Supplied
“I mean, you can’t put a kayak on the roof of a Model X, those gull-wing doors are just not practical.”
Christiana Stergiou and Sean Triner did their homework. They’d driven the Tesla Model S and the Model 3 here and overseas. They love the Model S.
But they met the Jaguar I-Pace at the airport in Holland (pre-Covid of course): There was a large ad for the all-electric I-Pace and decided to grab that car and cancelled their pre-booked Mercedes GLA. They were hooked.
At the time they were on the waiting list for a Model X: “(We were) about 49th in the queue,” Sean told me.
But after driving the rental Jag … they decided to cancel the Model X. Sean is British and he wanted a “James Bond” car in just the right colour and the ability to put the paddleboard and kayaks on roof racks. They prefer to have them on the roof rather than towing a trailer.
They say the I-Pace instrument cluster is more appealing, especially with the “heads up” display. Sean prefers buttons and knobs to a big screen. The Jag comes with voice commands and syncs well with the iPhone for apple iPlay. But, it comes down to the lifestyle – the I-Pace has better ground clearance for off-roading – and no gull wings.
Supplied
As they drive down the road, heads turn and he has lots of those shopping centre car park “chats”. Insurance costs are about the same as Sean’s previous cars, which have been luxury models.
The I-Pace has about 420km of range. Sean and Christina usually charge at home from a normal wall socket. Out and about they get free fast charging from some Chargefox stations. And what to do if you need to fill in time while charging? Get a massage of course, as Christiana did recently on a holiday drive in Queensland wine country.
The Jag goes in for a service every two years. Ironically the last loaner was a Tesla Model 3. In the past 2 years, they have done 38,000kms of comfortable driving.
On the downside: they feel weird driving into their local BP service station to shop for local groceries. Sometimes this takes a long time because they get caught up in great EV conversations. Then there is the situation with kids who put unfair pressure on their parents to get one, even though their ICE isn’t ready for replacement.
“Now we’ve gone electric there’s no going back,” say the couple. “We went electric mainly because of the climate, but also it’s just a better drive! Faster, quieter, cleaner, minimal servicing, cheaper (if you drive a lot), and convenient (charge at home).”
Keyword: We’ve gone electric and there’s no going back: Jaguar I-Pace hire car hooks couple