Jaguar races through frigid Arctic in its forthcoming electric SUV
Jaguar brought a fleet of its electric vehicle prototypes to the Arctic in northern Sweden, and then proceeded to race them around the snow-blanketed flats.
This could be viewed as stunt -- though a potentially useful stunt: It's important to see how electric vehicles perform in extreme weather conditions. According to Jaguar, the company drove its forthcoming I-PACE SUV around its test facility at temperatures as low as -40 Celsius (which is also -40 Fahrenheit).
Cold temperatures can affect battery performance, which Tesla noted in a late 2017 software update allowing drivers to "preheat" their battery in cold environments. Tesla recommended this "preconditioning" to limit the loss of range and general performance.
Up in Sweden, Jaguar took plenty of sweet pictures of the I-PACE barreling through the snow, but didn't reveal many conclusions about the electric vehicles' performance. Jaguar noted that, perhaps even in the cold, the I-PACE will be capable of charging from zero to 80 percent in under 45 minutes.
Last year, Jaguar brought an I-PACE prototype to coastal California. The company says it drove up iconic Highway 1 for 200 miles on a single battery charge. This is some undeniably descent range, though Tesla's Model X SUV has an EPA rated range of 237 to 295 miles.
Perhaps more significant than these Arctic images, Jaguar announced that the I-PACE will be officially revealed as an actual product (advancing from a prototype) on March 1, 2018, when it will also go on sale. Soon after, on March 6, the vehicle will be shown at the Geneva Auto Show
And for those residing in the Arctic, the I-PACE seems capable of handling itself well up there, especially if one is inclined to race through flurries of snow.
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Mark was the science editor at Mashable. After working as a ranger with the National Park Service, he started a reporting career after seeing the extraordinary value in educating people about the happenings on Earth, and beyond.
He's descended 2,500 feet into the ocean depths in search of the sixgill shark, ventured into the halls of top R&D laboratories, and interviewed some of the most fascinating scientists in the world.
