2024 Jaguar I-Pace Review: How Does This Electric O.G. Hold Up Today?

“They still make that thing?” is a remark that’s usually associated with cars and platforms that might’ve made an initial big splash and then gradually faded away, or possibly just produced on autopilot for more years than usual as it was easy money for its respective automaker’s accounting department. (For example, did you know General Motors still makes the Chevrolet Malibu? Look it up, it’s true.) Whichever it is, the timeline always seems like it’s seven, eight, or even stretched out to 10 years old. One that checks this box is the Jaguar I-Pace.

But wait, hold on a second—this sleek five-door SUV has only been around since 2018. Sure, that was before everyone’s biological clocks were magnetized by COVID (not literally, take off the tinfoil hat), but the Coventry, UK firm’s first EV is only six years old now. But EV technology’s moved rather quickly ast since the twenty-teens, so it’s understandable that the Jag may seem a bit … well-established by now. And it’s getting to be quickly surpassed by new rivals in terms of range, charging speed and overall tech.

Its sales numbers aren’t exactly complimentary, either, as Jaguar sold just 59,441 I-Paces, globally, between 2018 and 2022. During the same period, its closest original competitor, the Tesla Model 3, sold… I’m not even going to look this up. It’s a lot. No wonder we seem to mostly only see the Jags in the USA as fleeting (pun sort of intended) Waymo robotaxis. We also know it’s due to be axed entirely soon. 

Which begs the question: Is the I-Pace still relevant? There are quite a few luxury EV SUVs to choose from nowadays. How does the ol’ cat stack up in its latest iteration, the 2024 Jaguar I-Pace EV400 R-Dynamic HSE? Recently, I had the opportunity to find out that it’s still got a place in the market.

Quick Specs

Ian Callum’s Design Holds Up

The I-Pace’s styling has held up well since its initial production unveiling back in 2017. It’s a generally good-looking compact luxury crossover, with interesting lines and a very striking face. I could admire and photograph its headlights and front grille in warm lighting all afternoon long, though certain angles make it look a bit awkward. I’m not as keen on how it looks straight-on from the side, but overall, this is still an Ian Callum jam, and that guy doesn’t mess around.

And even the most disinterested passers-by might take one quick look and have the word aerodynamic pop in their heads, because why wouldn’t it? The way the rear end shrinks down and creates a minuscule rear windshield (more on that later) in the name of slipperiness is hard to miss. Good marks for form following function.

The EV400 R-Dynamic HSE, besides possessing a very long name, is now the sole I-Pace trim offered by Jaguar, and it definitely errs on the side of sportiness. Its black trim pieces, graphite-colored grille and chic Eiger Grey Metallic paint give it a smart appearance, and its black 22-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli summer tires reveal a little bit about its athletic-leaning nature.

So Does The European Luxury

And yes, it’s still a proper luxury car. The 2024 Jaguar I-Pace comes with air suspension as standard, which is fitting for the Jaguar Land Rover lineup—its more off-road-ready cousins the Defender and Discovery have some of the best-riding air suspension on the market.

The I-Pace has an excellent overall ride quality in pretty much any on-road scenario. It feels solid and tight, but in no way shaky or annoying. Rolling across some of Los Angeles County’s most infamous stretches of tarmac was never a chore, and dealt with the choppier bits incredibly well. Even in Dynamic mode, its sportiest mode, the ride was noticeably stiffer, but I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable. While I did raise it up to off-road height just to see what it’d look like (goofy as heck), I never took it down any trails, even though it has a mode for such a task.

As far as interior comfort goes, the I-Pace has that in spades as well. My tester was a leather-rich environment, with good forward and side visibility and a supportive-yet-supple 16-way adjustable driver’s seat with heating and cooling.

Add in a massive fixed panoramic roof to provide soft lighting and airiness, and It’s a very nice place to spend time in. Rear cargo room was good, too, and it even has a tiny frunk for impressing your friends. Just don’t try not to look too cool in the Whole Foods parking lot, as it’s a very shallow cargo hold. But neat nonetheless.

Speaking of visibility, one of my top gripes was its rear windshield and rear C pillar—the former was awfully tiny, the latter was large. Sure, it has a backup camera, but between its screen’s tiny size in the lower portion of the center dash, and poor visibility at night, this was downright inadequate.

