Jaguar has taken learnings from its all-electric racing series to improve the fully electric SUV in the form of the I-Pace. This has been achieved through the optimisation of the battery, thermal management and all-wheel-drive systems to enhance the powertrain's efficiency.
Marginal gain to real-world range
The Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy is the proving ground for these updates, the first competitive season of the race series yielding what the manufacturer calls 'critical learnings' about the durability of the battery, as well as its thermal control and torque management systems. Furthermore, Jaguar's engineers have analysed data from more than 50 million miles of real-world journeys from customers all over the world.
As a result of these technical updates, then, the I-Pace now has, from its 90kWh battery pack, a claimed range of... 400km. Which, on the face of it, looks exactly the same as before, and it is on the WLTP cycle, but Jaguar claims that the gains from the eTrophy series will improve the real-world range of the SUV by up to eight per cent, or 20km. Useful.
Owners can avail of update
In more detail, Jaguar's engineers have made the following adjustments in the wake of the eTrophy and real-world data analysis: the AWD system changes how it distributes torque in Eco mode; the thermal management control system will close the active radiator vanes in the front grille more of the time, enhancing the I-Pace's aerodynamic performance; the battery can now run a lower state of charge then previously, without affecting driveability, durability or vehicle performance; the regenerative brakes more efficiently harvest energy when the battery is at a high level of charge, while they recover more energy at lower driving speeds to maximise range; and, finally, the predictive range calculation algorithm has been tweaked to give a more accurate and consistent estimate of vehicle range, better reflecting individual driving styles.
And good news if you've bought an I-Pace and you're sitting there, feeling narked that there's a slightly longer-range version now available - all of these updates are available to existing I-Pace units. So customers can take their cars to a Jaguar retailer for a complimentary update (yes, free of charge), which will also bring in enhanced Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) functionality that will allow more electronic onboard modules to receive remote updates.
Gets better with age
Stephen Boulter, I-Pace vehicle engineering manager, said: "The Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy has generated a huge amount of data for us to analyse and those marginal gains, derived from competition on the track, are now being applied to customers' cars to further enhance their driving experience. The new software updates optimise the powertrain control systems to improve efficiency and allow I-PACE drivers to travel even further on a single charge without any hardware changes - it really is a case of the vehicle getting better with age."