Jaguar has taken the automotive world by storm with the unveiling of its revolutionary Jaguar Type 00 EV concept car at Art Miami. The bold move comes hot on the heels of a new campaign from the brand which rewrote Jaguar’s history by ditching deep emotional connections with its past and replacing them with artful typography ahead of an avant garde rebrand that was both praised and blasted.
The Jaguar Type 00 EV is a striking departure from the automaker’s previous designs, with a monolithic, square-cut exterior that exudes confidence and masculinity. Graphically, the concept car owes its proportions to the long hood and shallow, sharply raked glasshouse that are the hallmark of the bespoke built Bentley and Bugatti supercars of the 1920s – a look that is both classic and avant garde.
A New Era of Electric Luxury
Jaguar’s managing director, Rawdon Glover, emphasizes that the Jaguar Type 00 EV and its forthcoming production models are aimed at a younger, more affluent, and independently minded urban clientele. To do this you must now create business relationships with a whole new customer base, one that cares about creativity and making their own way in the world.
The Jaguar Type 00 EV is not merely a concept car; it serves as a design vision for the three production models set to follow. It will start with the first, a four door grand tourer looking like the Type 00 late 2025, then two SUVs.
Uncompromising Design and Performance
Gerry McGovern, Jaguar’s chief creative officer, assigned four design teams to compete with one another to cover the project basis—create something unlike anything else in the Jaguar portfolio or even the automotive landscape. The resulting Jaguar Type 00 EV is a testament to this vision, with its striking brass and travertine stone accents, narrow headlamps, and a rear “strikethrough” graphic that conceals the tail-lamps.
Technical details are scant, but Jaguar is promising the grand tourer will have a WLTP range of 478 miles (770 kilometers) and will accept rapid charges to the tune of 200 miles in 15 minutes. The brand also assures enthusiasts that the Jaguar Type 00 EV and its production counterparts will drive like “a Jaguar at its best,” with the chassis team confident in the platform’s vast potential.
Challenges and Opportunities
The luxury EV market is a difficult place to play right now, and Jaguar is doing a bold pivot straight into electric cars. The timing of Jaguar’s rebrand was greeted with skepticism and established players such as Porsche and newcomers such as Lucid have struggled to hit expected sales volume.
The brand however has decided to stick with its new strategy which is based on pricing and profit as opposed to volume. The Jaguar Type 00 EV and its production successors will carry a starting price of at least £100,000 ($127,000), positioning Jaguar firmly in the luxury segment.
A Daring Departure
While the Jaguar Type 00 EV represents a clean break from the brand’s storied past, it also embodies founder Sir William Lyon’s directive to “be the copy of nothing.” Yet the polarizing nature of the concept car’s design might double as a sword in that it could appeal to a whole new generation of luxury EV buyers that aren’t attached to Jaguar’s prior heritage, but also alienate fans of the brand.
As the auto world transforms, Jaguar’s road to success depends on its success in this luxury EV marketplace and in doing so, delivering on the promise of uncompromising design, performance and customer experience. The Jaguar Type 00 EV is a bold first step in this new direction, and the world will be watching closely as the brand unveils its production models in the coming years.
