If you had to pick between these luxury electric SUVs in India, which model would it be?

BHPian Ripcord09 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV

What you'll like:

• Futuristic-looking design and styling coupled with solid CBU build quality
• Whopping 402 BHP and 858 Nm (!!) from the twin motors. 0-100 km/h in just 4.9 seconds
• Real world range of 450 – 500 km should take care of range anxiety. Adjustable regeneration helps maximise range too
• Merc’s 4MATIC all-wheel drive system coupled with wide tyres provides excellent grip
• Interior ambience makes you feel like you’ve stepped into something special. Lovely quality of materials and attention to detail
• Loaded with features such as heated / ventilated front seats with massage function, massive hyperscreen setup with 3 displays, head-up display, 15-speaker Burmester sound system, impressive ambient lighting, connected car features, transparent bonnet, and more
• Top-notch safety kit includes 9 airbags, a laundry list of safety aids, and driver assistance features like adaptive cruise control, attention assist etc.
• Zero emissions, cheap running costs & green image will appeal to a lot of people

What you won't:

• CBU pricing makes it the priciest car in its segment. On-road price crosses Rs. 1.45 crores
• Neutral handling characteristics won’t excite enthusiasts. It’s fast, but not sporty
• Low ride height for an SUV, even with the 1-inch lift from the air suspension
• Touch-type controls can take time to get used to. Physical buttons are gone! Even ORVM adjustment is touch-based & non-user-friendly
• Some ergonomic issues like the A-pillar blind spot, poor rearward visibility and placement of the buttons on the centre console
• Missing features like rear-wheel steering, rear sunshade, grab handles for rear passengers, full-size spare tyre (has a space saver tyre), etc.
• Spare tyre is placed above the boot floor and eats into luggage space. Doesn't get a frunk either
• Back seat is more suitable for 2 healthy adults and a child. Not 3 healthy adults

Review Link

BMW iX

Ownership Review

Launch Discussion

Jaguar i-Pace

Test Drive Impressions

Ownership Review

Audi Q8 e-tron

What you'll like:

• Sophisticated and tech-laden EV developed without leaving any stone unturned
• Stylish & contemporary design language that lets it fit in with ICE-powered cars
• Accomplished drivetrain delivers astonishing performance. Very fast!
• Outstanding ride and handling package. Astounding levels of grip over all surfaces
• Class-leading claimed range of 582 km for the SUV and up to 600 km for the Sportback
• Trick air suspension allows you to switch between sporty dynamics and crossover-like practicality
• Well-appointed and thoughtfully designed cabin

What you won't:

• Not really a Q8. Based on the Q5 LWB mated to an EV drivetrain
• Raised floor results in lack of under-thigh support, especially for taller passengers at the back
• Interior quality is not at the same level as the Petrol Q8. Plastic trim quality below the waistline leaves a lot to be desired in this price segment
• Will be expensive, just like other EVs from the luxury marques
• Neither-here-nor-there design language of the Sportback can be polarizing

Review Link

Here's what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say about the matter:

I don’t find any of these cars impressive enough. They are all neither here nor there kinds of vehicles. I find Mercedes’s EQ range of vehicles really crass and trashy in terms of style. All these cars are pretty weird and plasticky, a far cry from generally classy ICE Mercs. They all look and feel similar, and not in a good way. iX as well as ETron, again, the look and feel is pretty weird and way off the similarly priced ICE range. Trying too hard to be futuristic doesn’t really work. Jaguar iPace is too old to be a part of the conversation.

I find vehicles like the Volvo C40 and Kia EV6 provide a much better and well-rounded EV experience at far lower prices. The only thing these legacy manufacturers have over them is perceived badge value. This case will be further bolstered once we get the likes of Ioniq 5 N, Kia EV9 and BYD Seal in the market as well. I’d rather go for any of them, else stretch for the likes of the i7 or Porsche Taycan. Not these in-betweens.

Here's what BHPian AdiSinghV12 had to say about the matter:

I kinda agree with you, even though I find the EQE most futuristic from the inside almost like sitting in a concept car the price and exterior don’t justify the price tag but then when was the last time Mercedes Benz India was sane with the pricing this decade, on the other hand, I had the Taycan for a weekend in the Turbo avatar, the real world range I could manage was only 200 odd kms before I had to drive it on reserve back to the owner. Yes, I drove it like how a Porsche should be driven but at 200 kms real-world range, it really isn’t the best. So no matter how underwhelming in comparison to these it’d be I’d pick the Q8 e tron if I had to from above or the i7 from the two cars you chose.

