Electric Jaguar XJ LEAKS out – five years on

The electric Jaguar XJ, planned as far back as 2018 but officially binned in 2021, has leaked out five years after it was presented to a select few.

Jaguar had plans back in 2018 to build an electric Jaguar XJ to take on cars like the Tesla Model S, and the following year it showed its new electric range-topper to a select few, as well as the new Jaguar J-Pace SUV.

But a year later – just before the new XJ EV was to be revealed – it looked like Jaguar had put the XJ EV on the back burner, although just a few months later it confirmed that the new electric XJ would be revealed in October 2020.

As we know, that never happened, and a few months later in February 2021 JLR revealed a new ‘Reimagine’ plan and confirmed the XJ EV would never see the light of day.

Now, as Jaguar plans its new electric GT, a photo purporting to show the electric XJ in production guise has leaked out, and although we can’t always be sure leaks like this are real, Ian Callum commented that the photo “… looks familiar. Long time ago.. shame. We would have done the facelift by now.”

It’s not the most revealing photo, but it does show a car that looks like an evolution of the XJ with bits of inspiration from the I-Pace and clearly aimed at the Tesla Model S. Which would probably have been a mis-step, although it would have given Jaguar a reason to continue production for a few years longer.

Still, Que sera sera

So the stillborn X360 Jaguar ‘XJ-E’ has leaked. I’m still after the studio launch photos… pic.twitter.com/TrtdnCuOLt

— Richard Seddon (@RikSed) November 17, 2024