Jaguar sets a fast i-PACE as it wins triple crown of World Car awards

Published on 24 April, 2019

It costs from €81,585.

Overview

In another sign of the swing towards new ways of powering our cars, the electric Jaguar i-PACE recently won a triple crown of victories in the World Car of the Year awards.

Not only was the luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) voted the World Car of 2019, it also swept aside opposition to take the Best Design and Green Car accolades.

The car's latest success is all the more extraordinary when you consider how it follows being voted this year's European Car of the Year last month too.

The expansion of accolades for the company's first electric vehicle come against a backdrop of some gloomy global news on the jobs and manufacturing front for the parent company, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Of course the awards can't necessarily avert the problems that lie ahead (not just for JLR but for the entire motoring industry), but it must be gratifying, nonetheless, to see a car getting such attention for its design, its 'greenness' and growing relevance in a changing market.

The i-PACE went on sale in Ireland earlier this year as you probably know.

But it doesn't come cheap. It costs from €81,585.

It has a claimed electric-powered range of 470km. And being an electric car it has exceptional acceleration from a standing start: they claim a zero-to-100km time of 4.8 seconds.

The electric i-PACE beat off stiff competition from another electric and quite expensive SUV, the Audi e-tron, and Volvo's S60 saloon/V60 estate, for the main award.

The winners of the overall and individual awards were announced at the New York Motor Show last week.

The i-PACE took the World Green Car gong - also ahead of the Audi e-tron - and Hyundai Nexo, while it also beat the Suzuki Jimny and Volvo XC40 to the World Car Design award.

Meantime the Jimny (not on sale here sadly) won the World Urban Car title while the World Luxury Car crown went to the Audi A7.

And the World Performance winner for 2019 is the McLaren 720S - it beat the Aston Martin Vantage and Mercedes-Benz AMG 4-door Coupe.

This is the second World Car of the Year award win for the Jaguar Land Rover group as the Jaguar F-Pace won the title in 2017.

Of the victories, Prof Ralf Speth, chief executive officer of JLR, said: "It is an honour that the Jaguar i-PACE has received such an accolade from the prestigious World Car jurors.

"We started from a clean sheet of paper to create a new benchmark - the world's best premium electric vehicle."

* A jury of 86 international automotive journalists selected the award winners. It include yours truly here as Ireland's only representative on the panel.