Here's what BHPian GoBabyGo had to say about the matter:

Hi, I agree with you Shreyans. In October 2023, my boss picked up the Kia EV6 AWD after evaluating almost all the EVs from 48 lacs (IONIQ 5) to 90 lacs (Mercedes EQ series). My boss's family were very keen on the Volvo XC40 Recharge, but after the test drive they rejected it as it is just 2 seater and there is hardly any space in the back seat even for 2 people.

They took a few days to decide as spending 65 lacs on Kia was (& still is) difficult to convince friends, family & known. However, after 3 months of using it within NCR and taking it to their native place at Sagar in MP (near Bhopal) multiple times, they are more than happy with EV6. They are regularly getting over 500km range (100% to 15%) in NCR city drive.

Today, my boss's son asked me for the PPF on EV6, which I already recommended to him at the time of purchase, but he was hesitant due to the high cost (about 1.25 lacs), but now due to Matte colour, he is planning to get the PPF done asap.

In my view as of now, only Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 are the best EVs under 2 cr.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Jaguar is yet to ascertain if there is a defect in the battery pack itself.

Jaguar has issued a recall for the I-Pace electric SUV over concerns of a potential battery fire.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 6,367 units of the I-Pace manufactured between 2019 and 2023 have been affected. It is said that the high-voltage batteries in these cars could overheat, which could cause a fire.

Jaguar is yet to ascertain if there is a defect in the battery pack itself. However, for the time being, the company will update the software of the affected vehicles to monitor the battery energy control model. This will be done through an over-the-air update.

That being said, Jaguar isn't ruling out a defect in the batteries. The carmaker has said that it would replace the battery pack free of cost if required.

The Jaguar I-Pace was launched in India back in March 2021. The EV is available in three variants: R-Dynamic S, R-Dynamic SE and R-Dynamic HSE, with prices starting at Rs 1.20 crore (ex-showroom).

Things are very unpredictable & you lose a lot of time when the machine at the EV charging station does not work.

BHPian sudhirsen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Thrissur – Vandiperiyar - Thrissur (~500+ km)

Another long trip and winding hills. And I wanted to test how things would be if I take this to remote places. I knew that we would not be able to do this without one recharge. The first night was at a camping site. My kid wanted a tent stay experience. The guys had also informed me that they will arrange for a charging plug where I can charge the car. But when I reached the place, which was very remote, I realised that charging there is not a reality. Some shots of the place.

So I figured out that there was a Tata charger that I could use. The second-day stay is at Amana resort. Again, another nice resort worth staying at.

So on the way, I stopped at Misty mountain Peermade charging station. For some reason, it charged only for 10 minutes and stopped. But this time, I did not bother. I thought we would charge again on the way back.

So we went around driving through the mountains. I have to say a wonderful drive it is.

And finally at Amaana. Again, I thought I will try my luck to see if we can charge at the resort. Though they initially said I can use the power. Later I realised that they have a huge worry if something would happen to their electricity connection. So anyway did not happen. But a really good resort.

On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Misty mountain, but this time, again, it charged for 10 minutes and again stopped.

Here I am stuck. I don't have another charger on the route. So the option was to stay at the resort for a day and hope the charger started working. The guys at the resort did everything possible to try and make it work. But no luck. Then, I guess I was lucky.

On that day, another charging station opened up 20km away. Another Tata charger. So I drove down there. In fact, we were their first customer, a warm welcome. More than anything, with 25km remaining, we need them more than they need us.

But here, for the first time, we got to know about a new Tea brand "Misty Mountain". We bought a pack that day as we were sitting idle. Being a black tea person, I started loving their tea. Now shifted completely into this brand of tea. You get to chat and talk to a lot of new faces while you charge.

Overall, you can take the car to remote places. But you cannot rely on the availability of a single charger. You need to have backups and another charger if the primary one that you planned is not working that day. Things are a lot unpredictable and you lose a lot of time when the charging machine does not work.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

One of my significant concerns while buying this EV was the charging network. Hence, I didn't sell my 12-year-old Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI.

BHPian sudhirsen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After many minor incidents, I decided to give my Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI some rest. The Laura has been my primary vehicle and companion for the last 12 years. It ran 150,000 Km. But the engine is relatively new; Skoda was kind enough to replace it at 100k km and ten years for free.

