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Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy: New EV, new series — Jaguar's going racing

Luxury carmaker Jaguar is teasing the 2018 launch of a five-seat electric sports car based on its I-Pace concept as its first battery-electric vehicle. The Indian-owned automaker released images of the sports car as part of its announcement that it will launch the world's first international production EV race series in 2018. A performance SUV version of the I-Pace, previously reported and presumably based on a concept revealed late last year, is also planned for late 2018. Jaguar has said it plans to electrify all new models after 2020, part of a wave of similar announcements as governments in England, China and elsewhere have announced plans to eventually ban the sale of gasoline or diesel cars. In its announcement, Jaguar said only that the race series would "support the launch" of the I-Pace five-seater. View 7 Photos At the Los Angeles auto show last year, Jaguar said its concept I-Pace crossover SUV would have a 220-mile range from its 90-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, designed and engineered entirely in-house. The Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy series is a support series for the FIA Formula E championship and will exclusively feature up to 20 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace racecars across 10 races in cities including Hong Kong, Paris, Sao Paolo and New York. The racecars will be built at the Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations in Warwickshire, England. "With the launch of the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, we have strengthened our commitment to battery electric vehicles, international motorsport and Formula E," Gerd Mauser, chairman of Jaguar Racing, said in a statement. "As a British team, we are proud to announce today the launch of the world's first production battery electric vehicle championship." He added: "Ultimately this innovative series will enhance the technology in our future electric vehicles and benefit our customers." Jaguar says it will release technical specifications, race calendar and costs for the I-Pace eTrophy in 2018. Related Video: Green Frankfurt Motor Show Jaguar Electric Racing Vehicles Performance Sedan Frankfurt 2017 jaguar i-pace

Jaguar sends off the F-Type with commemorative 75 model

Jaguar is preparing to send the F-Type to the pantheon of automotive history. It unveiled a commemorative model named F-Type 75 that announces the end of a roughly decade-long production run with a small handful of specific design accents inside and out. Offered as a coupe and as a convertible, the 75 stands out from other members of the range with subtle emblems depicting the F-Type's silhouette positioned behind the front wheel arches. The F-Type 75 ships with 20-inch five-spoke wheels finished in gloss black, while the more powerful F-Type R 75 wears 20-inch, 10-spoke wheels with a gloss black and diamond-turned finish.  Inside, the F-Type's silhouette appears on the piece of trim positioned above the infotainment system's display and on the door sills. Every 75 regardless of body style or output comes with the Interior Black Pack and what Jaguar calls "Performance-design" front seats. While a 75-horsepower bump would have been fitting, Jaguar made no mention of mechanical changes. The four- and six-cylinder engines were dropped for the 2022 model year, so the F-Type will end its career with a V8-only range. Power for the base model comes from a 5.0-liter V8 that's supercharged to 444 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque, while the R benefits from an evolution of this engine rated at 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. The base F-Type is rear- or all-wheel-drive, while the R is rear-wheel-drive-only. Jaguar will begin delivering the F-Type 75 to customers in England in early 2023 — about 75 years after the XK120 made its debut, hence the name. Pricing and availability haven't been announced yet, and Jaguar confirmed to Autoblog that details about the F-Type 75 that will be sold in the United States will be published in December 2022. The company added that 2024 will be the F-Type's last model year. As for what's next, your guess is as good as ours, but it doesn't sound like a direct successor to the F-Type is around the corner. Featured Gallery Jaguar F-Type 75, official images View 12 Photos Jaguar Convertible Coupe Luxury Performance

Could Jaguar become an EV-only brand?

Just yesterday we wrote about the Heisenbergian uncertainty surrounding the future of the Jaguar F-Type. A new report in Autocar prompts us to consider extending that ambiguity to the entire Jaguar brand. The UK magazine reports the automaker's product planners have devised a ten-year plan to switch to a pure EV lineup of cars and crossovers. According to Autocar's sources this is a planning exercise and doesn't have the green light, but it's "fairly advanced" and has adherents inside the company. The first shot fired would be an all-electric XJ replacement. That sedan, a "no-holds-barred luxury car" to challenge the Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan, would provide emissions-free motoring before the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series come with their EV propositions. Around 2023, an EV crossover a touch larger than the full-sized Audi E-tron would replace both the XF and XE sedans. Two years later, a new mid-sized I-Pace would debut as both the F-Pace and E-Pace fade out. And two years after that, around 2027, the J-Pace luxury crossover would sigh its last ICE gasp. And what about the F-Type? The report says "with no replacement for F-Type in the works," an electric sports car "is also a possibility." There's no mention of the XK revival. Right now, Jaguar sells seven models - four sedans and three crossovers. As the Autocar article's written, come 2027 Jaguar would have an electric XJ sedan, a full-sized EV crossover, the I-Pace, and perhaps an electric sports car. That's a brave new world - one we're not sure Jaguar dealers could survive in. Problem is that Jaguar and its dealers are having plenty of problems now. Chinese-market volatility, the cloud around diesels, and Brexit uncertainty have contributed to a sales slump so dire that Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant is going to a three-day week for the rest of the year. The sales flu has spread to Land Rover, too, the brand's Solihull plant closing for two weeks to realign dealer inventory. Considering all that, and with no easy relief in sight, the product planners are apparently debating whether a new, traditional three-model sedan range is worth the investment. The upside of going all-electric is said to be higher sales, with internal estimates supposing 300,000 units annually. Last year Jaguar sold 178,500 units. The marque could rake in larger profit margins on those sales, too, thanks to premium buyers being ready to shell out big ducats for EVs.