Jaguar I-Pace wins more awards

Jaguar’s all-electric I-Pace SUV has grabbed some top awards and is a contender for a world title.

The latest include the 2019 Car of the Year award for both the United Kingdom and Europe, while the I-Pace is also a front runner for the World Car of the Year title to be announced in April at the New York Auto Show.

It now has at least 55 major awards. The UK win marks the third time in six years a battery-powered overall winner has been selected, beating more than 80 other models in selection by 29 top UK automotive journalists. It was also named as the best executive car.

The I-Pace narrowly won the European Car of the Year, announced just before the Geneva Motor Show, March 7-17.

It was in a closely fought battle with Renault’s Alpine sports coupé with 250 votes apiece – the first time a draw has happened since the European award started in 1964.

The Jaguar won after a recount of votes among the 60 jurors showed 18 voters put it at the top of their list compared with 16 for the Alpine.

Global awards for the I-Pace include German Car of the Year, Norwegian Car of the Year, China Green Car of the Year, World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year.

It also added the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year award at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto on February 15. The I-Pace won the AJAC’s best premium EV category too.

The Jaguar was also a contender for the North American Utility of the Year 2019, which went to the Hyundai Kona/Kona EV.

Described by many awards members as an ideal executive car, the I-Pace is priced from $159,900 in New Zealand and from $119,000 (before on-road costs) in Australia. It has about 470km range and can be charged to 80% battery capacity in 40 minutes from a 100kW DC charger.

“This award (European Car of the Year) is one of the industry’s most prestigious and is an endorsement of the next generation technology and refined innovation that have gone into the development of the I-Pace,” Jaguar NZ general manager Steve Kenchington says.

“Already well received by the New Zealand market, interest in the new model continues to grow with demand far exceeding supply before the first customer’s vehicles have landed here,” he says.

Kenchington says the technology behind the I-Pace has been developed from Formula E which has only electric-powered racing cars. Jaguar’s performance vehicles are tested by Kiwi drivers Mitch (Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Formula E) and Simon Evans (Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, Team Asia New Zealand) on racing circuits around the world. Both are set to race in Hong Kong on March 9.