Dubbed the Type 00, the new Jaguar concept car highlights the design direction of the
brand and tests the next production-spec 4-door GT.
Following last month’s reveal of its new logo and brand identity – over which there was
considerable brouhaha – Jaguar has now taken the wraps off a concept car it says
previews the final production version due late next Year. Will there be as much of a
melee this time as well, or will the detractors of the brand be satisfied? After seeing it
first in the UK, here is what we believe.
Known as the Type 00, 0 for zero emissions and 0 for a reset or restart, the concept
automobile embodies a very strong and flamboyant character and reflects what the new
Jaguar and its products would look like. It is definitely not like earlier Jaguars, which
were all about grace and subtlety. Rawdon Glover, managing director of Jaguar, told
Autocar India in an interview that this energetic design—how Jaguar defines it—is quite
deliberate and aimed to appeal to an audience that appreciates strong and dramatic
designs.
Though Glover claims the business also intended to avoid the conventional EV designs
today, which all look like they have been done in a wind tunnel, making design
concessions for range, it is still a big gamble. The car has indeed a very straight nose, a
tall bonnet despite not needing one, large wheels and flared-out wheel arches.
While there was great debate over this as well, the colors chosen for the two show
cars—pastel tints of pink and blue—pay homage to the Miami Art Deco color palettes.
What the Type 00 additionally reveals is the way the earlier revealed brand design
elements behave. The classic grille is the Device Mark (Jaguar writing over strike
through pattern), and the Makers Mark (leaping cat over a strikethrough) shown on the
fenders. The Artist Mark (J and R monogram) shows up on the hub caps meanwhile.
Jaguar Type 00 Concept Car Exterior
Slim headlamps at the front, next to the Device Mark grille, top a large blank vertical
piece of the bumper. The lower edge of the bumper features air intakes and narrow
daytime running lamps as well as an air splitter. visibly neat, a strikethrough pattern on
the top surface of the bonnet towards the trailing edge visibly travels within the cabin
onto the dashboard.
While the Type 00 concept is a 2-door, the production car will be a 4-door GT and retain
the same stance, claims Jaguar, on the side the car’s GT proportions are rather clear
with a very lengthened bonnet and a big wheelbase. The profile also clearly shows the
large wheels and the little distinctive brass ingots carrying the Makers Mark that come
out to show rearview cameras. Furthermore housed in the front left fender is a
motorized opening containing what Jaguar refers to as the prism case. Inside there are
three totems, key fobs—if you will—that can be positioned in the center console and
configure the car to a certain theme including ambient lighting and screen graphics. This
concept might show up in the production automobile as distinct keys enabling the car to
operate in particular drive modes, including valet mode.
At the rear, rather clear from their absence, are tail-lights. These, however, are
concealed between the top and bottom lines of the large strikethrough pattern creating a
highly unusual rear treatment. Along with cameras giving the rear view inside, the rear
also boasts a glassless tailgate. Under the spotlights during the presentation, the fixed
glass roof with strikethrough pattern of the idea creates a comparable light-and- shadow
pattern on the inside of the automobile. It appeared to be really cool.
Jaguar Type 00 Concept Vehicle Interior
The Type 00 opens out via big butterfly doors to show a simple cabin split in half across
the middle metal bar. Jaguar says it is the spine. It separates the whole cabin in two
different sections and generates two independent dashboards with slide-out screens for
the passenger and the driver.
Mounted to the centre console, which resembles a plinth made of travertine stone and
supports both the seats and the central spine, the seats seem to be floating and their
upholstered in a stitch-free wool blend fabric.
The screens are totally hidden in line with the minimalist concept, hence you only notice
their presence once the screen glides open. The inside design also conceals storage
areas, which all glide open and use vivid colors for internal lighting. Here in concealing
these elements, including a sound bar, the strikethrough pattern is put to good use and
also produces a distinctive and fascinating art deco vibe within.
Details About A New Jaguar EV Platform And Debut
The production car will introduce Jaguar Electric Architecture (JEA), a fresh basis. Other
than a targeted range of 770km on the WLTP cycle and the capacity to charge for a
321km driving range in 15 minutes, not much has been published thus far about it.
Although it has been confirmed that Tata Motors will employ JLR’s Electrified Modular
Architecture (EMA) for its higher-end Avinya range of cars, Glover notes that currently
“there are no plans of doing that [Tata Motors using the platform]” and adds that JEA
platform will “only be used for vehicles designed, engineered and built in the UK”.
All ready for a release near the end of 2025, the production automobile will gradually
make its way to markets. The first phase would target nations like the US and the UK,
where the brand performs really brilliantly. India would fall in phase two, near the end of
2026 or early 2027. Although Jaguar says the 4-door GT would be at the high end of the
spectrum and will propel Jaguar more upwards and away from the “mass premium,”
prices for the car have not been disclosed. Glover believes, however, that there will be
vehicles following and “will perform to a different role and target a wider audience,”
therefore referencing various body shapes and a top-down method of developing the
new Jaguar.
Although much commotion was generated over the absence of automobiles and color
options throughout the teaser campaign, the actual concept car at last offers everyone a
sense of where the products are headed. If not a classic Jaguar, the car has an
imposing presence and looks pretty remarkable indeed. As Glover says, “Type 00 is a
signal of intent that Jaguar is changing”. The fate of the new Jaguar relies ultimately on
whether the potential purchasers welcome this alteration.