• Lots of rear passenger and luggage space
• No transmission tunnel taking up room
• Additional space under the ‘bonnet’

How much space is there?

The super-sleek styling of the Jaguar I-Pace might suggest it’s a bit cramped inside, but that’s far from the case. There’s a huge amount of room in it, in part because it has a very long wheelbase – the distance between the front and back wheels – that’s 130mm longer than the Jaguar F-Pace, which is appreciably longer overall that the I-Pace.

Up front, there’s very generous head, leg and shoulder room for the driver and passenger. In the back, there’s space for a six-foot tall passenger to sit behind someone of similar height and still have a bit of room to spread out – as several of our taller testers can attest. It’s certainly more spacious than the BMW iX3 and Genesis GV60, if not the Audi Q8 E-Tron.  

68

There are some compromises, though. The windows are relatively slim, so the back seats can feel a bit gloomy in cars with dark interior colours and no panoramic glass roof. The middle back seat isn’t especially comfortable, either. The flat floor means there’s plenty of foot space, but the seat itself is firm and unsupportive.  

Boot space and storage

Jaguar quotes a very generous 656-litre boot capacity with the rear seats up, 1,435 litres when they’re folded. That’s considerably more than you get in pretty much any rival electric SUV – the Audi Q8 E-Tron has 605 litres of space, while the Genesis GV60 has a paltry 432 litres.

The I-Pace’s boot isn’t just big, it’s useful as well – flat with a wide opening. That opening is high off the ground in typical SUV style, but at least there’s no loading lip to haul heavy items over. Not all models have a powered tailgate, which is useful to have when the ‘gate is so heavy.

68

Beyond the boot, the I-Pace has a vast 10.5-litre cubby hole between the front seats, large bins on each door and a tiny front boot that we think is ideal for keeping the charging cables in.

Is it easy to park?

The I-Pace’s low, sporty look makes it look bigger than it is – at 4,682mm long, it’s actually relatively compact for a large SUV. The BMW iX3, Audi Q8 E-Tron and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV are all a lot bigger, as is the likes of the Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar.

However, that doesn’t necessarily make the I-Pace easy to park. Though the huge windscreen provides a panoramic view out from the driver’s seat, it stretches a very long way forwards, which can make it tricky to judge exactly where the front of the car is. And the sloping roofline pinches the view out of the back.

Life is made easier with the standard fit reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors. If possible, we recommend getting an I-Pace with the 3D surround view camera system – standard on high-spec models, optional on others. The image is clear and wide enough to see in detail what’s around the car; an image from a front-facing camera automatically shows on the display screen when you get close to objects while parking, as well.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating
• Lots of standard driver assistance features
• And much more on the options list

The Jaguar I-Pace was awarded a full five-star rating by car safety body Euro NCAP when it was assessed in 2018. It held up extremely well in the crash test element of the assessment, and its suite of driver assistance features also performed well. Those fitted as standard include:

• Autonomous emergency braking
• Lane keeping assist
• Traffic sign recognition
• Driver attention monitor

Other features are available from the options list, as well. They include blind spot monitors, clear exit monitor that can steer the car towards a gap in an emergency, and rear traffic monitoring. There’s also a head-up display that shows the driver vital information in their line of sight, and the ClearSight rear view mirror, which shows the feed from a rear-facing camera – we’re not entirely convinced by it.

Watch: Jaguar I-Pace Euro NCAP crash test video