Pros
+Super smooth drivetrain
+Refreshed interior
+Faster and more capable infotainment
Cons
-Poor fuel economy when batteries drain
-It’s heavy
-Lofty price tag
Verdict: The mid-life updates to Jaguar’s large SUV are extensive but all of them add up to create a greatly improved product. The electric assistance is a boon around town, adding to the premium feel of this swanky SUV, while the refreshed interiors now feel like a special place to sit. Customers will have to plug it in to reap the fuel saving benefits, otherwise it’s an expensive SUV to buy and equally costly to run.
2021 Jaguar F-Pace P400e review: the five-minute read
Accusations could be levelled at Jaguar Land Rover that it was a little slow on the uptake of hybrid and pure electric technology, with both brands only just starting to feed through products that customers can plug in. A massive investment in diesel engine refinement probably hasn’t helped matters.
Alas, Land Rover was first to take the plunge and now sister company Jaguar is benefiting from its sibling’s hand-me-downs, as both the refreshed E-Pace and this F-Pace now pack electrified powertrains that have been borrowed from elsewhere in the group.
Unlike the E-Pace, this revised F-Pace doesn’t ride on a brand new platform, but instead features tweaks to the suspension and damping to cope with the increased weight. It does, however, feature a new powertrain, which comprises of a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol Ingenium engine, mated to a rear-mounted 17.1kWh battery and 141bhp electric motor. Drivers can expect around 33 “electric-only” miles before the batteries run dry.
It’s a great system that has won many plaudits when featured in Land Rover’s products but it’s equally smooth and refined here, proving particularly excellent at lower speed and around town, where it transforms this large and hulking SUV into a sleek and silent EV.
Although this is only a mid-life update for the F-Pace, it feels like Jaguar approached it more as an excuse for a thorough refresh and to address some of the complaints that punters had about infotainment quality and overall cabin ambience in its predecessor. The latter has been raised to a much higher levels, with more luxurious leathers, bejewelled details and a more coherent button layout making it feel much richer inside.
Exterior updates are a little more difficult to spot straight away, but the bonnet has been overhauled, while all-LED quad headlights, a new grille, and new rear lights and bumper give it a more menacing and assertive stance on the road. It looks great and Jaguar’s design language certainly feels more curvaceous and visually appealing than rivals on the market, in this humble opinion, of course.
On the subject of rivals, there are now a few plug-in hybrid offerings from the major premium players, with BMW touting its X5 xDrive45e, which boasts an all-electric range of 50 miles, whereas Mercedes-Benz unveiled a plug-in variant of its GLC, dubbed the 300e that has a greater electric range but belches out more CO2. Of course, it wouldn’t be a party if Audi wasn’t invited, and the German marque offers its Q5 Sportback in a plug-in ‘e’ variant that offers broadly the same electric range as this F-Pace.
So can Jaguar hold its own against such strong and established competition? The raft of new updates certainly gives the impression that it can. There is bucketloads of useable power on tap, for a start. With 398bhp and 640Nm of torque to play with, the F-Pace P400e has no trouble getting up to speed.
It also rides and handles well for an SUV of this size, proving really comfortable at lower speeds and cruising on faster roads equally well. It’s no performance machine, but then it’s very hard to craft a thoroughbred racer out of such a heavy and sizeable crossover. Unless you are Lamborghini, of course.
Plus, the addition of the latest infotainment system, connected apps and all manner of interior gadgetry now makes the F-Pace feel relevant and perfectly able to compete in a crowded sector of tech-heavy brands.
Extended read…
Jaguar F-Pace P400e interior and infotainment
There is a lot to talk about when it comes to new interior features for the refreshed F-Pace, because it has been redesigned to be more driver-focussed than its predecessor, so that means buttons and dials that wrap around the person behind the wheel take centre stage. Everything is in easy reach and feels logically laid out.
Sitting at the centre of the dash is a stunning new 11.4-inch HD touchscreen. The screen is gently curved so it mirrors the digital instrument panel, while the glass itself has been chemically strengthened and coated so it is anti-reflective and doesn’t pick up finger smudges quite as much.
