Jaguar I-Pace Will Get Small Range-Increasing OTA Update

Philip Oakley

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9th December 2019

Jaguar I-Pace owners will get an early Christmas present in the form of a range-increasing over-the-air update.

The update will add 12 miles of range, roughly 8% of the car’s total 292-mile, WLTP test cycle range. However, Jaguar says this depends on ‘real world’ usage, dependent on how the car is driven and charged, and it doesn’t change the official WLTP or EPA figures for the car.

This additional range uses learnings from Jaguar’s I-Pace trophy race series, which supports the FIA Formula E championship. Jaguar says it’s changed aspects of the battery’s thermal management system, all-wheel-drive powertrain when in range-saving eco mode, and efficiency updates to the regenerative braking.

While it’s impressive to see traditional automakers adding range after the car has been sold, without needing to take it into a dealership, the range is still less compared to industry leaders Tesla, which on the Model X gets 315 miles on a slightly larger 100kWh battery. 

Additionally, Tesla unlocked the full capacity of its cars’ batteries, making the emergency reserve charge usable, during hurricanes and violent storms in the US, adding between 3-40 miles of range to the cars, temporarily, to aid people escaping from the weather-hit areas. 

Tesla is also the leader on OTA updates, adding extra functionality to the car’s infotainment system, improving real-world performance, or to its semi-autonomous Autopilot feature with regular updates. While Jaguar Land Rover is just getting started on OTA updates, it’s going to need to up its game, on both efficiency and software, if it wants to beat Tesla.