A first look at the Jag’s brave new design direction, revealing a mashup of E-Type, Range Rover and Tesla Cybertruck influences
December 2, 2024 20:00
- Jaguar has given us our first taste of what to expect from the rebranded all-electric vehicle lineup due in 2025.
- The Type 00 two-door concept car will be transformed into a four-door sedan and enter production late next year, with two electric vehicles to follow.
- The Jag engineering team is targeting a WLTP range of 478 miles (770 km) and an EPA range of 430 miles (692 km).
Finally we can stop talking about Jaguar’s new logo and get back to talking about its new cars. There’s a lot to talk about, as the automaker unveiled the Type 00 concept car today, and it’s as polarizing as the new brand logo and fashion show Instagram ad.
Previously known as the Design Vision concept, the Type 00 (or “Zero”) is a confident, modern two-door coupe that heralds the four-door production GT that will debut in late 2025. The “Type” refers to Jag’s iconic E-Type and recently axed F-Type, and the two zeros refer to the electric car’s lack of tailpipe emissions and its inclusion in the redesigned automaker’s lineup status as a zero car.
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Few technical details are available, but Jag did confirm that the car rides on its new JEA electric platform, which is targeting a WLTP range of 478 miles (770 km) and an EPA range of 430 miles (692 km). If that’s not enough to complete your journey, you can add 200 miles (321 kilometers) of range in just 15 minutes.
For information on charging speed, motor specs and battery size, we’ll have to wait. Unveiled this month at Miami Art Week, the concept car aims to give the next-generation Jaguar a radically different look and get us to embrace the idea of Jaguar as a true luxury brand rather than a premium brand.
Gone is the mesh-filled squirrel-shaped radiator grille, a feature even found on the i-Pace EV, replaced by a thoroughly modern face, a slatted rectangle containing the controversial Jaguar script flanked by two ultra-slim LEDs lamp.
The rear end also has an industrial look, with wide rear fenders separated by another rectangle filled with horizontal slats. The slats are thinner and more numerous this time, plus horizontal light bars at the top and bottom. As predicted, the Model 00 has no rear window – the hatch panel is painted in the same Miami Pink color as the rest of the body.
Jaguar also revealed a second car painted in London Blue, a nod to the brand’s British roots and its heyday in the 1960s, as well as the pair of E-Types that appeared when the sports car was launched in 1961. Jag deliberately limits specific mentions of its most famous car to this reference, but the Type 00’s proportions, particularly the cabin’s rearward profile and rear three-quarter view, are clearly meant to remind us of the iconic E-Type sedan sports car instead of descending into a retro rabbit hole.
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But there are clear Range Rover cues in the design, too, and it’s easy to see why Jaguar Land Rover creative director Gerry McGovern and his team wanted to do this. Jaguar, part of Jaguar Land Rover, has struggled to find sales and its own image, while Land Rover has achieved both things effortlessly. The Type 00 feels like a Range Rover coupe that Land Rover could never build with the brand.
Brown trim pieces in front of the doors contain pop-up cameras to assist when parking and are made of brass, a material reused on the bottom spokes of the steering wheel and 3.2 meters (126 inches) inside. The spine runs the length of the cabin. Other key materials are stone and textiles. Wood and leather? Sorry, that’s old Jagger.
Despite digital screens being a mainstay of every new car, any kind of digital screen is conspicuously absent from the interior images. Jaeger says they hide them in the dashboard and, like storage areas, power slide out when needed. Drivers can also change the cabin lighting and digital displays by retrieving one of three Totems (Range Rover-style padded panels located behind the 23-inch front wheels) hidden behind the front fender doors and placing them inside the vehicle. appearance. Center console.
That last bit is concept car nonsense, but much of what we see on the Type 00 will carry over to the production sedan, which is scheduled to be unveiled this time next year and go on sale in the first half of 2026. The same idea and design language will see Jaguar launch two more vehicles by the end of the decade, at least one of which will be an SUV/crossover.
What do you think of the Type 00? Is Jaguar heading in the right direction? Is it right to be so radical? Or did it sign its own death warrant? We want to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment below.
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