So it was clear that I had to buy a new car for my long journeys. I frequently make Thrissur – Bangalore run of 500km. And then a lot of shorter travels and holidays.

I am primarily a sedan guy who loves driving; corners and handling are vital for me. Unfortunately, I also wanted to try an SUV this time, the trend of the time. So I had two choices, Range Rover Velar P250 and Porsche Macan.

I asked for a test drive of the Range Rover Velar from Muthoot Motors. I was in no hurry. After a couple of weeks, they bought the vehicle for a test drive. I drove it for around 10 km but was left unimpressed. Though the interiors and the design were brilliant, I was left uninspired by the drive. I did not feel that I had upgraded much from the Skoda with the drive. I may be exaggerating a bit here. It may also be because the vehicle they bought for the test drive was a diesel while I wanted petrol. I believe most people who own a Range Rover in Kerala probably occupy the back seat.

I gave the same feedback to the service consultant. Then he loosely mentioned the Jag F Type and I-Pace. Now F Type was not practical for me. But frankly, I had never heard of I-Pace. The fact is that I have never looked at an electric vehicle as an option. That was partly because I had only heard of Tesla till then, and after being in a Model X a few times, I was left wanting more. I never felt it was a luxury car. In fact, I had for sure decided that Tesla is not for me. It just does not have the finesse I need in a vehicle. It does not provide that level of attention to detail that I expect from a car in that bracket.

So I researched and realized that Jag had recently launched I-Pace in India. Reviews are, of course, terrific; an award-winning car, right. But where do I see this? I could not find a single one on the road. So again, I took a drive to Cochin on a Saturday. They had a Black and White offering in the showroom. But what I had seen in the images and how the car looked on the road were completely different. The car is massive, with 19-inch wheels; you do not realize it until you stand next. Plus, the air suspension brings it even lower for easy exit and entry when at rest.

So, I saw a sports car with the space of an SUV and practicality that will make me take it everywhere I go. The fit and finish were of an actual Luxury car and not a Tesla Model X. I do miss the Sentry and Summoning capability.

Having said that, I definitely think Jag needs a few marketing lessons. A sports car with the right curves, why would someone put the demo car in white or black. In black, the shadows do not come out. The white is too bland. I seriously think they need to take a couple of pages out of Porsche. Show a RED or a metallic Grey, that's where it looks good.

Now, the bad news the dealership in Cochin told me that they don't have a red or a grey with a beige interior and will take six months to come through, which I knew was going to be way longer with the Chip Shortage looming on.

So I called up Marqland. They said a service consultant would call back. And I got a call back the same day from Hemanth. From there on, I have to say the experience was smooth. They had a Caldera Red with black interiors available, but I wanted a Red with Beige interiors and a top-spec(HSE) with air suspensions and optional. They said there is one coming in 2 months' time.

He sent me a series of videos to give me a feel of how it will look. Sample attached.

So here I go. I paid the advance for the car. Luckily, there were not too many options, Audi and Merc had EVs, but I did not personally like the exterior views. So I did not even give a test drive.

Meanwhile, Hemanth initiated the conversation with Tata Power, and he managed the installation. However, after evaluating, I decided to set up the 7.2kw charger in Thrissur and a regular power plug in Bangalore.

Got the vehicle and now after completing 17k km in 6 months with multiple long trips. So here is my experience.

Sales and Pre-sales

This has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. From the time I got the first call from Hemanth/Marqland. The communication has been exact. He knew every aspect of the car, and was able to clarify every question I had. This may not be important for an ICE car, but this is an electric car, and a lot of things are different compared to the ICE models and specific to India. The industry is still evolving. Then, you have to understand that being a techie, I am a bit deep when it comes to features and functionality. He created multiple personalized videos to take me through the car's features and capabilities.

Then there was the time for payment. I drive down to Bangalore, and for the first time, I see the Caldera Red in real. They also had samples of other paints. I had this inclination toward grey, but I was sure about what I wanted when I saw the Red. This is the first time we meet. I told him exactly the amount I wanted to finance. Considering the EV Tax breaks and low-interest rate on the car loan, I wanted the loan amount to be the max. I also got to see the I-Pace in some exciting colors.

I requested to see the car parked in my basement car park as I have some tight corners in my basement parking. They happily arranged for that the next day. It was tough, as the car's wheelbase was way longer than I thought, though the car was not very long. He also got the bank guys for the loan. So both are done together.

