Image Credit: Captain Electro.
Jaguar has been going through a bit of a weird phase lately. It reminds me a teenager who suddenly decides to wear only neon pink and listen to experimental jazz. We've all seen the pastel concept cars and the moody ads that I thought were perfume commercials for robots. Imagine my relief when I have finally come across evidence that the Big Cat hasn't completely lost its marbles. In fact, based on what's happening up in the frozen wastes of Sweden, they might have found a few extra marbles and strapped them to a rocket.
The Coventry crew has dragged their upcoming four-door electric GT out to the Arctic Circle. Why? Ostensibly, to "finesse handling and stability control." In reality, I suspect the engineers just wanted to do massive skids on a frozen lake without the local constabulary getting involved. And who can blame them? When you're packing more than 986 horsepower, driving in a straight line is a waste of perfectly good electricity.
Image Credit: Jaguar.
The new Jag is a ballistic missile in a tuxedo - its tri-motor setup would make a rollercoaster feel inadequate. Up front, there's a sensible 350-horsepower motor. That's for cruising, efficiency, and popping down to the shops for a pint of milk. But round the back? That's where the madness lives. Two angry electric motors sit on the rear axle, serving up a combined 950 horsepower.
When you mash the go pedal, the whole system combines to deliver at least 986 hp and a chassis-twisting 959 lb-ft of torque. And despite rumors that Jaguar might panic and shove a gas engine in there, they've confirmed this is strictly electrons only. No hybrids here, thank you very much.
Image Credit: Jaguar.
Now, usually, EVs are built like skateboards - a big flat slab of batteries underneath you. Great for the center of gravity, terrible if you want to sit lower than a giraffe. Jaguar - stubborn in the most charming way possible - has ditched the skateboard. Instead, the battery stacks are all over the place - a small pack up front and bigger ones in the rear. This means the seats can be mounted lower, keeping the roof height down to a sleek 55 inches. It's a proper sports car stance, not a crossover playing dress-up.
At 205 inches long, this Jag is a big beast to be hurling sideways. But thanks to clever twin-valve active dampers and air suspension, it should float over the bumps like a hovercraft. It's good to know that a clever thermal management system saves 40 percent of energy in the cold - very handy when you're miles away from the nearest plug socket. The massive 120 kWh battery should get you around 400 miles of EPA range. That's a proper grand tour, assuming you don't drive it like your hair is on fire the whole time.
Image Credit: Jaguar.
Of course, all this engineering wizardry comes with a price tag that matches its ambitions. We are looking at a starting price of around $160,000. That is double the cost of the Jags of yore. It's a bold strategy, asking Porsche Taycan money for a brand that's been rebooting itself more often than a Windows 98 PC.
We will see the finished car in all its glory this summer, with deliveries starting in spring 2027. It's a long wait, and I'm as skeptical as a cat at a dog show, but if it drives half as well as it slides, this electric GT might be the best car Jaguar has ever built.
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