Jaguar clearly pushed some wrong buttons with the ad campaign announcing its rebranding—it became an instant meme subjected to harsh ridicule on social media. The concept it unveiled was met with far more nuanced views, and those who have seen it in person say it’s quite special to behold.
That’s exciting because the production vehicle it previews will stay very true to the study, which looks like a futuristic 1930s Art Deco coupe with a chop top, butterfly doors and an almost obscenely long hood. The production car will keep that style but add two more doors, but it will hardly be conventional.
It will likely not have a back window, like the Polestar 4 and 5. Its hood will remain almost as long in relation to the greenhouse, which itself will keep the chopped top look for production. Between the concept and the camouflaged prototype that Jaguar showed last month, we were able to piece everything together and we made a rendering that shows a pretty accurate depiction of what the side of the production car will look like.
With a body this low-slung and unusual retro-futuristic design, it will be like no other EV currently on sale. It will also be able to back up its bold exterior with competitive performance and range figures, which will be vital statistics for the kinds of buyers that Jaguar wants to attract with the new car. Most, Jaguar says, will be new to the brand.
Design
Say what you will about the style of the ad campaign, but the Jaguar Type 00 looks like nothing else. It seems to draw inspiration from the Art Deco design of the 1930s (just like a modern Rolls Royce), and it does a great job of conveying the image of luxury and opulence.
The production car will have slightly more toned-down proportions (with a longer front overhang and a higher body), but most of the design elements of the study should make an appearance in one form or another.
Expect to see streaks like the ones on the front and back of the Type 00. They are a feature of the new Jaguar design language, so they will appear in different forms. Even the revised “Leaper” logo is shown in streaks on the concept, and the motif may also be present inside.
To create the rendering, I started with the side profile of the Type 00, and I overlaid a photo of the camouflaged prototype. It’s not an exact science, but I was able to adjust the shape of the body to closely match the prototype.
The outline of the huge charge port door (of which there appears to be one on each side of the car) really stuck out on the prototype. Is Jaguar hiding more than one charging port under there like Mercedes did with the new CLA? We know the new Jag EV is getting a NACS port when it comes to America, allowing users to charge via the Tesla Supercharger network.
Platform
The fancy fastback will be built on a new bespoke EV platform called Jaguar Electrified Architecture (JEA), which isn’t shared with Land Rover and will be used to underpin two more new models from the brand. Jaguar hasn’t shared much about the platform, but it likely features an 800-volt architecture, which would explain its ability to replenish 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes—800 volts or more is also the key to outstanding EV efficiency. The manufacturer is targeting an EPA range of 430 miles or 478 miles WLTP.
We don’t know the specifics yet, like how efficient the car will be, but to achieve a range like that, it will surely have a battery with over 100 kilowatt-hours of capacity. We do know that it will feature a dual-motor all-wheel drive configuration and that the car will feature rear-wheel steering, but not much more than that.
Price
Jaguar will sell its new electric fastback, which is expected to arrive in 2026, at around $120,000, matching what a well-equipped example of its XJ sedan would have cost before it was discontinued in 2019. However, at least one of the two models to follow the new Jag EV will be a crossover of some sort, so it will command a higher price.
The current global dealer network will be trimmed and adjusted to meet the new focus and scope of the brand. Jaguar will open its own boutique showrooms (called “Jaguar houses”) in big cities like London, Paris and Shanghai, and it will offer customers a car-buying experience that is closer to configuring a Rolls Royce, Bentley or a Cadillac Celestiq.
