{"id":2182503,"date":"2026-10-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2182503"},"modified":"2026-10-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T21:00:00","slug":"jags-ninth-life-at-long-last-heres-the-jaguar-type-01-luxury-electric-gt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2182503","title":{"rendered":"Jag’s ninth life: at long last, here’s the Jaguar Type 01 luxury electric GT"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is not a new Jaguar.<\/p>\n

Not to the people who created it. Among many staggering nuggets they shared as Top Gear was smuggled through fierce security into JLR headquarters on the 125th anniversary of founder Sir William Lyons\u2019 birth (and days before the cyberattacked and tariff-battered company announced 4,000 job cuts) was the car\u2019s age.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This traffic-stopping look was frozen sometime in 2021. I\u2019m shown top secret photographs of the clay model being massaged in the design studio. The sculptors are wearing Covid facemasks. That explains why the bonnet\u2019s edges are two metres apart. The designers were social distancing.<\/p>\n

Grace, Pace, Hands Face Space. Until now, it\u2019s been known as Project Pantera. Or Codename X900. Now it\u2019s officially the Jaguar Type 01. That\u2019s \u2018Zero One\u2019, not Type One, and definitely not Type Oh-One.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cOh-s***!\u201d is more likely to be the reaction. The whole point of this car is to create a ‘bloody-hell’ moment. You might argue Jaguar overcooked that with 2024\u2019s infamous \u2018Copy Nothing\u2019 sting<\/a>. Insiders diligently insist it was carefully plotted not to please everyone. Hmm. Death threats against the creative team and share price freefall included?<\/p>\n

Since the advert that launched a thousand columns, other EVs from beloved marques have broken the internet. But unlike Luce<\/a>, Torcal<\/a> and AMG GT<\/a>, this is not a toe in the water from an otherwise profitable powerhouse. The Type 01 sets the tone for a totally new Jaguar company. All electric, more luxurious, rarer, bespoke. If this car bombs, Jaguar dies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Out comes the case for the defence, armed to the teeth with buzzwords. Exuberance, unique, fearless, progressive. My Jagspeak bingo card overflows in seconds.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Look out, here comes the justification for such a radical rethink. \u201cJaguar was at a crossroads. Ageing customer base. Stiffer emerging competition. An evolving<\/em> political situation. A legendary brand underperforming commercially.\u201d<\/p>\n

My favourite titbit is the admission Jaguar\u2019s interviewed 2,500 people across six continents during Type 01 customer clinics. Each was asked to grade it out of ten. The car got more nines and tens than any Jag previously measured by the same metric\u2026 but more ones and twos as well. It\u2019s not here to please all the people.<\/p>\n

If, say, 10,000 people a year spend \u00a3150,000 on one (the base price is \u00a3120k but Jaguar is eyeing juicy options to pump profits), it’s mission accomplished. And dividing the voters isn\u2019t the only record under its belt. Welcome to the most powerful, stiffest, most aerodynamic and most patented Jaguar of all time.<\/p>\n

\n

This is the most extensively tested Jaguar in history<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Power? 1,015bhp from a trio of motors: one up front plus individual motors for each rear wheel, allowing active torque vectoring for more agile handling. 6.5deg of rear-wheel steering helps too, giving this canal boat the turning circle of a 3 Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stiffness? An impossible to quantify 57,000Nm per degree. Let me put it this way: the state-of-the-art McLaren W1<\/a>\u2019s racecar-spec carbon tub claims 51,000Nm per degree. The Jag, with its structural battery and fancy castings, is untwistable. Good news for handling, for letting the suspension do its thing when there are bumps to absorb. Handy, when the wheels are gargantuan 23s as standard. And reassuring if you crash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Aero? The drag coefficient is a slick 0.23Cd, though I later discover that\u2019s if you spec the 21in wheels Jaguar is mandated to provide in markets where snow chains are the law.<\/p>\n

Motorised venetian blinds up front block cooling channels to the brakes and powertrain unless a draught is absolutely necessary. Result? 27 miles more range on the American test cycle than if they were a fixed grille. Chamfering the originally bluff front corners by 8mm bought another 12 miles.<\/p>\n

