UK Car of the Year director John Challen, left, and Jaguar Land Rover managing director Rawdon Glover with the UK award.
Jaguar’s all-electric I-Pace SUV has grabbed some top awards and is a contender for a world title.
The latest include the 2019 Car of the Year award for both the United Kingdom and Europe, while the I-Pace is also a front runner for the World Car of the Year title to be announced in April at the New York Auto Show.
It now has at least 55 major awards. The UK win marks the third time in six years a battery-powered overall winner has been selected, beating more than 80 other models in selection by 29 top UK automotive journalists. It was also named as the best executive car.
The I-Pace narrowly won the European Car of the Year, announced just before the Geneva Motor Show, March 7-17.
It was in a closely fought battle with Renault’s Alpine sports coupé with 250 votes apiece – the first time a draw has happened since the European award started in 1964.
The Jaguar won after a recount of votes among the 60 jurors showed 18 voters put it at the top of their list compared with 16 for the Alpine.
Global awards for the I-Pace include German Car of the Year, Norwegian Car of the Year, China Green Car of the Year, World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year.
It also added the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year award at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto on February 15. The I-Pace won the AJAC’s best premium EV category too.
The Jaguar was also a contender for the North American Utility of the Year 2019, which went to the Hyundai Kona/Kona EV.
Described by many awards members as an ideal executive car, the I-Pace is priced from $159,900 in New Zealand and from $119,000 (before on-road costs) in Australia. It has about 470km range and can be charged to 80% battery capacity in 40 minutes from a 100kW DC charger.