The team was exact on the dates the car could be delivered. And the details of the vehicle were shared even before it reached the port from Austria. Each step, including customs clearance and shipment, was made transparent.

Finally, on the third meeting, the day of delivery, they sent a Range Rover Velar to pick us up from the apartment some 40 km away. Unfortunately, I was in Bangalore only for a day and wanted the car to be delivered on a Sunday. But no problems, they made all the arrangements on a holiday. Again, I thought it was just a matter of picking up the car and going. In fact, it took more than 3 hrs to explain every feature of the car and finish the formalities. I drove back to Thrissur the same day.

Post Sales Service

My experience with after-sales service is very minimal. I did not get my number plate on day 1. So again, during one of my trips to Bangalore, Hemant set up a time with the service center. As usual, when you have a lot of things to do on the same day, I reached the service center (which again is very close to my apartment) during lunchtime. Again, no worries, they took the car in, and in less than half an hour, they got the number plate fixed, and I was out. Well organized.

Overall, I would rate my experience with Marqland as a 10/10. Fantastic experience and Hemanth did it well. Young guy, but very passionate about the car, and what matters most is customer empathy.

What I liked about the car

• Absolutely stunning performance - You can feel the G force. In fact, I had neck pain for a few days after the purchase.
• I was blown away by the interior design. The fit and finish. The interiors are nicely done. No noise, very clean, done perfectly.

• I liked the exterior design as well. But that is extremely a personal choice. Either you love it or you hate it.

• There is no need to control anything other than the accelerator. The lights adjust automatically, the wipers, the away light, the suspension height adjusts when you open the door, and an array of stuff like that.
• The Pivi pro, the newer generation, is nice and responsive, unlike the regular complaints I hear.
• The single-pedal driving.
• The super silent cabin. Most of the time I am on a call when driving, and not many people realize that I am on the road doing good speeds.
• Most importantly, not much of a range anxiety. The range predicted by Jag is pretty accurate to 5% variance. And I mostly drive in the sports mode.

Charging and Long Distance Travel

One of the significant concerns, when I bought the car, is the charging network. So I never sold my Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI. On short trips, you don't have a big challenge. Most of the time, I charge at home. In fact, a normal plug takes around 30 hrs to charge, but I never found it a problem as I do have at least 2-3 nights between my long journeys when I am in Bangalore. The 7.2KW is an overnight charging, typically 11-12 hrs.

Jaguar claims 480km range. But based on my driving, they predict around 454 immediately after charge. But, as you go a few km, it will drop to 430, and that's exactly what I get. Note – I don't make any compromises; I drive in sports mode (in high traffic routes like Bangalore – Krishnagiri and Coimbatore L&T highway) and in comfort mode the rest of the time. With AC and ventilated seats and everything. Driving at a 120. So think this way; you push it the way you would drive a BMW M.

Bangalore-Thrissur Trips (~480 km)

The day I picked up the vehicle from the showroom, I drove down to Thrissur. I was not sure how good the charging networks were. So without taking any risks, I got to Krishnagiri and left it for a charge at the Zeon charging station.

I have to say, without Zeon, this purchase would have gone into the showcase. On the Bangalore highway, I only have Zeon which provides 50KW chargers, and they are generally very reliable. All the other chargers I have used till now have been touch and go and nowhere near the reliability of Zeon. I would say Tata has a long way to go. I tried at multiple places; some places it works, and others do not. More about this later. I have to say Relux, I tried only once near Walayar, but it did not work. KSEB, did not even start. I continue to try them. I wish they catch up fast.

I think overall Zeon is in a different league. The ABB charging machines that Zeon uses are of way higher quality. I seriously wish these guys could grow faster and put more 50/100 KW machines on the road.

Typically, I would stop at 1 of the 4 Zeon 50KW chargers for 15min to half an hour. I have my dinner while the car charges.

Charging at 49KW

Generally, the car is extremely accurate on the highway. I stop charging the moment I have a buffer of 5 km. And I reach home with 2 km remaining etc. But no range anxiety, the car gives you what it says. Then there was this one day when I ran out of charge completely when I was 5 km away from home. The meter said 0 km remaining and shut down the machine.

