The Jaguar I-Pace, the British automaker’s first all-electric vehicle, is nearing a production unveil and therefore, prototypes spotted in the wild are looked at closely for a glimpse at the real thing.
A new sighting in Monaco showed the vehicle speeding around a track without camouflage.
The latest sighting earlier this month showed the I-Pace camouflaged head to toe – indicating that it likely was a production prototype being tested.
After unveiling the first prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2016, the production version should be revealed “by the end of 2017” – likely at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2017, and it is slated for production in the “second half of 2018”, according to the automaker. That’s a quick ramp to production – encouraged by the vehicle being well-received when first unveiled.
In this new sighting, a uncamouflaged I-Pace is seen speeding around the Monaco Grand Prix circuit:
Cameramen are visible around the track – leading us to believe that Jaguar is commissioning promotional content ahead of the upcoming production reveal, which could mean that we are seeing the production version of the vehicle.
Jaguar previously said that the concept will be extremely similar to the production version, especially since they planned a fairly short production timeline.
As we previously reported, the I-PACE is a sport SUV equipped with a 90 kWh battery pack with a range of “over 500 km” NEDC-rated. Interestingly, the automaker has now confirmed “a targeted range of approximately 220 miles on EPA test cycles”.
The price is the biggest unknown about the vehicle at the moment, but it is expected to be competitive with the Tesla Model X and the upcoming Audi e-tron quattro, which is due around the same time next year.
Along with the Tesla Model 3 and next-gen Nissan Leaf, the I-Pace is expected to be among the few new long-range all-electric vehicles hitting the market in the next 12 months.