Instead, I found myself reversing the I-Pace into my tight parking space as anyone would a massive old pickup truck: relying heavily on the side mirrors, as well as sticking my head far out the window in a very ungracious, un-Jaguar fashion.

Tech And User Interface

Technological niceties aren’t lacking behind the wheel of the 2024 Jaguar I-Pace. It features JLR’s Touch Pro Duo Pivi Pro system (say that five times fast), with a 10-inch main screen with good haptic feedback and a very nice layout up top, and a 5.5-inch screen down low for climate control settings.

In front of the driver lives a 12.3-inch instrument cluster display with great resolution and all the information one would need, including how much charging and discharging is going on in real-time, as is standard by now for the industry.

Bluetooth, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a wireless charging pad are standard, with the former two being quick and easy to connect. For the old school amongst us, there are plenty of cord ports at the front of the center console.

The infotainment software is a little tough to get used to compared to other systems by Lexus, Audi, and BMW, but once the hang of it is gotten, it’s easy to quickly select the most important aspects: favorite SiriusXM stations and charging. Once your favorite radio stations are stacked up, its 825-watt Meridian sound system has excellent audio quality and absolutely cranks.

Situated in the middle of the screen, I always had estimated range clearly defined as part of what Jag calls Energy Impact, including the potential increase in range if I were to schlepp down the road a little easier, and/or cut out some of the creature comforts, like heated and cooled seats, defog/defrost, the heated steering wheel, and air conditioning. Launching it at every stop light gave it no choice but to wag its finger under the right-hand Driving Style column by cutting a big slice of mileage out, but cruising easy and turning off the air conditioning resulted in a thumbs-up. Well, not literally, but a higher percentage would infer that I was rolling along as efficiently as possible.

Its estimated range is pretty darn accurate, too. One afternoon, I discharged a cottage worth of wattage while figuring out the I-Pace’s athleticism on a fun mountain road. Afterwards, I had just 15% of charge left, barely enough to trudge through dense traffic to the nearest DC fast charging station. Luckily, it was generally downhill the entire way, and with a light foot and economy-minded driving, it remained at 30 miles-til’-empty for at least five miles until it dipped to 29. 

Neither the NHTSA or IIHS has any published ratings for the Jaguar I-Pace, but it’s still well-equipped with advanced driver assistance tech for our modern era. In addition to front and side airbags, as well as ABS, it sports emergency braking assist, driver condition monitor, lane keep assist, rear camera, traffic sign recognition, blind spot assist, rear traffic monitor, adaptive cruise control, and steering assist. All as standard. Blind spot assist and rear traffic monitor were crucial considering its tiny rear aperture and significant blindspot, but I’m never a fan of relying too heavily on either. As mentioned above, the rear backup camera is lacking overall. However, the rest of the systems functioned well, and adaptive cruise and steering assist were especially smooth and easy to toggle on and off.

Still A Performer 

Just like former model years, Jaguar’s latest iteration of the I-Pace is no slouch. Its dual-motor all-wheel drive setup puts down a combined 394 horsepower and 512 lb-ft of torque, which is enough to push and pull its 4,784-pound stature to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds—not as quick as competition by Tesla, Genesis, and other brands, but still quite ample for any form of real-world driving.

It also leaps off the line with a certain signature kind of gusto—many EVs reveal a light chirp, but it seemed like the Jag let out a tad more when ripping onto a fast street from a stop, with traction/stability control on. The ICE Jaguar F-Type does this with all traction nannies on, too, and makes me wonder if there’s a theme here.

In addition to its very comfortable around-town ride, the I-Pace is well-suited for twisty road fun. Body roll is quite taut and pretty much non-existent when attacking mountain-top sweepers with gusto, and its direct steering gains an excellent amount of weight in Dynamic mode.

I only really found the limits of its grip in some tighter sections, such as the naturally decreasing radiuses carved into the San Gabriel Mountains’ topography—while the vast majority of the I-Pace’s mass is concentrated between its wheelbase (just look at how little overhang there is beyond the wheel arches), its Pirelli summer tires and stability control had a heck of a time reigning in the big Jag’s curb weight and not letting it wash out into understeer. Still, it performed admirably for the test I administered.

