It doesn’t feel like that long ago that the thought of an EV being driven flat out around the Nurburgring was the stuff of fantasy. But following the Nio EP9 hypercar’s blistering 6:45.9 lap time in 2017, it’s like the lithium-ion floodgates have opened. Earlier this year Romain Dumas sent VW’s ID.R around the Green Hell 40 seconds faster, before Porsche laid down a new gauntlet for production EVs with the Taycan’s 7:42 time. EVs can most definitely clock a time around the 73-corner Green Hell – and in these cases at least, they can do it bloody quickly.
Jaguar has taken a slightly different approach to proving the abilities of its sole EV model, by making it the first Ring eTaxi you can rent a ride in. Adding examples of the 400hp and 513lb ft I-Pace to its existing fleet of XE SV Project 8s, up to three passengers can join a professional racing driver for the full 11.9 miles from Bridge to Gantry – although exactly how many laps the SUV can manage is yet to be revealed.
Under normal conditions the 90kWh I-Pace is claimed to be capable of 292 miles (WLTP), four miles more than Porsche’s just-announced Taycan 4S Performance Plus and enough to do about 24 laps of the ‘Ring. That distance will obviously be significantly reduced when a hot-headed pro is doing the pedalling and there are three adults aboard, though, pushing the I-Pace’s kerbweight well beyond the ‘empty’ 2.2 tonnes. But the I-Pace has more than proved its worth on track thanks to the one-make eTrophy series that supports Formula E, in which the racers compete for 25 minutes plus one lap. With that in mind, we imagine even a fully laden eTaxi should make for a pretty impressive ride.
Whether it’ll offer the excitement of a supercharged V8-powered Project 8 is up for discussion (actually, no it’s not), but with each I-Pace lap costing €149 it seems like an easy way to get prospective I-Pace customers into the car. If there’s a place to prove a car’s worth, it’s there!
1 / 2