It took them 7,000 wind tunnel tests and along the way they figured out that a three-position rear spoiler would minimise drag and create 75kg of high-speed downforce. Which seems like overkill when the car weighs on the wrong side of 2.5 tonnes, despite being fashioned from 73 per cent aluminium.<\/p>\n

And the patents? 360 and counting. Most, like the high-voltage charging electronics integrated into the front strut brace, are hidden deep beneath the tightly-drawn skin, never to see the light of day unless it\u2019s in bits for serious remedial work. Which won\u2019t happen, Jag promises, because it\u2019s determined not just to shed its reputation for fusty golf chariots and perpetually disappointing accounts, but also for cars which break down.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Jaguar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So this is also the most extensively tested Jaguar in history. More than 150 prototypes, tortured for hundreds of thousands of hours everywhere from -30deg frozen Arctic wastes to the 40deg+ furnace of Death Valley. If you see one of these on an AA flatbed with the hazards strobing, Jaguar hopes your first assumption will be \u2018silly bugger must\u2019ve run out of charge.\u2019<\/p>\n

That happens after a claimed 450 miles, though Jaguar sportingly admits that a zero re-gen motorway cruise means closer to 320 miles. Smart motor deactivation when four-wheel drive isn\u2019t required claws back another 18 miles of range.<\/p>\n

The battery is a big\u2019un at 118kWh, allied to 850-volt architecture for a theoretical 22-minute recharge. It could be bigger still, but the mission was a car of impossibly low stance. So the pack was compressed down to just 150mm thick, including its armour-plating. Huge divots had to be carved out of the precious cell packs to make space for rear passengers\u2019 designer slippers. Even the seats have been slimmed to just 83mm thick to make those<\/em> proportions possible.<\/p>\n

\n

The Type 01 is a space inefficient, selfish car<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And here we get into the compromise of the supposedly zero compromise Zero One. To get these cartoon villain getaway car proportions \u2013 the lowness, the raked rear \u2013 this vast barge is not a spacious car. I have never heard a manufacturer dub a four-door car a \u201c2+2 seater\u201d before. Normally that get-out clause is reserved for coupes like an Aston DB12<\/a> or Porsche 911<\/a>. The Type 01 is a space inefficient, selfish car. I sat in the driver\u2019s seat too and was surprised just how hemmed it felt. Even the vast bonnet conceals nothing more than a charging cable carry-cot.<\/p>\n

No-one from Jag baulks. Though they don\u2019t say it out loud, there\u2019s an air of \u2018Yes, we know thanks. And if you want a roomier car, or a longer range car, or one with rear seat entertainment and a giant boot, go buy one off someone else who makes whitegoods. This isn\u2019t for you.\u2019 That\u2019s a galaxy away from the diesel XE and E Pace era.<\/p>\n

The Type 01 is attempting the hardest trick for an EV. Nothing to do with range anxiety or depreciation dodging. Something more elemental: heart over head. An electric car you buy because you want<\/em> one, not because it makes sense on the tax return. In Jag wordsoup that\u2019s billed as \u2018irrational desire’.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

So far, you nor me have seen the new Jaguar in its ideal habitat. I\u2019m guessing this website isn\u2019t your first introduction \u2013 you more likely saw it in the newspaper, on Instagram or YouTube earlier this month. I met it in a sterile studio. That crucial ‘OMFG WTF’ moment will come when we see it on a public road, among sundry traffic and anonymous architecture.<\/p>\n

In the metal, it\u2019s got immense presence. But don\u2019t be fooled by anyone who airily comments Jaguar was brave to retain the Type 00 concept\u2019s<\/a> ribbed front \u2018grille\u2019, slatted rear lights, and reductive surfaces. The production car was finished first, then<\/em> the pink coupe was reverse engineered as an extreme preview of Jag 2.0.<\/p>\n

