Living With An Electric Car In India — Know How Jaguar I-Pace Holds Up With Its Range

We have driven the I-Pace earlier in Mumbai and also in Delhi with the car having shown the highest range till now of any EV we have tested.

Jaguar I-Pace (Photo Courtesy: Somnath Chatterjee)

New Delhi: Everyone is talking about electric cars and there is a lot of interest around it. However, amongst all this, we wanted to see how an electric car is to live with and use it every day. Is range anxiety really that bad and does having an electric car change the way you look at automobiles in general?

For this, we took the only electric car that till now has impressed us the most in terms of range - the Jaguar I-Pace. We have driven the I-Pace earlier in Mumbai and also in Delhi with the car having shown the highest range till now of any EV we have tested. So, how will that EV perform in a real-world test over a few days? The plan was to go as many days as we can without charging at all. The I-Pace has a claimed WLTP range of 480km and the plan was to go as near as that. We decided to take the expressway for a quick 150km road trip and then drive around in the city - without charging.

The first day we had the car, it showed 387km range with a 95 percent battery. The key to driving an EV is changing driving style. The I-Pace is fast, make it very fast. The dual electric motors make 400bhp and 696Nm. Like any electric car, all that power is instant and you will have to be careful not to break speed limits. The faster mode is frankly too fast and it's best not used while even in eco mode, a simple press of the accelerator and you're breaking the speed limit. What I liked about using it every day was the ease of driving an electric car. Overtaking slow traffic is easy and it is shocking how quick the I-Pace is in the real world. That's what makes EVs work in city traffic. What's more, there is a dedicated sound that the I-Pace makes while of course you can use regenerative braking to charge while also adjusting how much you want. I used that a lot and it adds to the experience while increasing your range.

What's more, despite its massive size, I forgot how big this EV is. The I-Pace is a heavy car but does not feel so with sharp handling and quick steering. Further on, the ground clearance which can be increased is a relief for our roads and that's why I thought of taking it for a road trip anyways. EVs have a ground clearance issue sometimes due to the low-hanging battery pack- not with this!

In the city, the I-Pace impressed us no doubt but it had the task of spending the next few days clocking some serious distance with no thought of charging in mind. City traffic is where the I-Pace or even any electric car excels with minimal effort and full acceleration in an instant. Hence, for that quick overtake, the I-Pace proved shockingly capable to the point that I thought I was driving a small hatchback and not a huge SUV.

The range had barely dropped but with the Yamuna Expressway approaching, we cruised at big triple-digit speeds along with the air-con cranked up to the max. We were not trying to save range and were driving normally- that's the whole idea! A cruise also showed the cabin of the I-Pace is a comfy place to be with all the toys expected from crore plus luxury car. That said, on a hot day, the glass roof with no cover makes the cabin very hot.

Anyways, the Delhi-Agra route amongst others would be an 'e-corridor' with various charging stations being added. That said, currently charging infrastructure does fall short and in an EV with less range, you would have to charge, and at the moment, it is a hassle. With the I-pace, there was no need cause it did not rapidly reduce charge even when driving on a highway with the air-con maxed out on a hot day. Typically, EVs give more charge in the city and less on the highway- opposite of petrol/diesel cars but here the I-Pace was not eating range.

We were confident of not charging the I-Pace and rightly so as the range still showed 130 odd km - enough for a quick drive even the next day! We did try some of the charging stations nearby where I lived but some were not having the connectors suitable for the I-Pace! Hence we actually had the I-Pace for quite a few days but did not need to charge!

It also shows that while EVs like the I-Pace are capable of giving 370km easily, the infrastructure is not quite ready. For a road trip, that too for a sizeable distance, something like the I-Pace works as you can charge it when you reach but on the way, the charging infrastructure needs to improve.