OUR JAGUARSS | PAUL WALTON
PAUL WALTON – EDITOR
2020 I-PACE S Paul goes in nto more detail ab bout his time with h the I-PACE that was fe eatured in the Spriing 2022 issue
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IKE A newsreader being trouser-lless under the deskk, my four-page feature in the Spring 2022 issue about using an I-PACE to exploree Jaguar’s historic home of Blackpool [p24] missed something important; the timee, effort and money it took to get this all-eelectric car to the northwest of England and d back again. Yet my time with the car is an illustration of what it’s like to drive an electric vehicle in the UK. The journeyy to Blackp pool doesn’t start well. Since I don’t leeave my home (to the south of Peterborou ugh) with a full battery, the car’s satellite naavigation suggests an Instavolt charging sttation on the outskirts of Doncaster. Howeever, it directs me to the rear of a supermarkket instead, my progress stopped by a large and locked metal gate. Confused, thankfullyy the invaluable ZapMap app on my smaartphone gets me to the correct location thaat’s on the other side off a talll hed dge beh hind d th he sh hop. Not th he first time I’ve experienced Jaguar’s Pivi Pro making that sort of silly mistake but sincce it takes another mile to get to the right place,
if the car had less charge, it could have been caatastrophic. Like many charging points I’ve used in th he past, this one is located in th he dingy co orner of an unlit car park. I maay be a big, bu urly bloke who rarely says no to a pie bu ut even I feel vulnerable sittingg in the daark watching the power slowlyy increase. Pllus, the parking bay is so close to that afforementioned hedge that it doesn’t leave en nouggh room for me to op pen th he door,, meaning I have to position the car at an an ngle. Why can’t chargers be loccated in more practical locations and offfer as much ro oom and as many facilities as trraditional fu uel stations? But with it being a fast 50kW ch harger, after just 40 minutes an nd £25 I haave enough power to reach myy parents’ ho ome near Richmond in North Yorkshire where I’m spending the night. Next morning and needing an nother burst off ellectricity for th he 100-mille journey to Blackpool, I discover there isn’t a charger in the immediate vicinity which I find incredible in 2022. I know from growing
up here the area is hardly the centre of civilisation bu ut neither is it a backwater like the Outer Hebrides. Or even Swindon. According to Zap-Map, the nearest charging statio on en route is on the outskirtss of Barnard Caastle, 12 miles west along the A66. But on arrival we (I’ve been joined by my father) discover of the six chargers, three are unfinished and behind metal fencing and of the rest only one works. Is it myy eyyesigghtt I wonder? If onlyy there was somewhere I could visit to check… Anyway, 40 minutes, £15 and a flask of my old man’ss coffee later, th he battery is at 80 percent, thee resultant 170--mile range more than enough h to comfortablly reach Blackpool. Other than horrendous weather – meaning I neeed to use the demister which quickly zaps power – the journey to the coast passses uneventfully. Since the batteries are reasonably full, I feel confidentt enough h to enjoy th he car properlly, nailling th he throttle hard so the I-PACE responds with the same ballistic urgency as a traditional sports car. When Autocar tested the I-PACE E The IThe I-PAC I-PACE PAC ACE E at at tthe he 50kW he 5 kW char 50k charging char ha gin g g stat sstation tat a ion on in Ki K Kings ng Lynn ngs Ly ynn n
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86 | Jaguar World / May 2022
