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The other shoe has dropped for Jaguar, and it’s a doozy.
The British carmaker known for beautiful, if not always reliable, models such as the E-Type and XJ, has ended its nearly two-year manufacturing moratorium and presented, finally, the production version hinted at with the Type 00 concept unveiled in December of 2024.
It’s the — and who couldn’t see this coming? — Type 01.
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The all-electric Jaguar Type 01 is the first production model from the British brand since it ended production in 2024. (Supplied)
In 2024, Jaguar ended production entirely and began a transformation to a purveyor of exclusively electric vehicles. The Type 00 concept was its attempt to bring the designs of its past into an electric future.
In its transition from Type 00 concept to Type 01 production model — order books will open early in 2027 — the car grew two doors and ceased being a coupe. The new model is massive: nearly as wide and long as an F-150. Yet it’s only 55 inches tall. Long and low with massive 23-inch wheels. It’s nothing if not a design statement.
The 01 is a striking contradiction from a brand repositioning its dealership network to — in the U.K. and Europe, at least — a collection of metropolitan boutiques catering to an urban clientele. It’s hard to imagine Londoners finding anywhere to park the 01, let alone navigate the city’s deliberately restrictive narrow streets.
The price is expected to be about $160,000.
Is it electric? Very.
The Type 01 uses a unique design for its battery back to provide an unusually low seating position. (Supplied)
The car has three motors: one each for the rear wheels and one for the front wheels, with a rear-drive bias in its programming. It claims a total of 1,016 horsepower and 1,007 pound-feet of torque.
Fascinating is how low the occupants sit, given the usual placement of EV drive batteries under the passenger compartment. Despite the low seating position, it does incorporate an in-floor battery pack: it’s split to provide a footwell for rear-seat passengers, and provides a mounting position for the front seats.
It’s not going to be the car for everyone, but it will, it appears, be the halo car for the brand.
The question will be, what comes into the lineup underneath it? Doubtful the brand is going to survive long with only one car, and if you’re positioning a halo, it’s typically above something else, isn’t it?
I suspect the volume leader for Jaguar will be a car or SUV competitive with Lexus or BMW EVs in the $70,000 to $90,000 price range.
Of course, the vehicle landscape has changed considerably since Jaguar slammed the brakes on production and began its shift to electric, not the least of which is the complete opposition in the U.S. administration to anything that doesn’t fuel the profits of Big Oil.
With no rear window, the Type 01 will be, if nothing else, polarizing. (Supplied)
While the market has shifted to largely crossovers and SUVs — some brands don’t produce any cars at all — Jaguar might be ahead of a curve: trends in the U.S. and Canada suggest cars are gaining momentum again, either as millennials avoid the vehicles of their parents or as drivers seek greater fuel economy.
The design will be polarizing, particularly the lack of a rear window. Critics have complained about the plain sides, but to me, there’s an elegance in the shape of the doors reminiscent of Land Rovers. Not so elegant, perhaps, is the charge door behind the front wheel: seems to me there’s a better way to integrate it for a cleaner look.
Whether this will be enough to placate dealers unhappy with the brand’s direction remains to be seen. It hasn’t been easy selling Jaguars when nothing is being built. Fortunately, for Canadian dealers at least, sister brand Land Rover is helping keep the lights on.
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