2020 Jaguar I-PACE

The hiker’s eye roll was so extreme that it was nearly audible. “Nice trail car,” she said in mocking tones that left little doubt she felt otherwise. She was among a group that was walking single file downhill as I was creeping my all-electric 2020 Jaguar I-Pace around a tight uphill bend, proceeding slowly because a sheer cliff blocked my view through the apex on this one-lane section of the Maple Springs truck trail. Such a cautious approach is the norm up here because hikers share this fire road with mountain bikers, adventure motorcyclists and day-tripping off-roaders. But I was being extra careful because I was keenly aware that my electric all-wheel-drive machine emitted none of the engine noise an ascending geared-down truck would make. What’s more, my test car was shod with the optional low-profile 255/40R22 high performance summer tires that put the lips of the pricey 22-inch “diamond turned” rims uncomfortably close to the rocks. Meeting a motorized vehicle wasn't the surprising bit – it was that they’d expected to see a 4Runner, Tacoma or Jeep Wrangler come nosing around the bend, not some high-falutin Jaguar styled by renowned designer Ian Callum. I’d been up this U.S. Forest Service fire road dozens of times, most recently just two weeks ago in my own JK Jeep Wrangler. It’s easy if you have clearance and reasonable all-terrain tires, so I was prepared to take advantage of the numerous wide spots if the iPace protested. Besides, this was not really a test of the off-road prowess of the I-Pace itself. I was more interested in getting a feel for what electrified off-roading might be like. I started grinning less than 100 yards after the trail’s narrow paved approach turned into dirt and began snaking steeply upward through dust and embedded rocks. In my own Jeep, which has a six-speed manual transmission and 4:10-to-1 axle gearing, I usually choose low-range at this point because the transmission gear spacing in high range is too wide and the engine bogs all too easily at these slow and constantly varying speeds. By comparison, the Jaguar’s power delivery was pure magic. For starters, there was no 4x4 mode to engage, no low range to select. The dual-motor all-wheel drive system is always on, and it constantly adjusts its torque split to suit conditions. Throttle pedal response is thoroughly accurate, and I never once had to goose the pedal because electric motors deliver their peak torque at zero rpm. They’re absolutely bog-proof, in other words. Driving up this steep bumpy dirt fire road was no more difficult than traversing my driveway at home. The above statement doesn’t account for the sharp embedded rocks, of course. This road is mostly dry, hard-packed dirt, but loose cobbles are everywhere and one must keep a sharp eye out for even sharper rocks. Even in my Jeep it’s easy to slash a sidewall if you’re not careful, but here I also had to fret about pinch-flatting 40-series Pirellis and tweaking the …
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