Jaguar Leverages Motorsports Knowledge to Enhance I-Pace

Jaguar has used the knowledge it has gained from the world of motorsports to further refine the I-Pace and provide its I-PACE customers with a complimentary update that can increase the real-world range of the award-winning all-electric model. The Jaguar engineering team used advanced technical insights gained from the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race series to further optimize the management of battery, thermal and AWD systems and thus ramp up the efficiency of the vehicle’s all-electric powertrain.

When Jaguar launched the I-pace eTROPHY series in 2018, it created history as the race was the first all-electric production based international race series in the world. Jaguar wanted to use the series to gain technical expertise that might possibly help develop electric road cars in the future as part of its ‘Race to Innovate’ mission. During the series, the all-electric SUV is made to tackle extreme use conditions and from the first competitive season, the engineering team gained critical learnings regarding the durability and thermal control of the battery and torque management systems.

The Jaguar engineers also analyzed data from over 80 million kilometers (50 million miles) of real-world journeys from all corners of the world, thoroughly assessing every element of the vehicle’s performance in order to leverage the optimum performance of the systems and thus maximize its efficiency.

Stephen Boulter, I-PACE Vehicle Engineering Manager, said that the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY series generated a huge amount of data for the team to analyze. This knowledge that was derived from competition on the track was then applied to customers’ cars to further enhance their driving experience. The outcome is new software updates that further optimize the powertrain control systems to improve efficiency. I-PACE drivers can now travel even further on a single charge without any hardware changes.

The all-wheel drive I-PACE is Jaguar’s first full battery-electric vehicle. The model has a range of up to 470km (292 miles) on a single charge of its 90kWh Lithium-ion battery (WLTP cycle). The new software upgrade will not have any impact on the official certified range figure, but the marginal gains derived from eTROPHY analysis will now be used to give customers access to an improvement of up to eight per cent based on their usage. This can give them a potential extra 20km (12 miles) of real-world range.

The changes that have been made based on the learnings from the eTROPHY race series include:

• All-Wheel Drive: Changes to the torque distribution between the front and rear motors will deliver greater efficiency when driving in ECO mode while the system will still deliver permanent AWD traction
• Temperature control: The team further refined the thermal management control to optimize use of the active radiator vane system, with the vanes being closed more frequently to enhance aerodynamic performance.
• Battery Capacity: The updates allow the battery to run to a lower state of charge than before without having any impact on the driveability, durability or performance.

A few additional changes based on real-world data analysis include:
• Regenerative Braking: The vehicle’s brakes will harvest energy more efficiently when the battery is in a high state of charge and the amount of energy recovery has been increased at lower driving speeds to maximise efficiency and range
• Range calculation: Changes to the predictive range calculation algorithm will deliver a more accurate and consistent estimate of vehicle range, while being more reflective of an individual’s driving style.

Customers who own an I-Pace can take their vehicles to their Jaguar retailer to receive the complimentary update. The changes will also facilitate enhanced Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) functionality. After receiving the latest software, more electronic modules will be able to receive remote updates, providing ongoing enhancements to the customer experience.

The I-PACE is fitted with a state-of-the-art 90kWh Lithium-ion battery that offers makes it possible for the vehicle to go from 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds (0-60mph in 4.5 seconds) and delivers a maximum range of 470 km (292 miles) (WLTP cycle). Only 40 minutes is needed for 0-80 per cent (100kW DC). Home charging with an AC wall box (7kW) will achieve the same state of charge in just over 10 hours.