Jaguar Type 01 REVEALED – Jaguar’s ‘Last Chance Saloon’

The Jaguar Type 01 – Jaguar’s first EV of its rebirth – is officially revealed with over 1,000bhp and prices starting from £130,000.

We sort of understand JLR’s decision to take Jaguar in a different direction with an all EV future and reposition it in the market somewhere between high-end Mercedes and Bentley. After all, despite some very good offerings, the quest to become the UK’s BMW failed, so something had to be done.

The trouble is, this looks to be a decision taken five years ago when car makers had convinced themselves we’d all be in EVs by now – especially at the high-end of the market – but we’ve seen Porsche Taycan sales and residuals crash and burn, and even the Rolls-Royce Spectre suffering the same fate.

Now, Jaguar looks set to follow the same path as its controversial Type 01 electric saloon arrives officially, carrying with it no big surprises, as much of what we’re now told we already knew, a thumping great starting price of £130,000 and nothing that’s even remotely ‘Jaguar’

The 01’s monolithic looks carry none of Jaguar’s elegance and grace, and the interior fails to convince, looking a lot like a Volvo interior with added ‘beige’.

But at 5.2m long and 2m wide, the 01 is aimed at the start of young, wealthy US buyers who would never consider a Jag in the past, so perhaps Jaguar has done enough to pique their interest with its brutal exterior and bland interior.

If it does work, then the Tech millionaires who do take the plunge probably won’t be disappointed with the power, performance, and handling of the 01, because it looks, on paper at least, to be extremely good.

Sitting on a bespoke JEA Platform, the 01 comes with a 120kWh battery with a DC charging rate of 350kW thanks to an 850V system, promising a 435-mile range.

The battery powers a trio of motors – one for each back wheel and one for the front – good for a combined 1,015bhp and a 0-62mph of 3.2 seconds and from 62mph to 112mph in 4.0 seconds – so brisk overtaking is a given.

Rawdon Glover, Managing Director, Jaguar, said:

From its dramatic design to its captivating drive, Type 01 distils the essence of Jaguar into a luxury grand tourer for a new era. Type 01 is the foundation of this British brand, one that makes no compromise between design and engineering in our quest to create objects of desire, just as it was in the days of the E?type and XJS.

Orders for the Jaguar Type 01 open in the New Year, with first deliveries expected in the second half of 2027.