Jim Resnick

LOS ANGELES—Just before the official start of this year’s LA auto show, Jaguar fired a cannon across its competitors’ bows. Its I-Pace concept SUV breaks the electric barrier for Jag with pure electric drive from a pair of 200hp (149kW) motors, a 36-module battery pack totaling 90kWh, an operating range between charges of over 220 miles (500 km under the EU’s standards of calculation), new-for-Jaguar design proportions, and seriously rapid acceleration of 4 seconds (estimated) from 0-60 mph (100kph). Jaguar’s been working on electrification for some time, and the I-Pace will go into production in 2018, less than two years away.