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New member - Ipace or Etron Sportback 55

2K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  RB1 
#1 ·
HI - I'm new..

As a current Jaguar F pace owner about to make a change the easy option for me to go electric is to get into an Ipace which has consistently good reviews, however I rather like the look of the Etron Sportback and although I haven't driven either I thought someone on here has. Both are relatively big jumps for me in terms of electric and cost but I'd be grateful for anyone who has already experienced both so far and what your impressions are/were. I know from these reviews that the range in an Etron could be lower which is not a massive concern but what did you enjoy the most? ( I do realise that on this forum there could be a bias of course)

Any replies would be appreciated.

Thanks
Robert
 
#3 ·
Hi Graham, thanks for your response and nice picture btw. In terms of the drive would you say the Audi is more cruiser than the Ipace which would be more "spirited"? which one do you personally prefer to drive ie the go to? Are they as reliable as each other and is the efficiency about the same?

Thanks
Robert
 
#4 · (Edited)
There's a lot in this. I'd definitely recommend you try them both. To answer your specific Q's:

Audi is definitely more cruiser whereas the iPace feels light, lively, and much more driver focussed. Audi is quieter and more comfortable than the iPace but feels very sluggish in comparison even in Dyamic S mode. You really feel the weight of it leaning into a corner. The iPace weighs a bit less but it's still a massive thing, but feels incredibly agile in comparison. I prefer the iPace to drive but the Audi is a better place to sit in, the quality and comfort of the interior a cut above for sure.

Reliability: A draw. Both owned from new. Audi, 9000 miles, zero major faults. A few DC charging hiccups. iPace: 13000 miles, zero major faults. A few DC charging hiccups (fixed with software updates).

Efficiency (and hence range): Major win for the iPace (with a caveat). Thrashes the Audi, I don't know what they've done differently in one car compared to the other but it seems unlikely that a 300kg weight difference could make so much impact. Range: Audi 120 Winter, 180 spring (no summer use yet). Jaguar: 180 winter, 210 spring, 250 summer

The caveat is that the Audi will charge faster on a high power (100kw and above) DC rapid, maybe 2x as fast. So it does have less range and the miles will cost you more, but on a long journey they could even out.

If I had to keep only one I'd keep the Jaguar but others will have a different view.
 
#5 ·
Hi Graham

Thanks for your frank views, that's really helpful - Ive just arranged a test drive in the Audi and then in the Jag so I will see what suits me. The new Q4 could be of interest but just been told that I may not get one till December. The one slight shock from your comments is the range in the Audi, I had assumed you could get (or should get) 200 miles but your winter range in particular seems low, as mentioned this isn't everything to me but wasn't prepared for that low. Anyway much appreciated for the summary, thankyou.

Robert
 
#7 ·
So I owned the I-Pace for about a year and traded it for the e-Tron which I've had for a month. I guess I have a different take on the cars than Graham, but that's what makes horse racing.

My I-Pace died in the 2nd week of ownership and had to be towed to the dealer. Fortunately it wasn't a major issue, and I had no major problems since then. However my Vin# was one that would require a tear down of the front end of the car to replace a wiring harness. That made me nervous since I had little faith the car would be put back together without rattles. I had many software issues with the I-Pace that manifested itself in different ways with the main center screen. I would periodically lose the radio or the display itself. Some of these issues were similar to those I had in my Tesla.

My other concern was the financial solvency of Jaguar, the apparent 'lesser half' of Jaguar/Land Rover. Jaguars, and more specifically I-Paces, simply aren't selling here in the U.S. They're never advertised and in one year of ownership I saw exactly one other I-Pace in my travels. Tata motors doesn't seem to be willing to spend much money on Jaguar and the British government certainly isn't either. Those days are gone. So a combination of these issues & concerns, together with the results of an e-tron test drive, convinced me to trade in the I-Pace.

Thus far the only software issue I've had with the e-tron is receiving multiple notifications that my charging is complete. Audi just fixed that in a software update of the app, but I believe a problem remains with a charging cycle that apparently goes from 79% to 80% and then back to 79%. This is the issue that causes multiple 'charge complete' notifications as the charger keeps bringing the car back to 80%. The issue can be avoided by charging to 100%, but you don't want to do that with any frequency. It seems that not everyone has been experiencing this with the 2021 e-trons, but some have, Other than that the car has really been pretty much perfect.

I agree with Graham that the I-Pace is more of a 'driver's car' than the e-tron, but I'm at any age now where I more appreciate a smooth, controlled, quiet ride than one that gets me from 0-60 1 second faster. My first test drive of the e-tron showed a stark difference in ride comfort & quietness. The sound insulation from road noise is worlds better in the e-tron than the I-Pace. In fact there's no doubt in my mind that the e-tron is the quietest car I've ever been in. I believe it was Car & Driver that said the only car they drove that was quieter was a $355,000 Rolls and that was only by 1db.

