more like darker shade of red (carmine).

Already posted a few pics before, but here they are again under cloudless sky with sun in the zenith.

 

[zee]

The problem with this colour is the effect is so hard to capture on camera. It will change depending on the camera used to take the picture and the screen it's being viewed on. I would say you should make the effort to go see it in person if possible because pictures really don't do it justice

 

[Mark_T]

I'm almost wondering if there is more than one version of the Photon Red as the one I saw was 100% undeniably orange and did not look a bit like the photos above.

It was in a showroom under bright lights and parked next to a car in Firenze Red and the difference was stark.