One year with a used electric Jaguar | PH Fleet
Find out what Matt learned after driving 10,000 miles in a secondhand I-Pace...
Whether combustion or battery powered, nearly new or decades old, approved used or bought unseen from an auction, there’s always a more sensible purchase than a used Jaguar. Always. It’s part of the appeal, in truth. For us, getting an I-Pace as a family car, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 were, objectively speaking, probably superior. It’ll be the same if considering an XJ or an F-Type as well.
But without wishing to sound trite, Jaguars do have a way of worming their way into your affections. They typically drive really nicely, look fantastic, and make you feel great behind the wheel. As well as offering up incredible value for money secondhand. Sufficiently so, in fact, to make the risk versus reward ratio too persuasive to ignore; more reliable, more economical alternatives will exist, just not any you want more than the Jag. As might have happened with a supercharged XF absolutely happened with an HSE I-Pace; a £20k Tesla would have gone further and charged faster, but I can’t for a second imagine living with a Model Y would have been nicer.
Has it gone wrong? Yep. As I write this, we’re a week from heading back to Jag for faulty parking sensors and a screenwash leak to be fixed. Nobody can work out why the auto lights have a mind of their own. Would that have happened on an EV6? Probably not. Even if they had, a similar age of Kia would still be covered by its new car warranty (rather than extended manufacturer cover that had to be paid for).
Crucially, however, the problems haven’t been significant enough to dim my considerable affection for the Jag. I’ve always been a fan of the I-Pace, although, hand on heart, I wasn’t confident that a year using it as our actual car would increase that fondness. That’s always the Jaguar conundrum, right? It can be charming and catastrophic, all at the same time. Obviously it would be nice if the niggles hadn’t surfaced; on the other hand, the way the Jaguar drives and looks, as well as the feel-good factor of its interior, have far outweighed the problems.
Perhaps most crucially, as we approach 50,000 miles and with another year of £195 VED, there’s no desire for OZD to be swapped. That has to be a good sign. It does everything and more we could have hoped for from a £20k used EV, combining the boring family car stuff - it’s huge and useful inside, as well as being really comfy - alongside some enthusiast appeal with real aplomb. Never does an I-Pace feel unsuited to a journey, whether that’s a pop to the shops or a family holiday.
Good job too, because I-Pace residuals still aren’t anything to write home about - if depreciating less severely than they once were. Cars like ours are now for sale at £16.5k, so you can imagine what that would mean as a trade-in. But then the X3 we used to have would also have continued to lose money, and wasn’t entirely trouble-free even when we had it. Nearly new cars will depreciate and can often have problems; sometimes it can feel like EVs are unfairly targeted in those regards. There are brand new M3s out there with £20k off RRP before negotiating, and nobody would say they’re a failure.
Tellingly, and related to the point above, there’s no desire to have the X3 back (however nice a straight-six cold start was). It didn’t ride as nicely as the Jag, £90 fill-ups were all too frequent, and I didn’t like the image. The I-Pace has so much in its favour, and the appeal hasn’t worn off after thousands of miles: I really enjoy the effortlessness of the performance, the way it steers, brakes (regen plus friction) and rides. It still feels like the modern rework of a fast Jag we hoped for. And which tends to get overlooked a bit. The drive modes are genuinely handy, usefully altering character without compromising the innate appeal.
It’s hardly like newer EVs have drastically changed my opinion of the Jag either. There aren’t many nicer interiors, and plenty that don’t feel as well built; the desire to distance the driver across the board makes the I-Pace’s feedback even more welcome. You want proper buttons and HVAC dials? Right this way.
Where new cars have undeniably shown the Jag up is in battery technology. The simple fact is that, by modern standards, the I-Pace doesn’t go that far - and uses quite a lot of energy to do it. (A proper old Jag, then.) In 2026, a four-wheel drive Skoda Enyaq will do 369 miles combined and 4mi/kWh; even in the recent hot spell, we would never see more than 250 from a full battery (against the 292 manufacturer claim). A trip computer last reset almost a year ago shows 8,717 miles covered at an average of 25mph and 2.6mi/kWh. With what Jaguar reckons is a 96 per cent driving score - so there’s not much better to be done, it would seem. And a 234-mile range from a 90kWh lump under the floor isn’t amazing (if enough for our requirements right now).
It looks especially bad if forced to use public charging. Even as something of a convert over the past year or so, the fact remains that EVs simply aren’t viable in the UK right now without a charger at home. We’ve seldom had to use public charging with the little black box on the drive, but with most super duper DC units now almost a pound per kilowatt hour, those £90 fill-ups would happen all over again. To go little more than 200 miles. And the Jag isn’t nice enough to make that seem good value; I’m not sure anything battery-powered is. For a whole host of reasons, I think we should be encouraging broader EV adoption - but the current pricing structure really isn’t helping.
