The new Jaguar E-PACE is set to arrive in South Africa in March. The newest member of Jaguar’s Pace family of performance SUVs packs the design and performance of a Jaguar sports car into a spacious and practical all-wheel-drive vehicle – appealing to the needs of modern motorists and newcomers to the Jaguar brand.
Brian Joss – Ian Callum, Director of Design, Jaguar, said: “We designed the E-Pace to be a Jaguar for active people who need space and practicality but see no reason to compromise on performance. Its proportions, stance and lines express the excitement of driving a car of this calibre. Compact SUVs need to provide intelligent answers to the challenges of everyday life and I believe that Jaguar’s combination of design purity and functional integrity provides the perfect solution. This is a vehicle with unmistakable character – a Jaguar sports car designed for our daily lives in a package that is as rewarding as it is practical.”
To balancing sports car design with everyday usability and practicality, Jaguar designers paid attention to every detail on the E-PACE. Here are six design touches that help set it apart.
Every Jaguar has sports-car DNA, and the E-Pace is no different. It boasts the proportions, muscular haunches, and assertive visual attitude that are unmistakably Jaguar, while retaining the space, safety and practicality typically associated with a compact SUV.
Up front, the E-PACE features Jaguar’s signature J-blade LED daytime running lights, alongside optional LED matrix headlights that provide the ultimate in night time visibility. These instantly recognisable eyes are complemented by slim, blade-like rear lamps that also feature full LED technology – another sign of the E-Pace’s shared DNA with Jaguar’s flagship sports car.
Choices, choices. The E-Pace is finished in one of 11 modern, eye-catching paints, including Caldera Red on the First Edition model, which will only be on sale for one year. Other hues include Fuji White, Santorini Black, Borasco Grey, and Caesium Blue.
Open the doors and even more colour can jump out at you: interior finish options include eight-way adjustable sports leather seats in either Ebony, Light Oyster, or Mars Red, as well as contrast stitching.
The interior focal point is its wraparound cockpit, with the passenger grab handle forming the boundary of the driver console – a design concept directly inspired by the Jaguar F-Type.
This geometry provides a powerful visual connection with the doors, while the elevated seating position gives the driver a ‘Sports Command’ driving position, offering excellent visibility while retaining a cockpit-like feel.
Even the primary controls, such as the sports gear shifter and drive mode selector, have been carefully designed to promote driver engagement. It is absolutely a Jaguar, through and through.
Occupants are enveloped in premium materials, ensuring every touch point emphasises the sense of quality. It features premium leathers for its sports seats and key touch points, such as the steering wheel, gear shifter and centre console grab handle. Refinement also extends to other elements of the cabin, including soft-trimmed door casings that have a cool touch, satin chrome door handles, beautifully crafted leather-clad facia and seat upholstery with twin-needle stitching.
The driver-focused design is balanced with practicality. Drivers and passengers will have access to interior room for five people and generous luggage space, along with ingenious stowage solutions for small items. The 8.42-litre centre console compartment can house four large water bottles, as well as configurable cupholders and trays; the lockable 10.07-litre glovebox offers secure storage, while 10.56-litre front and 8.26-litre rear door bins offer plenty of space for passengers. And in the boot, 577 litre of luggage space can be fully utilised thanks to a wide load area.
Unique touches include contemporary animal print designer labels sewn into the shoulder hem of the front seats, while the same pattern is repeated on rubber mats in stowage areas. As the cub of the Jaguar line-up, it also boasts playful mother-and-cub graphics featuring on its windscreen and in the projected puddle lamps.
The Jaguar E-Pace goes on sale from 9 March 2018, with prices starting at R598 500. Customers can build their own Jaguar E-Pace using the configurator on the Jaguar website.