Since this car is a rolling design gamble, allow me to spill more tea on the details. Jaguar considered rear-view cameras but correctly decided they\u2019re a user-friendliness disaster and went with aero-efficient mirrors instead. That said, there\u2019s no back window and the rear view display appears atop the dashboard to avoid eating view through the raked windscreen.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Jaguar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Why no back window? Designers demanded a lengthy glass roof, and by the time they\u2019d incorporated rear crash structure and tapered the rear satisfactorily, the window \u201cwould\u2019ve been a letterbox”.<\/p>\n

The rear three-quarter pressing is known internally as \u2018The Impossible Panel\u2019. The press that stamps out what the engineering team originally considered beyond modern manufacturing is four storeys high and squeezes down with a force of 2,500 tonnes. 1,500 hours were spent tooling it up.<\/p>\n

The boot is open to the cabin but I\u2019m reassured there\u2019ll be some sort of flat-pack bulkhead stowed in the boot cellar to plug the gap between the seats. The boot floor is oddly inclined, ramping down towards the rear end to stop your shopping sliding forward when you brake.<\/p>\n

\n

I\u2019ve heard whisperings of a more stately limo and even a mooted sports car<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since hidden door handles are soon to be illegal in China, Jaguar will engineer new ones for that market. The car launches as a strict four-seater (just\u2026) with the cabin bisected by a huge spine which conceals stowage, cupholders, climate control vents and rear seat control panel beneath rotating and flipping lids. I asked if that new-age sideboard would remain compulsory. I\u2019m swiftly told \u201cthe car launches with four seats”. So will you sell a five-seat version later? \u201cThe car launches<\/em> with four-seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect a fleet of models to be rushed out on what\u2019s known internally as the JEA \u2013 Jaguar Electric Architecture. Besides the inevitable SUV, I\u2019ve heard whisperings of a more stately limo and even a mooted sports car, but Jaguar is at pains to point out JEA is exclusive to Jag. They insist it shares nothing with the electric Range Rover<\/a>, or the similarly shaped Range Rover GT<\/a>. No crossover at all. Even the infotainment system \u2013 a consistent JLR weakness and horrendously expensive to go alone \u2013 is classified.<\/p>\n

I wonder, nestled in the richly carpeted and leather-free cockpit, if that\u2019s where the Type 01 ever so slightly feels its age. The only machine that rivals it for the title of 2026\u2019s most controversial new car, Ferrari\u2019s Luce, rightly copped a hailstorm of flack for its anonymous amphibian bodywork \u2013 but its interior was much more warmly received.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Jaguar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Physical switchgear. Tactility over pixels. Thanks to its thoughtful nozzle vents, oversize paddles and slender-spoked steering wheel, you could cover up the badge, invite a stranger aboard and they\u2019d guess they were inside a Ferrari.<\/p>\n

The Jaguar offers no such visual or mechanical nostalgia. Above the spine, you\u2019re greeted by a seven-inch smartphone-like tablet to operate air-con and whatever\u2019s playing through the dash-topping soundbar. What\u2019s special about a device you already own? Everything else happens in the 24in display that dominates your view. There are no nods to the past. No XK120, E-Type or XJS hat-tips. Screen monopoly is a tactic the luxury elites are slowly edging away from, except in the Jag.<\/p>\n

But after an almost seven-year run-in, there\u2019s no more going back to the drawing board. Like it or not, this is the new Jaguar.<\/p>\n

Price<\/strong>: \u00a3120,000 (est)
Powertrain<\/strong>: 118kWh battery, 3x e-motors, 1,015bhp, 1,006lb ft
Performance<\/strong>: 0-62mph in 3.2sec, 150mph
Economy<\/strong>: 450 mile range, 3.8 miles per kWh (est)
Weight<\/strong>: 2,700kg (est)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is not a new Jaguar. Not to the people who created it. Among many staggering nuggets they shared as Top Gear was smuggled through fierce security into JLR headquarters on the 125th anniversary of founder Sir William Lyons\u2019 birth (and days before the cyberattacked and tariff-battered company announced 4,000 job cuts) was the car\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-2182503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2182503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2182503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2182503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2182503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}