When Made was asked by Stratstone Jaguar/Land Rover (Nottingham) to test drive both the Range Rover Evoque Hybrid and the Jaguar I-PACE EV, we thought that putting them back-to-back might not be a great match. But as it turns out it was in fact the right thing to do.
Firstly, in terms of style, these smaller SUV’s fall into a similar class. Both of them look the part and both have been specified with options that will be attractive to a wide variety of customers, but as ever with our reviews we are interested in how they make us feel and I can tell you that these cars hit the spot, but in two very different ways.
The Evoque sits firmly with the pleasing design language of the Land Rover range and our Seoul Pearl Silver, with a black exterior pack and 20” black alloys certainly makes you proud to stand by the car. Inside the car was reassuringly familiar to the Defender we recently drove boasting three touch-screens and lots of connectivity, with both USB style ports available front and back to keep the family plugged in on long journeys. The comfort levels are as high as you would expect in a Range Rover - supportive seats and a great driving position. That feeling when you start rolling an electrically powered car, the smooth silky silence and ease of acceleration, is no comparison to a traditional engine car and with this Hybrid model the transition to the 1.5 petrol engine is seamlessly satisfying, and there’s plenty of power to boot from a relatively small engine size.
Two drivers, two cars. When the time to swap keys came, the smile on the face of the first of us to drive the I-PACE told a story. Okay, let’s clear up this mechanical myth from the off. Yes! The accelerator pedal on the i-pace is directly linked and relative to the size of your grin. The I-Pace came to us in Caesium Blue, black pack and some gorgeous 22” diamond cut alloys, a pricey option but worth the amazing look they give. The interior has very similar tech to the Evoque, again three screens, one slightly smaller but doing the same job, connectivity in both the front and the rear and the same reassuring apple car play connection. Now back to that smile…. “be careful with the accelerator, it’s a rocket ship!” came the advice. That’s good advice! After tentatively pulling out into a busy town road the journey home happened to have some clear country roads, and a quick press of the ‘on/off’ switch confirmed the rocket ship comparison. This EV is rapid and lots of fun, you just need to drive it to experience the feeling of wafting swiftly along at (legal) speeds.
We drained the electrical power in the Evoque Hybrid after about 35 miles but it kept regenerating and giving short sparks of electrical satisfaction. The I-Pace came with an 80% charge and we topped it up for free at a local super-market and an hour gave us 40 extra miles which was enough for this test, but I would recommend a home charging station if you are using any EV regularly.
We would be happy to hang the keys to both these cars in our studio but they are two different propositions so ultimately buyers will need to decide what they need. The Evoque satisfies the need for an EV transition in your life and the I-PACE hits the full EV experience nail on the head!
