Jaguar E-PACE: Now in  Sub-Sahara Africa

By Bennett  Oghifo

The Jaguar E-PACE has been introduced into the market in sub-Sahara Africa with its launch by the media in the region, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, this week.

The Jaguar E-PACE is a five-seat compact SUV that packs the design and performance of a Jaguar sports car into a spacious, practical and connected all-wheel-drive vehicle.

Trademark Jaguar driving characteristics and stirring design put the brand’s sports car DNA in a practical design packed with advanced technologies. The E-PACE, the newest member of Jaguar’s SUV family following the F-PACE performance SUV and I-PACE Concept all-electric SUV, takes design inspiration from the F-TYPE sports car.

The exterior design is characterised by the distinctive Jaguar grille, muscular proportions, short overhangs and powerful haunches while optional 21-inch alloy wheels give the E-PACE a bold and purposeful stance, instantly communicating dynamic agility. Jaguar sports car DNA is also evident in the fast sweep of the roofline and the distinctive side window graphic.

Finbar McFall, Global Product Marketing Director, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Demand for SUVs and Crossovers is growing, particularly in China, with the market predicted to increase globally by 23% by 2020. Jaguar is at the forefront of this demand with our expanding PACE family of SUVs. We are attracting incremental customers – typically couples and young families – who are used to being connected and want practicality and stand-out design. E-PACE delivers on all three counts.”

Digital connectivity can be found throughout the cabin, ready for every need of the modern family. There are up to four 12-volt charging points and five USB connections.  

The E-PACE has exceptional interior space. The compact SUV is 4,395mm long with short front and rear overhangs of 882mm and 832mm respectively. Its 2,681mm wheelbase seats five in absolute comfort and yields a generous rear legroom of 892mm while the large luggage capacity of 577 litres is made possible by the vehicle’s sophisticated Integral Link rear suspension architecture.

Under the bonnet, E-PACE is endowed with a range of powerful and efficient Ingenium petrol and diesel engines. The 221kW Ingenium petrol turbo engine powers E-PACE from 0-100km/h in just 6.4 seconds, before reaching an electronically-limited top speed of 243km/h. E-PACE doesn’t sacrifice performance for efficiency – customers can opt for the 110kW Ingenium diesel engine, which returns economy of just 5.6 litres per 100km.

Every E-PACE is equipped with all-wheel drive and a nine-speed automatic transmission, and high-output models are also available with Active Driveline – a technological first for Jaguar. This intelligent set-up combines phenomenal traction with Jaguar’s unmistakable rear-wheel-drive character. The system’s torque-biasing capability delivers optimal stability, dynamics and fuel efficiency in all conditions.

New chassis hardware, including the Integral Link rear suspension layout, has allowed Jaguar’s engineers to maximise interior space and deliver the responsiveness and agility required without compromising ride comfort.

Every E-PACE features the latest generation of Jaguar’s Touch Pro infotainment system as standard. Natural voice control technology, a 10-inch touchscreen interface and a customisable home screen make interactions with the system quick, simple and highly intuitive.

An optional 12.3-inch full colour digital TFT instrument panel and choice of two premium audio systems developed with Meridian put the E-PACE on a par with vehicles from the class above when it comes to interior technology. Also available is a next-generation Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) Head-Up Display technology.

The E-PACE is also the only vehicle in its segment available with an innovative wearable Activity Key, allowing the driver to lock the main key inside the vehicle when enjoying outdoor pursuits such as running or cycling.

Standard specification on each E-PACE includes the Touch Pro infotainment system, LED headlights and a rear-view camera system, as well as advanced driver assistance systems including Cruise Control and Speed Limiter, and Front and Rear Parking Aid.

Range Summary

The E-PACE is available with Standard, S, SE and HSE specification packs, in core or R-Dynamic body styles. Customers have a choice of two diesel engines, with outputs of 110kW and 132kW, and two petrol engines, producing 183kW and 221kW, respectively.

The Jaguar E-PACE is now available in Jaguar’s sub-Sahara Africa markets. Customers can build their own Jaguar E-PACE using the configurator on the Jaguar website. All new Jaguar cars come with a five-year Care Plan*: a five-year/100 000km service plan and a five-year/150 000km warranty, as standard.

*Not available in Mozambique, Senegal and Ivory Coast

Meet the Ford Engineer Who Wants to Tear Your Car Apart

M

odern cars are handsome looking things, but there are people in this world who would like to tear them to pieces. People like Rob Carstairs, an aerodynamicist at Ford.

“The first thing I’d get rid of is the side mirrors. Off they go, that’d be great.”

Rob’s reason for wanting your side mirrors gone is purely scientific: “They are useless for aerodynamics,” he said.

It isn’t just mirrors that are a thorn in the side for aerodynamicists. In his pursuit of aero perfection, Rob would scrap and change a lot of the things we take for granted on modern cars in order to create the most fuel efficient vehicle he possibly can by reducing drag. The dream for an aerodynamicist is a vehicle that directs the flow of air smoothly all the way over the vehicle, without any disturbances.

That dream happens to look like a teardrop. A teardrop shape allows air to flow smoothly, while the long tail solves the problem of vacuums that are created as air leaves the roof and the trunk. A car this shape would easily be the most fuel efficient on the road.

But there are many reasons why these things aren’t solely left up to aerodynamicists, not least because most people don’t want to drive a car that looks like a giant teardrop. 

Fortunately, the final look of a car is the result of the different demands of a number of Ford teams, including designers, aerodynamicists and safety engineers. Safety, of course, is why Rob’s nemesis the side mirror is a non-negotiable fixture on cars ­­– a fact Rob agrees is only a good thing.

 

Teamwork

Compromises like this are a key part of the design development process for Rob and his colleagues at Ford. The designers know what customers want vehicles to look like, but this isn’t always good for aerodynamics. Likewise, Rob can make suggestions based on aerodynamics, but if the vehicle won’t sell then they can’t be used. Because of this, a lot of Rob’s work is done making subtle optimizations, which can have a surprisingly big effect.  

“Under the front bumper of the Everest SUV we added wings on the outer parts to direct airflow,” said Rob. “It improved aerodynamics by five percent.” 

Many Ford vehicles now also have a slight flick in the tail lamps to stop the air flow from wrapping round the vehicle and causing added drag – an ingenious and mostly cost-free improvement in aerodynamics.’

Changing technology

The work of Ford’s aerodynamicists has been greatly improved by advances in computing.

While wind tunnels are still a crucial part of aerodynamics testing, complex computer models and simulations now allow Rob and his colleagues to easily test design tweaks on Ford’s supercomputer cluster. Rather than replacing wind tunnels, the computer models are an additional measure that can replicate hours of testing that would have been unimaginable only ten years ago.

“If we run tests for two days we can easily complete over 50,000 hours’ worth of simulations,” said Rob.

The look of a vehicle is also affected by the markets it is destined for. Although lower cars are more aerodynamic, the amount of clearance a car has varies by model, and is also heavily dependent on how flat the roads in a region are.

“In India for example, roads can be a bit bumpier so a vehicle might have to sit a bit higher,” said Rob. “We have to consider all the different road conditions across the region.”

However, as more car buyers are demanding fuel efficient vehicles, the design changes suggested by aerodynamicists are being prioritized. “The design team now accepts more and more of our ideas,” said Rob.  

In the era of electrification, vehicles are already adopting more aerodynamic shapes.  “On an electric car demands for powertrain cooling are reduced, so the grille openings can be smaller,” said Rob. “Things like that are quite handy for us aerodynamicists.”