Luckily, I was near a Tata showroom. But bad luck, it was midnight, and the charger was showing as working on the Tata app, but it was not working. It was not even powered on. The security had no clue. When I asked for the car charger, he went inside and got me a mobile charger. So I took the risk of driving. That day I realized that the Jag has a 20km reserve. So reached home narrowly.

So Banglore - Cochin highway is a breeze.

Thrissur – Ooty – Bangalore

Now the range of the electric vehicle depends a lot on the road itself. So when I decided to make a trip to Destiny Farm in Ooty, I thought it was a cakewalk. Just 200 km to go. The plan was to go to Ooty, and then on the way back, I will charge it at Avinashi. Which together should not be more than 300 km.

This was the first drive to a hill station. I had a very stark realization. I was running out of battery way faster. Luckily, there was a Zeon charger in Gem Park Ooty. However, it was a slow charger. So we had a very long lunch.

Plus, the electricity in Ooty was not very consistent. So the charging station lost power at least two times during my lunch, and I had to stop eating and go back and restart charging. This is a pain, but I guess we can't do much. At least the system sends a notification on the mobile that the charging has stopped.

So we reached Destiny Farm, a trendy place. If you have been to Destiny farm, you would know how bad the approach road is.

The images do not do justice, the approach road is extremely poor. These are the moments I feel that it was absolutely the right thing to have got the car with an air suspension. Raise the suspension and drive over. Note- this is a battery car, and the first thing that anything will hit is the battery if you do not have ground clearance. But the Jag went through that very well.

On the way back, I stopped at Gem park again for a charge and lunch and then straight to Bangalore. The best part is the remaining charge and distance increase on a downhill journey. So I realized that I would have managed without charging. But anyway, these were initial days and unknown roads, not worth the risk.

Remaining trips I will update in another post.

What I don't like about the car

The only challenge is the long wheelbase. It has not been easy to manoeuvre. Not really a car for grocery trips. So I had to put an alternative in place though nowhere near the pace of Jag.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Making all the necessary changes at my Bangalore apartment to set up the home charger would cost me over Rs 1.5 lakh.

BHPian sudhirsen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

All this started with me deciding to buy a Jaguar I-Pace. I was blown away when I drove it. I saw this in the showroom. I took the same with ivory interiors. The test drive and experience is another story.

With the limited availability of public charging setup, I decided to set up a home charger.

Now, the I-Pace comes with two home chargers, a 7 KW charger from Tata Power that they will set up, and a charger unit that I can directly plug into a 16A home power plug.

So, two weeks before the delivery of the car, I decided to set up the home charger at the Bangalore apartment.

Here starts the problem. The Tata Power guys came for inspections as coordinated by Jaguar, so a series of changes were required.

• I had an approved load of 3KW, which must be changed to 10 KW. They asked to reach out to BESCOM.
• Since the apartment is on the third floor, a power cable has to be drawn from the meter. That was costing me an additional 85k.
• The Bescom contractor came, the single-phase connection has to be upgraded to three-phase. The meter has to be changed - all together, including service charges, another 75k.
• And before all of these, I need to change the electricity connection to my name. It was still in the builder's name.

So then I thought, let me see how much it will cost me to set it up at my house in Thrissur, Kerala. It already had an approved load of 9 KW and was already three-phase. So again, the Tata Power inspector came from Cochin.

Here are his findings:

• I have to apply for a load enhancement and get the load enhanced from 9KW to 17 KW.
• My car porch was 27 meters away. Only 10 meters of wiring was inclusive of the original charger. So I have to pay additional 17 meters and that's around 12k.
• KSEB must change the service cable from the electric post to my main meter to a 10mm XLPE cable.
• KSEB must change the wiring from the meter to the fuse to a 10mm cable.
• The electrician has to change the three main fuses to a 64A fuse.

None of these I could achieve in 2 weeks. So I took the delivery of the car in Bangalore and drove down to Thrissur the next day with the assumption that I could still charge at home using the 16A charger.

On the way, I charged at the Zeon Chargers, which was a wonderful 50KW charger. I made multiple long trips and Zeon chargers continue to help me.

Once I reached home, I figured out that the charger provided had an industrial plug. So I could not charge at home, and I had 80 km of range remaining.

I looked in the map and figured out that there is a KSEB provided charger and Tata Power-provided chargers in Thrissur. So that night at 10, I went to the Tata showroom to charge, expecting that no one would be there. The place was dark. But the security opened the gate when I said I was here to charge. I charged there for 2 hrs, another Nexon came for charging, and I moved out by that time.

