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Words: Rory Smith
While it’s been a long wait since Jaguar first declared it was going all-electric back in 2021, the marque has finally made its first move towards an all-electric road car range, showing the fantastically bold Type 00 Vision Concept in Miami Art Week. Here’s all you need to know about Jaguar’s new era - as Formula E embarks on its latest generation at the forefront of electric motor racing.
Not many people will need reminding that Jaguar’s had something of a ‘reset’ lately. For the past few weeks, the internet has been awash with opinions and commentary from millions, all keen to know what lies in store for the great British brand. First came a bold and colourful marketing campaign and now comes the much anticipated follow up, the mighty Type 00 Vision Concept.
While the foundations for the Type 00 were laid as early as 2021, when the marque declared that it would go all-electric, the great British brand already had a head start when it came to EV performance cars. Pulling into Formula E well ahead of other manufacturers in 2016, Jaguar has worked hard to build its reputation, team and technology in the series over the years, which culminated in a stunning one-two victory in Monaco before becoming Teams’ World Champions on home turf in London at the 2023/24 season finale.
Carrying on the momentum from its most successful Formula E season yet, and just days ahead of the 2024/25 season kick off in Sao Paulo, Jaguar took the opportunity to pull the covers off its most exciting and “exuberant” project yet at Miami Art Week.
What is the Type 00 Vision Concept?
The Type 00 Vision Concept is, “a pure expression of Jaguar’s new creative philosophy,” says Jaguar Land Rover’s Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern.
“It is our first physical manifestation and the foundation stone for a new family of Jaguars that will look unlike anything you’ve ever seen. A vision which strives for the highest level of artistic endeavour,” he adds.
Starting at around £100,000 without options, the first new Jaguar will be a four-door GT, inspired by the Type 00, and scheduled to hit the road in 2026. With the ‘Type’ prefix linking the new car to its predecessors and the championship-winning I-TYPE 6, the ‘00’ is a reference to car’s zero tailpipe emissions from its all-electric powertrain. Two other models will follow in time, both built on the same new Jaguar Electrical Architecture (JEA) and inspired by the “foundation stone” Type 00.
Performance and tech rooted in Formula E
“My primary interest in Formula E as a platform is in the technology innovation transfer,” says Jaguar Managing Director Rawdon Glover at Jaguar’s headquarters in Gaydon, where the car was first shown to us. “Unlike a lot of the other motorsport platforms, it’s a direct transfer [in Formula E], and we can take the technology directly from the racing cars, into our own road cars.”
With no word on performance other than the car’s range, Jaguar has promised the new GT will be able to cover 770km (478 miles) WLTP on a single charge, and will be capable of adding up to 321km (200 miles) of range in as little as 15 minutes when rapid charging.
“Some of the technology [from GEN3] that we're already benefiting from now, we wouldn't have really thought about four or five years ago, and what we'll be getting towards the end of GEN3 Evo and GEN4, will likely be even more exciting,” added Glover.
“Managing heat, managing efficiency, regeneration and range – these things are all super important for our road cars and Formula E is the most punishing environment feasible to develop these in."
What does the Jaguar Type 00 Vision Concept look like? Here's its exterior design
Ahead of the concept’s reveal, Jaguar promised the car would be “a copy of nothing” – a phrase borrowed from its late founding father Sir William Lyons – and, true to its word, the car is unlike anything else on the market.
Both up close and from a distance, the design defies electric vehicle convention and instead, channels the spirt of traditional performance cars with its long bonnet, steeply raked windscreen, sweeping roofline and boat tail rear. Squint and its possible to see traces of the legendary Jaguar E-type, particularly in the rear quarters – a stylistic nod to the “pioneering” icon that arrived at the height of Jaguar’s combusition-engined racing era.
READ MORE: The major automotive manufacturers that shaped Formula E's history
Below the belt line sit the car’s boxy and blistered arches that extend out of from the monolithic body, swallowing the concept’s 23-inch alloy wheels. At the back, the tapering boat tail rear is defined by the glassless tailgate and distinctive horizontal strikethrough graphic, which hides full-width strip taillights. With no rear window, the Type 00 relies on rear-view cameras, two of which pop out from the side of the car behind the front wheels, shielded by strip of hand-finished brass bearing an etching of the legendary Jaguar ‘leaper’ logo.
“Jaguar is no place for ordinary,” says the marque’s chief exterior designer, Constantino Segui Gilabert. “When you see a new Jaguar for the first time, it must have a sense of awe, of never having been seen before. Type 00 commands attention, like all the best Jaguars of the past. It is a dramatic presence, channelling a unique spirit of British creativity and originality.”
The Type 00 Vision Concept interior
To get inside, a pair of dramatic butterfly doors and ‘pantograph’ tailgate open to reveal the minimalist and modernist interior. More hand-finished brass takes centre stage in the cockpit, with a central 3.2m-long brass spine splitting a pair of floating instrument panels that rise and fall, allowing for a full digital detox when driving if required.
Travertine stone functions as a plinth, on which the ‘floating seats’ are mounted, while a tactile wool blend, inspired by handwoven yarns, envelops the two seats, sound bar and flooring. Adding to the sensory element of the car, the Type 00 features a ‘Prism case’, which is stored in a panel that opens between the front wheel arch and the door.
Containing three “totems” of natural materials – Brass, Travertine and Alabaster – the prisms allow the occupants to customise and alter the “mood” of the interior by placing a totem of their choice inside the centre console, which then sets the ambient lighting, scent, sound and screen graphics to reflect the properties of the chosen material.
“Deployable technologies are a hallmark of the interior. Screens glide silently and theatrically from the dashboard, while powered stowage areas slide open softly on demand, revealing hidden splashes of exuberant colour,” says chief interior designer Tom Holden, while the choice of materials “represents bold pieces of art and creates a unique atmosphere,” says Chief Materiality Designer, Mary Crisp.
With testing of the heavily camouflaged real-world car already underway on UK roads, we’ll get to see our first proper glimpse of the new production-ready Jaguar in late 2025. In the meantime, there’s another World Championship to fight for as Jaguar embarks on its bold and “exuberant” all-electric future.
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