Its brakes had ample bite, even when sailing along at a decent clip on the highway or on a twisty road. There are two levels of regenerative braking to choose from, but I generally kept it on the lighter setting, as it was just a tad too annoying to try and achieve right-pedal smoothness and finesse on local streets with it cranked up.

Charging And Charging Experience 

Here’s where things get a bit dicier for the I-Pace. While 246 miles of maximum range beats some newer entries to the market, like the 2024 Lexus RZ 450e, it’s still a bit lacking in the grand scheme of modern EV ranges. The Audi Q8 e-tron is much larger yet beats it by about 20 miles. The BMW iX has EPA estimates as high as 324 miles with just 15.2-kWh more of battery life. I’ve seen comparisons to both the Tesla Model X and Model Y, and they also trounce the Jag in range these days. 

Granted, several EVs are still in the mid-200 range, like the Genesis GV60, Mercedes-Benz EQB and Toyota bZ4x, and its range may suit many drivers’ needs just fine, but it’s not a class leader. 

Fancy the 22-inch wheels on my tester? These cut range down to just 217 miles, which may be fine for some, but might be unappealing to many. Gotta pay to play, I guess.

When it comes to charging, the I-Pace’s 90 kWh battery will jump up to 80% from near-dead in 40 minutes with 100 kW-max DC fast charging. Sixty-three miles can be tacked on in as little as 15 minutes. That’s probably the biggest mark against the I-Pace right now; 100 kW barely feels like “fast-charging” these days, with tons of EVs capable of doing it at 150 kW, 220 kW or even up to 350kW like the Hyundai Motor Group EVs.

Simply put, the I-Pace will not get you on the road as quickly as most modern rivals will. It’s like the Chevrolet Bolt in that regard—an extremely competent EV in many regards, but it’s dusted in the fast-charging area as we go into 2024. 

As with many EVs, my charging experiences were a tad annoying and those weren’t often the fault of the car. Despite having plenty of experience in this arena and following EVgo charging stations’ instructions, I always had to initially plug it in, wait, unplug it, wait some more, and then plug it back in to finally get the watts flowing. This could’ve just been a fluke on EVgo’s side, but it happened at multiple stations, two of which were quite new. My tester was delivered with just 400 miles on the clock, too—I’d hate to think it was a bug in the car’s software.

Price And Verdict 

The 2024 Jaguar I-Pace EV400 HSE R-Dynamic starts at $73,275 with a $1,275 destination and delivery fee thrown in. For this, you get a very well-equipped trim because, well, it’s the only trim available (there used to be at least three.) My tester’s optional extras came out to $4,378, with most of it accounting for the upgraded 22-inch wheels, and the rest paying for its Eiger Grey Metallic paint, adaptive dynamics, mild leather interior upgrades, and added wheel protection.

While so much comes standard, $73,275 is still a little hard to stomach for just okay range on a now-considered old platform with such not-so-fast “fast” charging. But it still rides quite well, has great performance on a fun road, and is a pleasant, luxurious place to be. I dig the look and dynamics, but even with the range deficit, the more value-filled-yet-still-fun-to-drive Genesis GV70 might have it beat, as it can charge at as high as 240 kW and starts around $5,000 less. Though, the Jag does undercut fellow European firm BMW’s cheapest iX trim by a healthy margin, to the tune of $10,000.

Finally, 2024 may be the last hurrah for the I-Pace as we know it, as Jaguar is committing to an all-electric lineup for 2025 with some big (though currently unannounced) plans in store. The I-Pace might continue on and reset its status as the luxury compact SUV EV benchmark, or perhaps take on a new badge and form altogether. And those Waymo robotaxis could soldier on for even longer, too.

Regardless, the fact that the I-Pace has sustained and weathered the storm of an increasingly crowded market for five years, with a few updates and changes along the way, is commendable. Truly, a sustainable product. Even if we kind of forgot about it, or have mostly only seen it scuttling around in autonomous vehicle spec. 

Jag was the first out of the gate and has had plenty of time to refine its EV compact crossover formula. With a good survey of all its tight competition these days, it’s entirely possible that it could come up with something truly great in the next few years. Here’s hoping.