September 9th, 2017 | Updated on September 15th, 2017
Jaguar Classics is offering to replace the petrol engine in classic E-Types with electric power trains. Each Back to the Future E-Type will cost £350,000 and used a powerful electric motor and plug-in battery.
It will have a top speed 150mph and a ‘real world’ range of about 170 miles – a battery charge takes 7 hours. As well as looking back with electric technology, Jaguar also showcased the 2040 FUTURE-TYPE concept. Every Jagual Land Rover model in the range will be available with an electric or hybrid version by 2020.
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Jaguar is accelerating back to the future with a fully electric version of its legendary E-Type sports car as it sets out its ‘green’ plans to electrify every new model in its range from 2020. The British car firm has taken a 1968 version of its elegant roadster dubbed ‘the world’s most beautiful car’ and given it an automotive heart transplant – removing its powerful petrol engine and replacing it with a zero emissions electric motor and plug-in battery.
But although it is 80kg lighter and faster than the original, the battery-powered leaping-cat loses its traditional roar. Is it superb or sacrilege? You decide. Future Jaguar buyers will get the chance to buy into some form of electrification, however, as the car maker also said all its new cars from 2020 will be offered with either a hybrid or pure electric version of each model.
Superb or sacrilege? Our man Ray Massey was one of the first to try the £350,000 electric E-Type Zero. What are your thoughts on taking a flat-six petrol engine from an original E-Type and replacing it with electric power?
As the first of a select group of journalists to experience the electric E-Type first hand as a passenger, I can tell you the effect of the power plant switch-over is exhilarating but rather weird, as the revamped soft-top classic runs eerily in almost total silence, save for a faint hiss reminiscent of a milk float or golf buggy.
The electric E-Type Zero is one of three cars that Jaguar is showcasing at its special ‘Tech Fest’ event in London as bosses pledges that by 2020 all of its new cars will have an electric component – ranging from electric-hybrid to fully electric.
It also showed a film of how a ‘FUTURE-TYPE’ electric semi-autonomous Jaguar could look in 2040 – with a personal ‘smart’ steering wheel you keep with you when changing cars – as well as highlighting its new I-PACE electric car on sale from next year.
The car giant said it wanted to show its commitment to electrification ‘with new electric models from Jaguar’s past, present and future. The re-born E-Type Zero is brain-child of Jaguar Land Rover’s Classic division in Warwickshire close to where the original E-Type was born in Coventry in 1961 and is designed for motorists who want to drive their classic cars when politicians ban all but electric vehicles from the road.
Converting the classic E-Type means owners can ‘future proof’ their classic cars, says Jaguar after the UK Government said it will outlaw ’conventional’ diesel and petrol engines from 2040, with the Scottish Government saying it will do so eight years earlier in 2032.
Jaguar said all of its cars will be electrified by 2020. To show its commitment to electric power, the British brand is showcasing three zero-emissions cars at an event in London. There’s one from the past, present and future – from left to right: 1968 E-Type Zero (past), 2018 I-Pace (present), 2040 FUTURE-TYPE (right).
Jaguar Classics have stripped this 1968 E-Type of its roaring straight-six engine and slotted an electric motor and battery into the engine bay. The E-Type Zero is 80kg lighter than the car was with the traditional power plant.
New electric E-Type Zero
- Price of electric car: £350,000 Based around: 1968 E-Type Jaguar Series 1.5 Roadster
- Price of base car today as collector’s item: circa £70,000 to £280,000 depending on conditionOriginal price of the early E-Types: from £2,098 in the 1960sSeats: 2
- Doors: 2
- Length: 4458mm (175.5 inches) Width: 1653mm (65.1 inches) Height: 1270mm (50 inches)
- Original engine: 4.2litre ‘Straight 6’ cylinder petrol
- New electric power train and battery. Power: 220kW (around 300bhp)
- Gears: One continuous forward ‘drive’, plus reverse.
- Real world range: About 170 miles (270km)
- Top-speed: 150mph-plus
- 0-62mph: 5.5 seconds (about one second quicker than a Series 1 E-type)
- Battery: 40kWh lithium ion battery can be recharged from home overnight
- Charging time: six to seven hours, depending on power source)According to the Jaguar Classic team, the original engine can even, if required, be substituted back into the car. With the zero-emissions power train in place, it will accelerate from rest to 62mph in 5.5 seconds – about a second faster than the petrol version – with a top speed of 150mph and a ‘real world’ range of about 170 miles, though that could increase to just over 200 miles.
It can be fully charged at home overnight in six to seven hours with the fuel cap flap opening to reveal the electric charging point. The original dashboard has been replaced with hi-tech carbon-fiber and the classic instruments given a digital revamp with hi-tech virtual dials showing road speed and engine speed.
However, all the other basic underpinnings, including brakes and suspension, and are the same to ensure the car still drives and handles like the ‘original’ E-Type. The main catch – other than the fact it doesn’t have a six-cylinder engine under the bonnet – is that the electric E-Type car will set you back around £350,000.
Jaguar says one of their own restored ‘Reborn’ range – where they take an original car and update it with modern components – costs £280,000 – £70,000 less than an electrified one. Classic E-Types can cost from around £70,000, depending on condition. Jaguar says that £350,000 price tag could drop if more orders are received.
The E-Type Zero is just one of the features at the Jaguar Land Rover Tech Fest taking place at Central Saint Martin’s University of the Arts London, which is open to the public from September 8 to 10. Tim Hannig, director, Jaguar Land Rover Classic, said: ‘E-Type Zero combines the renowned E-Type dynamic experience with enhanced performance through electrification. This unique combination creates a breathtaking driving sensation.
The car has an innovative narrow-body with a ‘semi-tandem’ 2+1 seating plan to optimise urban driving and parking, with ‘face-to-face social seating’ during autonomous driving
FUTURE-TYPE is Jaguar’s crystal-ball gazing prediction of where they need to be to meet the mobility needs of future generations
Jaguar Replacing Petrol Engine With Electric In Original E-type
Jaguar Reveals Their Car Design Prediction For 2040
source : dailymail.co.uk