I’ve just plugged in at a French McDonald’s for 35p/kWh and drawn a maximum of 111kW from a car that’s rated at a maximum of 100kW DC. It was the best public charging experience I’ve had with the car. And very much needed: with the roofbox fit to burst, we did 2.3mi/kWh on the way to Normandy. But it didn’t unduly disturb refinement, and a small infantry regiment could travel with less than two small kids need. I also think the I-Pace looks even better with £350 of Thule on top as well (paid for as well, before any bias accusations surface!)
The Jag’s going nowhere then. For the moment, risk versus reward definitely favours the latter - let’s hope it stays that way. The latest batch, like the iX3 and Volvo EX60, certainly appeal, though not enough to spend something like four times what the Jaguar is currently worth (and maybe even a bit less by time you’ve read this). For what we need, what we want and what we can afford, the I-Pace still fits the bill. In some style, too, I think. There’s the Type01 to think about as well, of course - rest assured we’ll be investigating just what’s happened to the Jaguar EV in a decade as soon as possible.
FACT SHEET
Car: 2021 Jaguar I-Pace HSE
Run by: Matt Bird
On fleet since: August 2025
Bought for: £21,700
Mileage: 48,901
Last month at a glance: Happy anniversary!
I know the looks are challenging and I appreciate you're a fan of Jags but the model Y goes much further
, much more efficiently and with access to a better and cheaper charging network.
Most Tesla superchargers are around the 40-45p kWh range and can be 30p or less off peak.
At that price they could conceivably be run without access to home charging if you happens to live near a supercharger.
Back to the Jag , I agree that the interior looks very nice and I don't mind the exterior looks either .
If only Jag had given it a more efficient battery, it could have sold so much better.
I'd consider one at that price if my circumstances suited .
No one would pay cash for a new if nearly new one, but a 5 year old example with sub 50k miles and a healthy battery report for £11k..... It's a very different argument.
There is no want involved, and XJ or an F Type are much nicer things in every way, but as a cheap mobility tool it begins to make more sense.
A PHEV with mechanical AWD averages 3.1 miles/kWh over approximately the same annual mileage.
What happened to electric motors are so much more efficient?
Is it really the battery chemistry or extremely inefficient motors being used on these Jaguar cars?
140€ to fill the 67 litre tank of my current commuter car is starting to grate a bit. I'll need 1½ tanks/month for commuting starting from January. The fuel money would pay for something electric.
It doesn't need to do 0-60 in a nanosecond and 150+mph for two minutes to do the commuter miles.
2.6 is about the worst I see for an hour of mostly highway driving.
My last nip to Dorset was 2.8 over 45 minutes with an average speed of 60.
My wife rarely gets less than 3.0 with her less urgent driving style…
I’m not arguing that the jag is thirsty for an EV, but if you’re home charging 90% of the time, particularly at off-peak rates, then the difference in expenditure between this and a Tesla is trivial.
Admittedly the pay per mile VED is going to double my average cost per mile which does grate a bit.
Depreciation is obviously horrendous but my plan is to keep it as close to forever as possible. Anything newer will have mandated driver aids etc that I’d rather opt out of.
It’s nice to be keeping the stop-start commuting miles off the fun car too.
2.6 is about the worst I see for an hour of mostly highway driving.
My last nip to Dorset was 2.8 over 45 minutes with an average speed of 60.
My wife rarely gets less than 3.0 with her less urgent driving style
Is a direct electric to electric comparison the difference being one is driving two axles with electric motors the other through a supposedly less efficient mechanical linkage with prop shaft and diffs.
Not all PHEVs use the ICE motor at anything over walking pace. Not all PHEV owners do not charge the vehicle at home.
Public charging for non-Tesla's
Ionity have you have covered in the UK and across Europe. Subscribe to the network (£10.50 a month) unlocks 47p kWh (350kW chargers), which is £40 fill ups for the Jag.
It's possible to drive from South East / South West up to Scotland just using their network.
No one would pay cash for a new if nearly new one, but a 5 year old example with sub 50k miles and a healthy battery report for £11k..... It's a very different argument.
There is no want involved, and XJ or an F Type are much nicer things in every way, but as a cheap mobility tool it begins to make more sense.
But I can really see the appeal at the price. Especially against one of these nauseatingly bland modern things with their Hillman Hunter PVC seats that people think are posh for some reason.
If people can cope with the stupid electrical faults then it's a nice car to have. After all, zillions of Land Rover buyers cannot be wrong!
There are plenty of 2023 models knocking around, some approved cars too, with low miles ad 2 years warranty. The problem is faults 5 years down the line because you'll struggle to sell it on.
If you're thinking of dropping 40k on a Q8 Etron or iX3 this could be a bargain. If you're buying at your limit, and plenty will, its a bit of a gamble.
Bought an XJ, which I do think is nicer overall and couldn’t be bothered with the inevitable moaning if we go to Wales and it needs charging.
These are a bargain if you can take a bit of a risk. Be interesting to see what they actually change hands for.
It’s great that it works well for you Matt and that you’re enjoying using it.
I also tried a model Y and EV6. I possibly preferred the EV6 but it was less of a bargain. The model Y rattled in a way the 160000 mile Range Rover I had at the time didn't, although I believe the facelift Y is better (actually other Ys I have been in are also better)
Ben
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