Now interestingly, my range experience, although granted only for 1 month, is quite different from Graham's. I'm actually finding the range on my e-tron to be equal to or better than the I-Pace. My latest range at 79%, showed an expected GoM display of 199 miles. That's about 240 miles at 100%. The e-tron seems to do better with highway range than my I-Pace did. All EVs do worse on the highway, but I always saw a more precipitous drop on the highway with the I-Pace than I have thus far with the e-tron. I also find the GoM to be more accurate than it was in my I-Pace.

As Graham said, you really need to drive both cars to see what best fits your needs. We all have such different tastes, that it's impossible to say what's the 'best' car. These are two wonderful cars and it's hard to make a wrong decision. Good luck!
 
#11 ·
So I owned the I-Pace for about a year and traded it for the e-Tron which I've had for a month. I guess I have a different take on the cars than Graham, but that's what makes horse racing.

My I-Pace died in the 2nd week of ownership and had to be towed to the dealer. Fortunately it wasn't a major issue, and I had no major problems since then. However my Vin# was one that would require a tear down of the front end of the car to replace a wiring harness. That made me nervous since I had little faith the car would be put back together without rattles. I had many software issues with the I-Pace that manifested itself in different ways with the main center screen. I would periodically lose the radio or the display itself. Some of these issues were similar to those I had in my Tesla.

My other concern was the financial solvency of Jaguar, the apparent 'lesser half' of Jaguar/Land Rover. Jaguars, and more specifically I-Paces, simply aren't selling here in the U.S. They're never advertised and in one year of ownership I saw exactly one other I-Pace in my travels. Tata motors doesn't seem to be willing to spend much money on Jaguar and the British government certainly isn't either. Those days are gone. So a combination of these issues & concerns, together with the results of an e-tron test drive, convinced me to trade in the I-Pace.

Thus far the only software issue I've had with the e-tron is receiving multiple notifications that my charging is complete. Audi just fixed that in a software update of the app, but I believe a problem remains with a charging cycle that apparently goes from 79% to 80% and then back to 79%. This is the issue that causes multiple 'charge complete' notifications as the charger keeps bringing the car back to 80%. The issue can be avoided by charging to 100%, but you don't want to do that with any frequency. It seems that not everyone has been experiencing this with the 2021 e-trons, but some have, Other than that the car has really been pretty much perfect.

I agree with Graham that the I-Pace is more of a 'driver's car' than the e-tron, but I'm at any age now where I more appreciate a smooth, controlled, quiet ride than one that gets me from 0-60 1 second faster. My first test drive of the e-tron showed a stark difference in ride comfort & quietness. The sound insulation from road noise is worlds better in the e-tron than the I-Pace. In fact there's no doubt in my mind that the e-tron is the quietest car I've ever been in. I believe it was Car & Driver that said the only car they drove that was quieter was a $355,000 Rolls and that was only by 1db.

Now interestingly, my range experience, although granted only for 1 month, is quite different from Graham's. I'm actually finding the range on my e-tron to be equal to or better than the I-Pace. My latest range at 79%, showed an expected GoM display of 199 miles. That's about 240 miles at 100%. The e-tron seems to do better with highway range than my I-Pace did. All EVs do worse on the highway, but I always saw a more precipitous drop on the highway with the I-Pace than I have thus far with the e-tron. I also find the GoM to be more accurate than it was in my I-Pace.

As Graham said, you really need to drive both cars to see what best fits your needs. We all have such different tastes, that it's impossible to say what's the 'best' car. These are two wonderful cars and it's hard to make a wrong decision. Good luck!
Hi Lucken
Thank you for your detailed account. As I have a Jaguar Fpace at present I became quite close the the local Jaguar Master technician in the early days of my car (unfortunately) so I got a better understanding of some of the Jaguar brand issues particularly with early cars and I'm very sorry to hear that you lost confidence with yours. However Jaguar do eventually get there and my understanding is that that the new Ipace's are pretty good now particularly with the 2021 updates but I am getting the sense of the differences from yourself and Graham and have tried to book a test drive although as I write I am yet to get a call back from Audi from my call yesterday (hopefully they will). Thank you for your thoughts which are helpful.

All the best to you

Robert
 
#9 ·
Thanks, Graham. Yes, I'd say the range has been my biggest surprise with the e-Tron as I was expecting to take a slight hit in range. I do know the EPA highway range is supposed to be somewhat higher on the e-Tron than the I-Pace (72 vs 77), so that part of the equation doesn't surprise me. I'm driving it pretty much as I did the I-Pace, so I don't think it's a driving style thing.

The weather has been in the 60s here in N.Y., so that's just a few degrees below what would be ideal for a BEV. With that said I've certainly driven the I-Pace in those same temps, so again I'm really not sure. I've read of people getting better than expected range too, so I guess I'm in that category (thus far), but certainly nowhere near some of the crazy high #s I've read about on some of these forums.
 
#12 ·
Thanks Chasing cars

I have an open mind and like both brands in fact I have one of each already so for me I already feel they are both great cars but its how they make you feel when you drive them that's important.

Appreciated

Robert
 
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