Jaguar’s first electric car to cost a cool R1.69-million in SA

29th October 2018 By: Irma Venter - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Jaguar’s first electric car to cost a cool R1.69-million in SA

South Africa’s third commercially available fully electric vehicle (EV) will make its local debut early in 2019, at a starting price of R1.69-million.

The Jaguar I-Pace sports-utility vehicle (SUV) will be available in three trim grades, namely S, SE and HSE, as well as a special first edition, says Jaguar Land Rover South Africa (JLRSA).

All variants will be available with an identical powertrain, which comprises a 90 kWh battery positioned in the floor of the vehicle to ensure a low centre of gravity, as well as two axle-mounted synchronous electric motors, paired with concentric single-speed transmissions.

The I-Pace’s 294 kW/696 Nm peak power is enough to launch the all-wheel drive SUV from zero to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds, with a single full charge to provide a range of up to 470 km.
 
JLRSA says pricing for home-charging stations will be announced closer to the launch.

Home-charging cables compatible with normal wall sockets will be available as standard equipment.

South Africa’s first EV, the Nissan Leaf, launched in 2013.

From 2013 to the end of 2017, a total of 375 EVs were sold in South Africa.

No Leaf sales have been recorded in 2018, to date. The new Leaf was launched in Japan last year.

BMW i3 sales declined to 66 units last year, down from 93 units in 2016. Sales of the fully electric i3 have reached 32 units for the first five months of this year.

Pricing for the i3 starts from R606 800.

The sales of zero-emission EVs are heavily subsidised in most countries abroad.