New Jaguar Type 01: Mat Watson gives his honest verdict
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This is the new all-electric Jaguar Type 01, and it’s the most important new car to come from the UK in years. Does it live up to the hype? Mat Watson has been finding out.
It’s coming up to two years since Jaguar shook things up with the radical Type 00 concept car, and now the production version is finally here. It’s called the Type 01 and it is, there’s no other word for it, breathtaking.
The first thing that struck me when I saw it in person was the sheer size. At 5.2 metres in length it’s longer than a BMW i7 or Mercedes EQS, and it’s only narrowly beaten by the Rolls Royce Spectre.
It certainly makes a statement, and the design stays true to the Type 00 concept. Whereas most car manufacturers will start with a collection of parts for the designers to work around, the Jaguar started with the design and told its engineers to just go away and make it work.
And that’s why this car sits so low to the ground and has such an imposing look. In fact, Jaguar had to design a whole new suspension strut up front to keep the bonnet line down while maintaining enough suspension travel to make it comfortable.
The bonnet is completely flat with just one crease along the leading edge, and it’s so long that you’d think there was a honking great V12 engine under there. There isn’t, but more on that in a bit.
Despite having a very upright front end, the Type 01 is just as aerodynamic as the much more blobby-looking Mercedes-AMG GT Four Door. This is thanks to some clever vents up front which open up when parts of the car need cooling, but stay closed the rest of the time for optimal airflow.
You get massive 23-inch wheels as standard, but you can get 21-inch rims as an option in case you want chunkier tyres. The windows are really narrow as well, and the car has a strong shoulder line which makes it look even more muscular.
It’s the rear end where things get truly bonkers though, because I’ve never seen a design like this. It looks almost completely square at the back, with horizontal lines hiding the full-width dual light bars. There’s no rear window either, just like on a Polestar 4.
The inside of the Jaguar Type 01 definitely matches the exterior, because it feels so futuristic. There are lines on the dashboard which carry through from the bonnet, and the view forwards over that massive nose is insane from the driver’s seat.
You get a super-sporty, low-slung driving position thanks to the fact the seats are mounted in a gap in the battery pack, and it’s a very minimalist interior design. There’s a digital driver’s display ahead of you and a small climate control panel in the middle. That’s about your lot.
I do like the way Jaguar has integrated the display for the digital rear-view mirror. It’s hidden at the base of the windscreen, meaning there’s no mirror dropping down from the roof and stealing valuable forward visibility.
This has been designed as a driver’s car – a fact which becomes clear when you move into the back seats.
The luxury vibe continues, with high-quality materials and a central divider which runs from the front of the car all the way to the rear – making this a strict four-seater. It’s just not all that roomy in the back for a car which is this big. Legroom is pretty good, but that low roofline makes headspace tight for taller adults.
You don’t get much in the way of boot space either. There’s 450 litres of space back here, which is 50 litres less than a BMW i7 and a whopping 170 litres less than a Mercedes EQS. It’s quite a shallow space as well, and the load lip is really high.
But that’s the sacrifice you make to create a car which looks as wild as this, while still offering blistering performance. Underneath that boot floor is a pair of electric motors driving the rear wheels, and there’s another one on the front axle. The combined power output is 1,030hp and 1,365Nm of torque. You can get the full lowdown on this car’s specs in our reveal story, but for now what’s my final verdict on this car?
Well I reckon it’s a great-looking statement piece for the reborn Jaguar brand, but only time will tell if it’ll be a sales success. With a predicted starting price of around £120,000, it faces stiff competition from BMW, Mercedes and Polestar.
This promises to be the most driver-focussed electric car of any alternative, so stay tuned for my full review when I get to drive the new Jaguar Type 01.
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