Video: London-Brussels on one charge for Jaguar I-Pace

The electric Jaguar I-Pace SUV covered 369km on a single charge from London to Belgium’s capital.

It drove 50km through the Channel Tunnel service lane on the journey from London’s South Bank to demonstrate its real-world usability.

Stephen Boulter, the Jaguar engineer behind the wheel, headed east and arrived at Mons Des Arts in central Brussels with 8% charge in the 90kWh battery in reserve.

“By driving the 369km from London to Brussels on a single charge – and arriving with plenty of range left – we’ve demonstrated how comfortably it deals with long-distance journeys,” Boulter says.

As part of the challenge, the I-Pace cruised along motorways and negotiated rush-hour traffic in the summer heat.

To ensure that drivers get the most from each charge, the I-Pace is packed with technologies to optimise energy efficiency, ranging from Smart Climate, Eco Mode and energy-optimised navigation routing.

Before the journey, pre-conditioning can automatically heat or cool the battery to reach its ideal operating temperature and set the cabin to the desired temperature. Using power from the grid to do this instead of drawing current from the battery is more efficient and maximises range.

The navigation system takes account of route topography and driving style to calculate range on any given journey and can plot the most energy-efficient route available. It will also alert the driver if the programmed destination cannot be reached and will help to find charging stations within range. Using a 100kW DC rapid charger can add up to 100km of extra range in 15 minutes.

The instrument cluster can show how much energy certain systems, such as climate control, are using, and how much range could be gained by switching them off. If equipped with four-zone climate control, the Smart Climate feature uses the restraint system’s sensors to determine how many people are in the vehicle and only heat or cool the area around each of them, maintaining comfort while minimising energy consumption.

The amount of energy the I-Pace used on the 369km trip is the equivalent of the energy generated from 41 turns of a wind turbine, taking just under two minutes.

One trip of this distance per month, switching from a conventional engine SUV of similar size and power to an EV like the I-Pace, would reduce carbon dioxide consumption by up to nearly half a tonne (476kg) a year.