With sufficient battery in place, I got my electrician the next day to find an adaptor for the industrial plug, and he also got me a 20 meters power cable to full from the AC socket in my living room.

It took 35 hrs to charge. Then I decided to fix the charger in Thrissur. The next day I went to KSEB to get the load enhanced; they said I needed to fix the wiring and charger before they came for inspection. So I called up the Tata guys, and they came a few weeks later and fixed it. I could not find the 10mm XLPE cable that KSEB asked for, so I bought a 25 mm ABC cable. The cable cost me around 175 Rs per meter. Then, since the load went beyond 10KW, I had to pay another 18k to KSEB. And since the porch was 27 meters away, I had to pay an additional 12k to Tata Power for the extra 17 meters. Still good, approximately around 40k.

But after a month of purchasing the car, I had the final charging station at home. Till that time, I charged from the 16A charger, and to be frank. I never found it challenging.

I pulled a standard 4.5 mm power cable to the parking spot at the Bangalore apartment, and I used that for charging. That seems to be more than sufficient for city travel. It cost me 10k instead of 1.5 lakh.

Now you will think, was it worth all this trouble to get an electric car? Believe me, this was the best thing that ever happened. You need to drive an I-Pace to feel the G force, the SUV that behaves like a sports car. More about that later.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The I-Pace electric SUV uses two motors that produce 396 BHP and 696 Nm. These are powered by a 90 kWh battery.

Jaguar has started accepting bookings for the I-Pace Black in India.

The I-Pace Black is a special edition of Jaguar's first all-electric model. The car is equipped with the Black Pack that includes exterior cosmetic bits finished in gloss black, a panoramic sunroof and 19-inch Diamond Turned Gloss Dark Grey alloy wheels. Some of the exterior colour options include premium shades like Aruba and Farallon Pearl black.

The I-Pace black uses the same electric powertrain as the standard car. It packs two electric motors that produce 396 BHP and 696 Nm. These are powered by a 90 kWh battery pack that is claimed to deliver a range of 470 km on a single charge.

Jaguar claims that the battery in the I-Pace can be recharged from 0-80% in just 45 minutes using a 100 kW fast charger, while a 7 kW AC charger takes 10 hours.

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Test Drive of Jaguar I-Pace HSE (Part 1/2)

BHPian robimahanta and I did a short test drive of I-Pace HSE today. Thanks to robimahanta ("Robi") for setting up this test drive and letting me join him on this. I will share my observation here and I would request Robi to add his expert comments and photos too.

Although it was a short drive, I ended up taking a lot of pictures and could not resist sharing many of those here. That made this post a bit long, and hence I am breaking this into two parts.

Part 1: Likes & Dislikes, External looks and Driving

Part 2: Internal Design and Infotainment

Before we go on, some disclaimers: This was my first time driving a "proper" electric vehicle, and that too with so much power and torque. This is very much a high performance EV by any standards! Therefore, my views of these are those of a novice, and please take them with a pinch of salt.

Further, this TD was a short TD, done right in the middle of a crowded city area. We did not have a luxury of driving on a highway or taking the car to a scenic location for a proper photoshoot. Therefore, most of my comments are applicable to city driving. Further, all photos are taken with my basic mobile phone, and that too in ordinary city locations.

What I liked

• Clean and elegant design. Nothing too flashy, and not very boring too.
• Amazing torque and acceleration. 0-100km/h in 4.8s.
• Overall fantastic performance. Picks up speeds crazy quick and masks high speeds very well too.
• Top notch build quality, fit and finish. Everything feels premium.
• Dead silent cabin. All the fun with zero noise.
• Perfect ride for Indian road conditions. Very comfortable ride quality even on bad roads without being too soft.
• Neutral handling, especially by SUV standards. Well controlled (although not zero) body roll.
• Good ground clearance to tackle most of the bad roads.
• Easy ingress and egress. Ideal height so one can "walk" straight into the car.
• Great visibility all round. No blind spots anywhere.
• Extremely comfortable seats, with absolutely top notch interior quality.
• Great interior space in front and rear seats.
• Overall, if one wants a rich, spacious, silent and comfortable cabin, this is their car.
• Loaded with gadgets, screens, features and technology (lovely HUD too, and of course, a beautiful panoramic moonroof).
• Very good music system.
• Reasonable range for an high performance EV (should run for about 350km in real life driving conditions on one charge).

