Even covered in camouflage it was clear that the new car is going to be something completely different from Jaguar’s old line-up. It’s certainly no SUV, with a long bonnet, stretched wheelbase, and a set-back cabin giving it grand tourer looks.
Official details were still kept under wraps, but it’s based on a new Jaguar Electric Architecture platform. The four-door is set to have a range of 430 miles and ultra-fast charging, adding 200 miles in 15 minutes.
The new model is part of Jaguar’s move to the high-end luxury market, and the car is expected to have a price tag of over £100,000.
According to JLR boss Adrian Mardell, the need to shift into a more expensive sector was obvious. “The past decade has seen Jaguar pursue a mass-volume strategy,” he said. “This is the time to do something special; exuberance is something Jaguar has always been seen to have. This is a clean sheet”.
Koreans use LA Show to reveal SUV future
While global motor shows are a shadow of their former selves, November saw the Los Angeles Auto Show take place, with big news coming from sister brands Hyundai and Kia.
When we say big, we mean huge, starting with the reveal of the Hyundai Ioniq 9 seven-seat electric SUV. The newcomer shares tech with the Kia EV9, so there’s a 110kWh battery and more than 300 miles of range on offer, helped by a drag coefficient of 0.259Cd. Not to be outdone, Kia revealed a flagship EV9 GT, with 509bhp and a virtual gearshift system from the Ioniq 5N.
New steer-by-wire systems on their way
A visit to global automotive tech firm ZF’s UK development centre in the Midlands revealed insights into steer-by-wire systems, which it is currently developing for a number of car manufacturers.
Tesla’s Cybertruck was the first passenger vehicle to ditch any form of direct mechanical link between the steering wheel and front hubs, and we speculated that here in Europe, Chinese brand Nio could be first to offer similar-style tech on its flagship ET9 luxury car.
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