Our cars
Good infotainment, variable sensors
Guy Bird
There are lots of things that can potentially go wrong with modern tech- laden cars, especially on the electrical side. But our I-Pace has been pretty even so far. The digital driver display and two central infotainment screens have worked via their associated physical switches and virtual buttons with a level of intuitiveness not always apparent with systems from other car makers, while the bigger two of the three screens mirror- links to my Apple iPhone – wirelessly or via cable – without fuss.
Most cars have two screens to interact with these days, but the I-Pace also has a smaller third one, below the main central screen, for air-conditioning, heated seating and temperature. Framed by two large and smartly-designed push/pull rotary dials for individual driver and passenger air and heat adjustment, it’s perhaps not instantly clear on the move, when to touch the smartly flush screen and when to twist
the dials. But after a few exploratory pushes and pulls you quickly get used to it. The screen graphics are also sharp and once the ‘seat heat’ option is made, two graphic renderings of each front seat can be pressed to specifically activate heating on the seat base, seatback – or both – which then turn red to confirm what areas of each are going to warm up soon. In the recent colder weather they’ve been a neat option. Regularly touted as a more energy- efficient way to get one or two humans toasty inside a cold car made for five, compared to turning up the aircon for the whole cabin, it should still be noted that when both heated front seats are deployed, this tech also dents EV range, like A/C. The drop was a not insignificant eight miles last time I checked.
Why we’re running it
To see if Jaguar’s EV trailblazer can still cut it among a host of new rivals
The I-Pace’s has decent screens, apps and electrics, bar one sleepy sensor…
Jaguar I-Pace R-Dynamic HSE Black EV400 (90kWh)
P11D price £77,440 As tested £83,775 (OTR) Official range 255 miles Our average consumption 1.4m/kWh Mileage 2,162
Other reassuring intuitive visual indicators on the I-Pace include the way the car opens and closes. One ‘plip’ of the remote keyfob and the driver’s flush door handle moves away from the bodywork to show that it is open, while two ‘plips’ opens the other three doors and reveals their handles too. At night, there’s also a puddle light on the floor by the front doors when open, which although now a relatively commonplace feature on many new cars, still has the ability to surprise and delight those who’ve not seen it before. The graphic driver display is also clean and understandable and matched by an app that doesn’t try to do too much, but links with the car and phone easily (Volvo and Citroën take note) while remotely delivering useful info on state of charge, range and recent trips competently. Given that the I-Pace was first introduced in 2018 – and that infotainment can age a car very quickly – it’s to the credit of Jaguar’s engineers and designers that these functions still look and act sharp in 2024. One small, but annoying exception to the I-Pace’s generally high-performing technology, relates to the car’s tailgate. While most of the
WEBSITE Please visit
www.businesscar.co.uk/tests/long-term-test/ for previous reports on our fleet
I-Pace’s exterior sensors are only too happy to ‘get in a tizz’ at seemingly inanimate large objects they worry are too close and might damage the front or rear of the car when parking, these generally hyper- sensitive sensors either don’t exist or have taken a nap when it comes to the tailgate. On one post-Christmas family mission, after squeezing the 2139mm-wide (with mirrors) car into a tight space within an old hotel car park designed for much smaller ones, we got out and ‘plipped’ the tailgate open – only to see it gently rise upward until it hit the car park ceiling’s low-slung pipework above. Far from a one-off, every time we opened it in that space afterwards we had to place our hand between the pipes and the tailgate to avoid further unwanted clunks. Sub-optimal.
www.businesscar.co.uk | February 2024 | 45
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