The 395bhp Jaguar I-Pace Is Here And It Looks Just Like The Concept

Ladies and gents, it’s at last happened: we have a practical electric car you might actually want to buy which is not a Tesla. What’s more, it’s not from the German big three either - Jaguar has beaten them all to the punch with this: the I-Pace.

The thing that strikes us straight away? The looks - it’s barely distinguishable from the concept revealed back in 2016. The result is a striking yet pretty brute that makes Jaguar’s F-Pace SUV look a little dumpy.

Under the floor you’ll find 90kWh-worth of batteries, which power two electric motors: one for the rear wheels, and one for the front. Combined, these produce 395bhp and 513lb ft of torque, making 0-62mph possible in 4.8 seconds.

We’ve high hopes for the way the I-Pace drives on the road, with our time behind the wheel of a prototype - admittedly in the slightly irrelevant environment of an ice lake up near the Arctic Circle - proving to be entertaining thanks to quick, accurate steering and a ‘virtual driveline’ that’ll happily bias the rear wheels.

It’s especially surprising how chuckable it was given the weight: even the lightest versions will tip the scales at a positively porky 2133kg. That makes the I-Pace significantly heavier than the larger F-Pace.

It has a range of up to 298 miles according to the new, more stringent WLTP cycle, and you can charge the batteries from 0-80 per cent in just 40 minutes. With a caveat, unfortunately - that’d require a 100kW DC charger, something not available in the UK yet.

A 50kW public charger meanwhile will charge the batteries to 80 per cent in 85 minutes, and if you’re plugging it into an AC wall box at home, it’ll take 10 hours to get the battery to the same point.

To make the most of the battery pack, there’s also a pre-conditioning system that can automatically fiddle with the battery temperature before you set off, with the timings of your anticipated journey made via a companion smart phone app.

In the cabin, you’ll find - shock horror - a new steering wheel. Yep, it seems Jaguar is starting to move away from the wheel design that first debuted in the F-Type before spamming the rest of the range in subsequent years.

The heavily raked dashboard/centre console has been fitted with JLR’s Touch Pro Duo entertainment system, which runs as a 4G hotspot. There’s a USB socket for each occupant, removing the chance of a family argument erupting over whose iPhone is in the most dire need of charging.

The cabin is roomy thanks to a lack of transmission tunnel, while the boot has an impressive 656-litre capacity, expanding to an Ikea-friendly 1453 litres with the rear seats folded down.

So it’s plenty quick enough, is practical, looks great and has more than enough range for most. The only trouble is, this does all come at a cost. And that cost is £63,495 before you think about any options. That’s about £10,000 more than the most expensive F-Pace, but £7000 less than the entry-level Tesla Model X. We’d expect incoming German rivals to weigh in at a similar price.

The car will make its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week, and is available to order now.