The new Pivi Pro infotainment system is also faster and more responsive than ever, aided by the fact that it now has its own power source, so it fires up as soon as the ignition button is pressed. No more waiting for software to load so you can punch in an address into the sat nav.
Naturally, it is loaded with new connected services, including a bunch of apps that are always online, so you get a smartphone experience without having to plug in a smartphone. Or, you can make the most of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
There are also a couple of clever features that make everyday life a little more pleasant inside the cabin. including the Active Road Noise Cancellation, which does a similar job to noise cancelling headphones and cuts out irritating road noise using software and algorithms to pump tones through the speaker system.
Finally, cabin air ionisation technology also features, which is designed to remove allergens and now also features a filtration system capable of capturing ultra-fine particles, making it more bearable for allergy sufferers and generally removing nasty pollutants from the interior.
Jaguar F-Pace P400e practicality and boot space
The F-Pace is a fairly sizeable SUV, so there’s lots of room in the back for taller occupants and a decent-sized boot, but because this hybrid model still uses the old platform, there hasn’t been any extra space allocated for the rear motor and battery packs, so the boot has been eaten into slightly. In fact, it’s down 98-litres compared to its petrol and diesel counterparts.
The tailgate is powered, so it’s super easy to get into, and there’s still plenty of room left in there. Plus, the 40:20:40 split in the rear seats makes it easy to individually fold the units down and stash all manner of combinations of bulky items and people.
All of the doors open wide and the tall ride height makes it very easy to get children in and out of the back, yet the relatively compact proportions means this SUV isn’t so large that it’s daunting on tighter UK roads. In fact, it’s a doddle to drive and there is a whole host of parking technology that shows the ground ahead and superimposes the F-Pace on top of this, making it equally as simple to park up.
Jaguar F-Pace P400e engine
The 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol Ingenium engine is found in a number of Jaguar Land Rover products, where it is already fairly light, economical and low on its CO2 emissions. Here, it is paired with a rear-mounted 141bhp electric motor and 17.1kWh battery, which takes it charge from regenerative braking, the engine (when placed in ‘save’ mode) and the grid when plugged in to an appropriate outlet.
Jaguar has the jump on competition when it comes to charging, seeing as it is capable of fast charging (32kW DC) via the public network, where it is capable of delivering 0-80 per cent charge in 30 minutes, while a domestic 7kW wall box can provide a charge of 0-80 per cent in as little as one hour 40 minutes.
Performance is punchy, with the 0-60mph sprint completed in an impressive 5.0 seconds, yet CO2 emissions are kept to 49g/km, putting it in one of the lowest benefit-in-kind tax bands for company car buyers. Plus, fuel economy of up to 130.2mpg is possible. Of course, it’s best to take the latter with a pinch of salt, because when the batteries run dry, you’ll get nowhere near that mark thanks to the weight the 2.0-litre petrol engine has to shift around.
Jaguar F-Pace P400e driving
Power from the hybrid set-up is impressive and the F-Pace is surprisingly quick off the line for such a big car. It will happily accelerate up to 70mph in electricity alone, but grunt from the electric motor bleeds off at around 30mph. It is possible to slip the car into a hybrid mode by cycling through the selector switch and here, it will call upon the engine more.
There are also various driving modes, including a ‘Sport” function that makes the dials glow red, sharpens throttle response, adds a bit of weight to the steering and pumps extra noise into the cabin. It’s all perfectly fun, but feels a bit silly when you barrel into the first corner and remember you are driving a machine that weighs over two tonnes.
Instead, the F-Pace feels much more at home when silently wafting around town or cruising at motorway speeds, where it is brilliantly quiet and comfortable inside the cabin. Even when riding on 21-inch wheels, it manages to soak up bumps and potholes, isolating those inside from any jarring bumps and jolts.
Keyword: New 2021 Jaguar F-Pace P400e Review