Jaguar made headlines last spring when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drove away from their royal wedding in its all-electric Jaguar E-Type. Now you’ll be able to buy your own.
Jaguar has announced it will make a series of all-electric Jaguar E-Type sports cars.
This isn’t an all-new E-type. It’s the same classic sports car from the 1960s with its long hood, curved roof and chrome bumpers, but with its engine and transmission removed and replaced by a battery pack and an electric motor.
Customers who already own classic E-types will be able to pay to have their car converted to electric drive — the original engine and transmission will be preserved so that they can be put back in, if that’s ever wanted — or customers can pay Jaguar to acquire an E-type for conversion.
Much of the electric drive technology on the car is the same as that used in the Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV. The battery pack fits nicely under the hood, where the E-Type’s 6-cylinder engine is usually housed. The electric motor fits in the transmission tunnel between the seats.
Thanks to the placement of these items where the car’s major mechanical components were housed, the electric E-Type will have the same weight distribution as it did before. Other parts, like the brakes and suspension, aren’t changed so the car will handle and drive much as it did with a gasoline engine, it will just be somewhat quicker.
Jaguar hasn’t revealed exact performance numbers yet, but the British luxury car maker says it is targeting a range of about 170 miles.
The cars can be left with their period-correct instruments and headlights if that’s what the customer prefers, or they can be given modern gauges and touchscreen navigation and radio controls, as well as new LED headlights.
The conversion to electric can be performed on any six-cylinder E-Type or on any other Jaguar model that had that same engine. So a customer could get an electric version of an XJ6 sedan, for example, or an electric XK120 from the 1950s.
The cars will be made at Jaguar’s Classic Works facility where the carmaker restores and rebuilds classic cars.
Pricing the electric E-Type, or any other electrified classic, will vary depending on the specific situation. Obviously, it will be less if the buyer supplies the car for conversion. Otherwise, Jaguar will have to obtain the car and the price will depend on the price of that original car plus the cost of any additional work that might be needed due to its age and condition.