Crafting the Luxe E-car
Designing an electric car is an incredible opportunity as it means abolishing many of the conventions inherent in internal-combustion-engine cars. Removing the engine and working with a skateboard-type platform gives you the freedom to change the car like never before.
The most natural way to start with an electric car is to make more use of the space given. In the case of I-Pace, we have effectively moved the cabin forward. The front-end is reduced, with very few mechanical entities taking up that space, and the occupants are afforded much more room in the cabin. While the I-Pace is an electric car first and foremost, we still want it to look like a Jaguar and you will see this reflected in the design cues.
A luxury electric car will continue to have the premium feel of a luxury sedan but will have more space. However, the whole notion of luxury for future cars will increase with features and well-being. The silence of the car will be a luxury in itself. There is no engine noise and no vibration.
About interior features, at Jaguar, we believe that touchscreens are not necessarily an indicator of luxury. Jaguar Design will continue to encourage the presence of tactile switches to give that sensory interface with the machine. It is essential for a driver's car. Technology is moving fast and electric vehicles will continue to take advantage of the greater connectivity we have at our disposal.
Autonomy is another key development in how we will travel in the future. Fully autonomous vehicles still have a few years to go before they become commonplace, and their introduction will happen in stages. Until all other cars on the road are autonomous, semi-autonomy will be prevalent. You may begin to see cars with retractable steering wheels, but a Jaguar car without a steering wheel is a long way into the future. The biggest challenge for autonomous vehicles is the ability to predict other road users' behaviour. There is a view that autonomous cars will be crash-proof, with human error no longer a factor. But until all vehicles are autonomous, this remains a challenge.
Autonomy will, however, change the focus from the driving experience to the environment and well-being experience within the car. Cars will not get much bigger, but by combining autonomy with the electric car - and the greater cabin size that comes with this - the interior becomes an on-road office space or a mobile living environment. The outside environment could be turbulent and chaotic, but the vehicle provides you with a sanctuary. The choice eventually will be to drive or be driven, especially considering the future of reconfigurable seating.
As for performance, electric cars already offer more instant torque than engine-powered vehicles, to a level of supercar and sports car. It is a different world compared to engine-powered cars, which operate on a gradient - from family saloons to SUVs to high-performance sports cars. While there will always be a desire to improve, most people neither want nor need such high performance. Instead, performance will be focussed around increasing range and battery efficiency at higher speeds.
The smoothness of the acceleration is crucial in an electric car. If you feel stress coming through the vehicle, be it noise or vibration, it will have a psychological impact on the occupants. There is little stress created by the mechanical movement of a battery-powered car - it almost has a calming effect.
Sustainable materials are already becoming a critical part of our cars. Human-made materials and natural fibres will feature more in the decision-making of environmentally aware customers. Sound systems will be able to create different acoustics artificially to make you feel like you are in a much bigger environment. It is possible now and will continue to improve; you may even be able to select the ambience.
These are just a few of the ongoing developments in the car industry. We cannot tell what the future will bring, but our curiosity, ingenuity and drive to improve the art of performance could shape the way we travel.
