2009 Jaguar Xkr Portfolio Edition on 2040-cars

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Jaguar's EV future starts with three 'sports crossovers' in 2025

Who'd have thought Cadillac and Jaguar would have so much in common? Once paramount luxury brands that lost their respective ways around the same time, floundered with one not-good-enough product after another, and have several failed reboots on their resumes. Given one last chance by their parent companies to get it together, both committed to all-electric lineups. And both have made it clear they're targeting the super-luxe demo, with Bentley the marque that always comes up as the hare in the distance. Cadillac appears to have made an outstanding shot off the line, its Lyriq bringing home reviews worthy of long-ago Cadillac, the Celestiq promising everything we screamed for from Cadillac concepts like the Escala and Ciel. We have two more years to wait for what Jaguar's bringing, the English automaker not expected to show near-production concepts of it coming lineup until a "globally significant" auto show that year. Autocar calims to have a few more details out of Jaguar HQ about what's to come. The product lineup has been guesswork to now. Autocar says it's going to be "a trio of ... electric sports crossovers." If that's the case, that means the F-Type puts an end to Jaguar's run of sporty, luxurious coupes — for a spell, at least. According to the report, the new range starts with a model around the size of the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo wagon, which is an inch shorter than a Cadillac Lyriq. Two- and four-door variants will offer single- and dual-motor powertrains. Pricing is expected to begin in the GBP80,000 ($96,406 U.S.) to GBP90,000 ($108,457 U.S.) bracket, which would make this EV the highest starting price for any entry-level production Jaguar in maybe ever. Right now, the I-Pace starts at GBP66,350 ($79,957 U.S.), the F-Pace at GBP46,250. The most expensive model among the range is the F-Pace SVR at GBP81,150 ($97,792 U.S.). It's thought the upper end of the lower-end EV could "push prices to GBP120,000" ($144,610 U.S.) before getting to the SVR trims.     There's no info on the middle sibling. The flagship is anticipated to start around GBP120,000. Two motors and all-wheel-drive would be the default powertrain, prices hitting GBP200,000 ($241,016 U.S.) for SVR models.  The aim is to earn comfortable profit selling no more than 60,000 vehicles globally per year.

2018 Jaguar F-Pace S is a fun but thirsty travel companion

I love road trips. I've moved across the country twice, spending weeks living out of my car, eating granola bars and sucking down energy drinks like it was finals week all over again. I get a huge kick out of calculating fuel economy, stretching out tanks of gas or diesel until the low-fuel light begins to sear itself into my retinas. I try to take each and every one of our long-term vehicles on some such trip. Not long after our 2017 Jaguar F-Pace S arrives, my wife and I decided to see some family in Asheville, North Carolina, roughly 10 hours and 700 miles from our home in suburban Detroit. Now, I knew from the outset this was going to be a far different experience than our previous long-termer, a 2017 Jaguar XE diesel. I managed to eek out nearly 700 miles per tank, averaging 42 mpg over 2,000 miles with that car. But the 380-horsepower supercharged V6 in the F-Pace is rated at 18 city/23 highway with a combined rating of just 20 mpg. Not good, and — unlike the XE — I didn't think I could do much better without greatly altering my admittedly aggressive driving habits. Still, I wanted to take our blue bomber to the Blue Ridge Parkway, so onward I went. There were a few other things I was worried about over what was sure to be another 2,000-mile trip. The F-Pace's suspension was a bit stiff thanks to the sporty S trim. The 20-inch wheels don't help matters, though things could be worse (some people on staff wanted to get 22s). At least they look good. Still, the seats are comfortable and the radio is top-notch. LCD Soundsystem's latest album had just come out, so I put it on repeat and headed south. The first part of the trip was going to be both the most boring and the most economical. The roads in Michigan and Ohio are flat and straight. It isn't until you hit Kentucky and head into the Appalachian Mountains that things get interesting. Just set the radar cruise control and barrel down Interstate 75 with as much urgency as you dare. I forgot my Valentine One at home. The ride was firm but not as bad as I imagined it might be, at least once we got off of Michigan's pockmarked pavement. The F-Pace tracked straight and true, but I became acutely aware that the steering wheel itself was out of alignment, leaning just slightly to the left. Fuel economy was fine, but I was just meeting the EPA estimate, not beating it like I usually manage to do.

London skyscraper caught melting cars

A new skyscraper under construction in London is apparently to blame for some mysteriously melting car parts on the city's surrounding streets. The 37-story building at 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed the "Walkie Talkie" for how it looks, features a convex side of glass windows that apparently concentrates the sun's rays like a kid with a magnifying glass. Instead of smiting ants, however, the building was caught focusing its sun-sourced laser death beam on an innocent Jaguar XJ parked on Eastcheap street. The intense heat managed to melt a sideview mirror, plastic C-pillar cover and Jaguar emblem (scroll down for an image of the damage).
Fortunately, the construction company, Land Securities, had some scruples and reportedly left a note on the car for its owner reading "Your car's buckled, could you give us a call?" They've also since apologized and agreed to pay for the £946 done - about $1,500 - in damages by their blazing hot building. A joint statement with the Canary Wharf district in which the building's located was also released. In it, the developer acknowledges concerns about the reflected light and says it's looking into the matter. The city has also decided to close a few parking bays that could be in the building's line of fire, so to speak, until a solution can be engineered. Since news of the melting Jag broke, other vehicle owners have also come forward claiming the building, re-nicknamed the "Walkie Scorchie," has damaged their cars, as well.
This isn't the first shiny-new-building-attacks-cars story we've heard - architect Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles was built amidst concern that its polished ribbons of stainless steel were blinding motorists and causing accidents, along with raising the temperatures of nearby buildings with its reflected light. The building's surfaces were later given a matte polish.