What I did not like

• Brakes! Maybe it needs some getting used to. But the car picks up speeds fast and the first thing I noticed is the brake bite is poor and gave me a moment or two of anxiety before I got used to it. Poor bite and very spongy brake feel.
• Lack of engine braking/regenerative braking (or may be I did not try all options well) added to the feel of poor brakes.
• Torque is amazing, but has surprisingly non-linear torque delivery. The non-linear acceleration was almost nauseating for the co-driver. Again, maybe it was our first time on a high power EV, and it may need some getting used to.
• Although body roll is well controlled, it is not minimal. Cornering will not be fun in this. I guess I am a sedan guy and this TD again proved that.
• I have some concerns over real-world range. In our hard driving for about 20km, the range dropped way too fast.
• Not very spacious boot for such a big vehicle.
• External styling is a bit bland. It does not stand out from the crowd like the other Jaguar models do.
• Lack of engine sounds and the lack of usual drama of an IC engine meant it is not involving to drive. Maybe again it is just the EV thing. But both Robi and I felt lack of typical driving excitement and connect with the car that we usually feel in other good cars.

External Photos

As I mentioned above, all photos are taken in regular city locations. Thus, these photos actually show how the car will look in day to day city conditions, as opposed to those sexy photos taken at exotic locations and/or with artificial backgrounds.

The car looks the best from the front. Unmistakably a Jaguar from the front:

Nice and clean design. Clean side profile. But does not stand out:

Rear three quarter view has a good stance:

Lovely LED turn signals look great:

"EV 400 AWD" badge on the right had side on the rear:

And the "I-Pace" badge on the left:

The flush door handles pop out when the car is unlocked. They look great when locked and sitting flush on the doors:

This was the range topper HSE trim that we test drove:

Good looking 19" wheels shod with "Micheline Pilot Sport 4 SUV" tyres:

Another view of the wheels. Notice the tyre size: 235/60/R19. Same size in front and rear:

The "frunk". It has a small compartment to store charging cables. Notice the windshield washer fluid tank. The sales representative proudly said that the only liquid that needs to be filled in is the windshield washer:

The "Bonnet" (if we could call it so) has a thick plastic cladding underneath, instead of the typical insulation in ICE cars:

A lovely moonroof with Shark Fin Antenna (more on the moonroof in the next post):

Finally a parting shot. Notice the flush door handles:

Driving the I-Pace

The first thing you notice when you start the... car (I was going to say the engine, but there is no engine; it does take some time to get used to the new terminology; I kept on talking of the "engine performance" while driving this car ) is the total lack of sound. You fire the car. Nothing happens. No sound. No drama. Then you press the gear buttons for R or D, and slowly release the brake and give a bit of.. (not gas for sure; I need to be careful what I say) a current (?) and the car moves very smoothly, and totally silently. Feels magical at the beginning.

And then once you are out of the parking lot and on the open road, press the pedal and then see the real magic. It accelerates at am amazing rate. It is as if the car is always in launch control mode. The car just launched ahead. The 394 BHP and 696 Nm numbers are very impressive on paper for sure. But not just on paper. The car proves than these numbers are very real and very easy to extract with just a little bit of push on the pedal. It was fun to push the pedal and see the car launch itself. It was addictive. The car picks up speeds at a very alarming rate. And all this with very minimal sound. As I picked up speed, I could actually hear the electric motors spinning, but the sound was minimal.

Overall, the car has extremely good sound insulation. Hardly any sound from outside entered the cabin. Given this dead silent cabin, lack of engine sounds, and overall plush ride, it is impossible to tell the speeds. We picked up speeds quickly but yet they were masked so well we never felt the speed. However, the braking left us a bit confused. When you press on the brake from decent speeds, the bite is lacking, and it felt like the car took forever to stop. Brake feel is very spongy too. Given that the car masks speeds so well, brakes with extra bite was the need. But we felt the car is a bit lacking on this.

I could be wrong here but from what I understood (and also confirmed by the sales rep) that this model lacks regenerative braking. I felt that a bit odd, and maybe that could also be part of the reason why braking felt a bit inadequate. Maybe some experts can comment on this.

