Automakers talk about taking lessons learned from racing and applying them to customer cars, but Jaguar's announcement of more range for its electric I-Pace crossover might be the first time that tenet has applied to cars already in customer hands.
It's exactly the email you'd love to get as a vehicle owner: Hey, we're giving you more range for the vehicle you already have — and it's free. Using information learned and lessons gleaned from the I-Pace eTrophy electric race cars, Jaguar is now able to give drivers "a potential extra 20 km of real-world range."
They're adding the range in two ways. First, by allowing the battery to run to a lower state of charge than it could before. All EV batteries leave a certain amount of capacity that can't be used for propulsion. It's necessary for battery longevity. With the deep discharges needed for racing, Jaguar has learned that it can safely allow the I-Pace to use more of the total charge.
The second is a series of changes to make the I-Pace more efficient. That includes changes to how torque is distributed front and rear, refinements to the thermal management that allows it to close the grille more of the time, and finally, software changes that Jag says let the regenerative braking be more efficient at high states of charge and recover more energy at lower driving speeds.
While Jaguar says these changes won't affect the official certified range, drivers should see that 20 km increase in real driving. There are also changes to the range calculation algorithm Jaguar says will be more accurate and consistent.
This update will require a trip to the Jaguar dealer, but there's one more bonus. They're adding over the air updates to the crossover, meaning that future updates can be done from the comfort of your own driveway.
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