Race-developed upgrade for Jaguar I-Pace allows electric SUV to travel further per charge
Learnings from the I-Pace eTrophy race series make it to the road cars
OWNERS of the Jaguar I-Pace electric car can boost how far their vehicles travel per charge by up to 12 miles thanks to software tweaks honed on the race track, according to the car maker.
The official certified range of the I-Pace remains “up to 292 miles”* but Jaguar says the software updates can improve the efficiency to the car’s powertrain by up to 8%, depending on driving style, allowing the extra miles to be squeezed out of the I-Pace’s 90kWh lithium-ion battery.
Jaguar says its engineers applied advanced technical insights from the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy race series to optimise the management of battery, thermal and all-wheel-drive systems. These involve changes to the torque distribution between the front and rear motors when driving in Eco mode, refinements to the active radiator vane system to close vanes more frequently, thereby enhancing aerodynamic performance, and allowing the battery to run to a lower state of charge than previously. Jaguar says the latter doesn’t affect driveability, durability or performance.
Stephen Boulter, Jaguar’s I-Pace vehicle engineering manager, said: “The Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy has generated a huge amount of data for us to analyse and those marginal gains, derived from competition on the track, are now being applied to customers’ cars to further enhance their driving experience.”
The company also analysed data from more than 50m miles of its customers’ real-world journeys globally to help improve the performance of the car’s systems. The car’s regenerative braking system, which turns energy normally lost as heat into electricity that is then fed back to the battery pack, is one area the engineers managed to claw back a few miles. The company also used the data to change the on-board computer so that it more accurately predicts the vehicle’s remaining range.
Existing owners will be able to benefit from the improved performance thanks to a software update that can be carried out at their preferred Jaguar centre free of charge. The new software will also improve the car’s over-the-air update capabilities, allowing more electronic modules to be affected by future changes.
Jaguar says it will be contacting owners and inviting them to have the update completed.
* On the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), which is more realistic than the outgoing New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) lab test.
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Behind the wheel of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy electric racing car
