Jaguar E-Pace SUV – Jaguar’s new small SUV – caught on video ahead of debut

The new Jaguar E-Pace SUV – a smaller sibling for the F-Pace – captured on video testing ahead of a expected debut in the coming months.

The new Jaguar E-Pace, a new smaller Jaguar SUV, is expected to debut in the coming months, and Jaguar are busy shaking it down in the cold climes of northern Europe. Thankfully, a man with a camera was on hand.

So we have decent video of the new E-Pace, although what it tells us – peering through the de rigueur black and white camouflage – is that this is pretty much an F-Pace on a boil wash. Which is no bad thing.

The not exactly cheap as chips Jaguar F-Pace SUV has been such a sales success for Jaguar that it accounts for half of all Jaguar sales, just five minutes after it’s launched, so Jaguar are keen to turn themselves in to purveyors of SUVs as quickly as possible to play catch-up with Land Rover’s success, in the process closing the gap substantially between product.

Based on the Range Rover Evoque’s platform – a platform based on the old Freelander’s, which in turn was based on the Ford Galaxy – makes it steel under the skin, and it will come with a range of Jaguar’s 2.0 litre Ingenium engines and, at some point, no doubt Jaguar’s down-sized three-cylinder 1.5 litre engines too.

Doubtless most of the E-Pace’s sales will be of FWD versions lower down the range, although it’s certain there will be range-topping 4WD versions too, complete with lots of toys.

What we could also see is Jaguar’s first hybrid powertrain arriving as an option in the E-Pace, using the aforementioned 3-pot engine mated to an electric motor to aid the response of the 3-pot, rather than for proper performance.

To work for Jaguar, the new E-Pace is probably going to have to arrive with a starting price tag not much more than £25k, although Jaguar will no doubt take a leaf out of Land Rover’s book to ensure you can double your spend by opting for the range-topping model and ticking some tasty option boxes.

It will have strong competition, with cars like the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 the obvious, although perhaps the real fight will be between the E-Pace and the new Volvo XC40 – also due to arrive soon.

With the F-Pace already outselling just about everything else Jaguar makes combined, an E-Pace on the way which will, by virtue of its place in the market, sell way more than the F-Pace, and a Jaguar J-Pace SUV – essentially Jaguar’s Range Rover – on the horizon, how long before Jaguar gives up on the rest of its range and becomes a road-focussed Land Rover?

We’re expecting the new Jaguar E-Pace SUV to be revealed in the next few months, get its public debut at the Paris Motor Show in September and go on sale soon after.

Jaguar E-Pace Spy Video