Jaguar’s New Electric GT is Striking – But Is It Desirable?
After a long wait (remember, it was supposed to be unveiled about a year ago), Jaguar’s Type 01 four-door coupe has finally made its public debut. Jaguar has already shown the original Type 00 concept (which was developed after the production Type 01 design was signed off), provided some technical information, and let the media drive camo’d prototypes. Jaguar’s reboot literally threw out everything but the “leaper” – and two of the original architects (CEO Adrian Mardell and Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern) are no longer with the company. Now that we have the complete package, let’s see how it all looks …
THE HIGHS
You certainly can’t accuse Jaguar of copying anything, per their new slogan. Like the E-Type, you won’t mistake this for anything else coming down the road. The proportion is classic luxury car, with a long dash-to-axle that conveniently allowed them to package the batteries to permit a relatively low roof – about 55,” just a few inches taller than the original XJ6. Like the Taycan, it features a “foot garage” for rear passengers.
Surprisingly (given the chunky design), Jaguar claims a Cd of 0.23, aided by active louvers front and rear and a pop-up deployable rear spoiler.
The “impossible panel” (the rear three-quarter body pressing) has three converging feature lines and has to be pressed in five different planes, which is demonstrates some manufacturing ingenuity.
The clean sheet platform provides a perfect 50-50 weight distribution, and the reports I’ve read suggest the driving experience is both Jaguar-appropriate and quite surprising for a 6,000-pound luxury car.
Is brass the new chrome? Jaguar seems to think so, using both inside and outside the vehicle for a distinctive look.
The interior is somewhat driver-oriented, omitting a large central touchscreen in favor of a double-wide driver display (and skipping a passenger-side display completely). Like the Mercedes-AMG GT 4D Coupe, the Type 01 also makes no pretense of being a five-seater, with two individual rear bucket seats. Jaguar also makes use of Range Rover’s Kvadrat wool as textiles continue to make a comeback in automotive interiors.
The audio system includes a “full width, full range, automotive-first Panoramic Soundbar with Sensory Audio seats” and 23 concealed speakers
The technical specs are impressive: adaptive air springs, four-wheel steering, intelligent torque vectoring, 400-mile EPA range, 1,015 tri-motor powertrain, and 350 kW DC (200 miles in 13 minutes) fast-charge capability. Jaguar claims over 360 patent applications tied to the Type 01, so it’s reassuring to see some innovation here. As an example, the rear motors switch off (by switching off the inverter) at higher cruising speeds, adding 18 miles of EV range.
THE LOWS
Former Jaguar design chief believes “a criteria of Jaguar is to be beautiful,” and cofounder Sir William Lyons coined the phrase “grace, space and pace” in the 1950s to describe Jaguar’s design philosophy. Personally, I don’t believe the Type 01 is either beautiful or graceful, but there may be buyers out there for whom that’s no longer relevant.
The minimalist interior doesn’t seem particularly welcoming, nor do there seem opportunities to deploy any unique materials (unlike the Bentley Torcal, for example).
Perhaps because of the launch delays (and when decisions were made), Jaguar has missed the trend that’s reviving physical controls. The smartphone-ish control panel on the center console looks like a last-minute change, and Ferrari is already retrofitting haptic-control-equipped steering wheels (like the Jaguar’s) with units that have real physical switches.
There is a lot here that’s intriguing, especially for a potential buyer who has decided not to ride the SUV wave. With an estimated starting price of $130,000, Jaguar has also indicated some level of bespoke capability, which is especially important with upstarts like Genesis and China’s Yangwang dipping their toes into that particular revenue pool. Jaguar has wisely not provided any target sales numbers, and I would not be surprised if (like the Ferrari Luce) the first year’s production sells out quickly. It’s open to debate whether the Type 01 has staying power, and how the expected Type 02 and Type 03 (reportedly a flagship sedan and an SUV) expand on these new ideas. If the aesthetics are to your liking, this might be a viable alternative to a BMW i7 or Mercedes EQS.
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