ELECTRIC Jaguar XJ on the way to rival Tesla Model S
An Electric Jaguar XJ is planned as Jaguar decide their range-topping model will be renewed, but that it will be pitched against the Tesla Model X when it arrives in late 2018.
There’s been a lot of speculation around whether or not the Jaguar XJ will be renewed, especially as it’s now pushing on for a decade old and seems to have been forgotten by Jaguar.
But, according to Autocar, Jaguar are well on the way to delivering a new XJ – and it’ll be an electric XJ.
Not only will the new Jaguar XJ be an electric car – pitching it head to head with the Tesla Model S – but it will also be a five-door liftback, just like the Model S and the Porsche Panamera. And that makes a lot of sense.
Jaguar has struggled to make the XJ a real competitor against cars like the Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 Series in the world market – although it does reasonably well in the UK – so there is sense in going the electric route to make it a truly different option.
Having already decided to take the Tesla Model X on with the new Jaguar i-Pace, the new XJ EV is scheduled to be revealed later this year – 50 years on from the XJ’s original reveal – and go on sale in 2019.
It’s a bold move by Jaguar to transform the XJ in to a cutting-edge EV, but it could just work.
Mark Geller says
Teslas, when they first came, looked like so much, in spirit, like the XJ anyway, without the luxury level. This is brilliant. Panamera is selling 5 times the XJ in the U.S., at much bigger money and the big Mercedes haven’t slowed down much either. However, the infotainment system(s) and displays better be right up to the minute and compatible with everything, or it will be a disappointment to those of us who love Jaguar, but want all the modern electronics of the Mercedes and the Porsches. I also hope that the range is a bit longer than 220 to be offered in the i-Pace. IMO, 350 is a better number.