Jaguar is still working on its mold-breaking luxury EV, and now we have a fresh glimpse inside.
When it first rolled out the car that “copies nothing”, Jaguar stirred serious controversy and set off a heated discussion about the brand’s direction. JLR is sticking to its guns, though, and we’re inching ever closer to the electric Type 01 sedan actually seeing the light of day as it redefines what it means to own and drive a Jag in the new era.
Short answer? It’s definitely following through on the original premise. This is nothing like even the recently departed XJ or any other Jaguar of the near-past. You can argue that’s for better or worse — and plenty of people still do — but we’ll have to contend with this car being a total departure from history. To that end, you get an almost ruthlessly minimalist look. Not only did Jaguar designers ditch the more traditional look of buttons anywhere in the cabin, but you really don’t get that many flourishes…at all.
The instrument panel comes together through intersecting straight lines. So does the center console. So do the A-pillars and the door cards, to the point where you strain to find any bits of garnish or design for design’s sake like, oh I don’t know, ambient lighting that pokes through the trim. You don’t get quilted leather. The front passenger doesn’t even get their own superfluous screen, for crying out loud. They don’t get a center infotainment display to mess with either, for that matter. Instead, there’s a controller for the larger display that extends from the driver’s seat of the IP toward the center.
The Jaguar Type 01’s center “console” is more of a feature than a simple armrest or storage bin, extending all the way through the cabin. That does mean this hyper-luxe EV does only come with four seats, but those four passengers look like they will get a fairly generous amount of space. Apart from that small central touchscreen, the only other switchgear in the Type 01 rests on the two-spoke steering wheel. That does look fairly standard with driver assistance and media controls, and you get a couple stalks for good measure. You don’t have to do some kind of awkward river dance to get it moving, then.
Speaking of moving, we still don’t know exactly what the Jaguar Type 01’s powertrain configuration looks like just yet. It will be electric, but how many motors it has, how powerful they are and what size battery are all still a relative mystery. All we get here are looks at the dashboard, the seats, the single-pane panoramic sunroof and a few other special touches like the pouncing cat emblazoned on the door trim.
The Jaguar Type 01 makes a (camouflaged) appearance during Monterey Car Week. However, if you’re looking for more tangible or technical information (I get it, I’d also like to know), we’ll have to wait until October for a more comprehensive debut.