Coming to the suspensions and ride quality, again Jaguar has done a great job. The car has perfect ride quality for Indian roads. We drove over some bad patches, and some huge speed breakers. The car ironed out everything quite well. The ride quality was very comfy, but yet not very soft. It was not so soft that it will cause undulations and other unwanted movements. The damping was spot on! When we drove over a flyover with those typical rough joints, we were amazed by how well the car ironed out those and how smoothly it drove over the flyover.

The handling is overall neutral. The car is an SUV after all, and thus we can not expect a sedan-like handling and cornering abilities. I did not get a chance to take any high speed corners to be able to comment on that anyways. But whatever turns we took, the car handled well. But I would not call the handling as "great" - certainly not like other Jaguars. Maybe I am a sedan person and I should not compare this car to a sedan. But keeping aside some nitpicking, the car handles well.

The car has two electric motors driving the two axles, and thus it is an All Wheel Drive (AWD), The grip levels were great and the car felt well balanced. However, it was too short a TD to really check the benefits of AWD.

In summary, I would give 10/10 on power and performance, 9/10 on ride quality and 7/10 on handling. Again, it was too short a TD to really give a proper rating, and therefore, I would request you to take these numbers with a pinch of salt.

Oh yes, and maybe 15/10 on the creature comforts, the luxurious feel, and comfort levels in the cabin. More on that in the next post.

Continue reading Dr.AD's experience for more insights, information and BHPian comments.

The 2022 Jaguar I-Pace SUV brings with it a number of subtle updates and added tech.

Jaguar has globally unveiled their 2022 I-Pace electric SUV. The revised model now comes with a number of subtle updates, along with a few additional features and tech as well.

In terms of design, the 2022 Jaguar I-Pace remains mostly unchanged. The only noticeable updates on the 2022 model are the new 'Atlas Grey' finish on the front grille and the inclusion of a 'Bright Pack', which adds chrome elements all around the electric SUV. The 2022 I-Pace is now also offered in four new paint schemes - Aruba, Caldera Red, Portofino Blue and Eiger Grey.

On the inside, Jaguar has equipped the 2022 I-Pace with an updated infotainment system with better Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. It also allows dual smartphone pairing via Bluetooth. Jaguar has also introduced the electric SUV with its latest Pivi Pro infotainment system, which is said to be faster and more intuitive.

Other new features on the 2022 I-Pace SUV include cabin air ionisation with PM 2.5 filtration, 825-watt Meridian 3D surround sound system with two additional speakers, heads-up display, adaptive cruise control, driver condition monitor, lane keep assist and many others.

The updated I-Pace electric SUV will carry forward the same electric powertrain. This comes in the form of a dual electric motor setup, producing a combined power output of 394 BHP and 696 Nm.

The I-Pace SUV is said to have a range of 377 km on a single charge. Jaguar will be offering the new I-Pace with an 11-kW charger as standard, said to be capable of adding 101 km of range in just 15 minutes.

The I-Pace will capture air quality data in the city over the next 12 months.

The Jaguar I-Pace will be Google Street View's first electric vehicle. In addition to Street View mapping tech, the car will be equipped with sensors to measure the air quality of Dublin.

The I-Pace will be used to measure street-by-street air quality in Dublin including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and PM2.5 particles.

The car has been equipped with mobile air sensors developed by Aclima. It will capture air quality data in the city over the next 12 months. The data will be analysed by Google’s scientific research partners to develop maps of street-level air pollution.

Jaguar Land Rover engineers have worked to integrate Google Street View technology into the I-Pace. The car gets new roof mountings for the Street View camera, new rear-window glass which allows for wiring and redesigned interior switchgear to incorporate Google Street View controls.

The data collected by the I-Pace is expected to help scientists, researchers and policymakers as they study air quality and encourage people to make changes to help improve it.

Mercedes also welcomed all I-Pace owners to any of their 100 Mercedes-Benz and EQ outlets to charge their cars.

Jaguar launched the I-Pace in India yesterday, and to mark the occasion, Mercedes-Benz took to Instagram and Twitter to welcome the electric car to India.

The Instagram post depicts a battery segmented into four parts, 3 of which show the Mercedes EQC SUV, and 1 slot welcoming the I-Pace. Mercedes also welcomed all I-Pace owners to any of their 100 Mercedes-Benz and EQ outlets to charge their cars.

The I-Pace is Jaguar's first electric vehicle to be launched in India. Mercedes-Benz also sells the EQC electric SUV. This is the German carmaker's only electric vehicle on sale in the country. Audi is also expected to launch the e-tron electric SUV here.