Environmentalist and heir to the throne of England Prince Charles has set a benchmark for the UK’s royal family, making the decision when purchasing his latest car to go green with an 100 per cent electric Jaguar I-Pace.
The British royal is well known for his efforts to reduce the royal impact on the environment, having in the past added solar panels to royal rooftops, joined the war against plastic and made the switch to low-energy lighting.
However, despite all his efforts to go green, in the case of the Jaguar I-Pace – he’s gone blue.
Upon purchasing the all electric luxury SUV, that costs a pretty £60,000 (about $A107,000), the Prince made one special request – that his Jaguar be painted in Loire Blue, a deep midnight shade that is not available to the general public.
The I-Pace, which the Prince intends to power via a new charging point already installed at his residence, Clarence House, sports a 90kW battery tucked neatly under the floor and two compact electric motors integrated in the axles for a very healthy 294kW/696Nm output.
The total range of the Jaguar I-Pace is reported to be as far as 470km, and if the Prince has had the 100kW fast-charger installed (and we bet he has), it will take him 40 minutes to charge to 80% capacity.
Built on a very responsive four-wheel drive and thanks to the battery in the bottom, its low center of gravity means the 2018 Jaguar I-Pace accelerates in 4.8 seconds from 0 to 100 km/hr.
The Jaguar will join the Prince’s collection of luxury cars, many of which have already been converted to run on 100 per cent cooking oil-derived biodiesel.
One of them – an Aston Martin given to him by the Queen for his 21st birthday – he had converted to run on wine.
Clarence House reported in 2008 that the 38-year-old classic car was converted to run on 100 per cent bioethanol fuel distilled from surplus British wine.
Prince Charles’ purchase of the Jaguar I-Pace may also be a nod to his son, Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan Markle.
Departing their wedding earlier this year, the young royal couple chose a silver blue Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero to travel 800m from Windsor Castle to their wedding reception at Frogmore House.
In June of this year, fellow environmentalist and Jaguar ambassador Andy Murray also became the proud owner of an all electric I-Pace, and Aussies can expect to see the I-Pace hit Australian roads for a cool $119,000 in November of this year.
Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology and has been writing about electric vehicles for two years. She has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum.
