There have been developments galore when it comes to EV technology. Ever since Tesla showed up with the Model S a few years ago we’ve seen and experienced a rise in the number of vehicles that are coming out as EV models. The increase in these models has a lot to do with the reaction we’ve had to Tesla and to the fact that emissions regulations seem to be getting stricter across the globe. With that in mind, nearly every brand is working to produce their own EV model that can be displayed and admired by the public over the next few years.
The most recent announcement, that was simply rumor in the past, is the creation of the Jaguar E-Pace vehicle that would become the new compact EV SUV for us to drive. Recent news indicates that the E-Pace has been approved for production and is expected to be on the market by 2018, which means we’ll see the production model at a car show sometime in the near future to give us a look at what Jaguar interprets and EV to be. I would expect this to be an SUV that looks and drives exceptionally, but we won’t know until its fully revealed.
The announcement answers a few questions as well and the new E-Pace will be a smaller vehicle than the F-Pace and have a lower roofline and more aggressive styling. This new EV is to be based upon the Evoque E concept that was part of the Land Rover display in 2015. If that’s the case, the vehicle should start out using a 70 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, but you could see a much larger one as Jaguar plans for the E-Pace to be able to offer a driving range between 280 and 300 miles on a single charge.
The platform and motor usage by Jaguar makes us tons of aluminum which will make the E-Pace much lighter than a conventional vehicle. This design and build will also make the E-Pace electric motor about sixty percent cheaper to produce because of the use of aluminum winding and the deletion of the rare earth magnets that typically make these motors so expensive.
Up front we’ll see a motor that makes 114 horsepower and in the back there will be one that’s good for 195 ponies. This will give us a combined output of 308 horsepower and the ability to make use of torque vectoring. With this setup you can see that the E-Pace will be an AWD vehicle right out of the box and offer you the benefit of the control you want. If you do want to drive in RWD this SUV will have the ability to let you do so with the flip of a switch that will shut the front motor off.
Now that we know the E-Pace is coming in 2018, you can expect Land Rover won’t be far behind with a Range Rover that’s all-electric. Currently the expected arrival day for that will be at least in 2019, but it could easily be later than that.
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