New Jaguar GT prototype review: controversial EV is more Bentley than Porsche

Verdict

From the outside Jaguar’s new direction looks bold, but our first taste of the GT reveals it to be reassuringly conventional in its approach – a comfortable tourer that’s intuitive to drive, and surprisingly manageable for a 2.7-tonne, 1,000bhp super-saloon. A full verdict will need to wait until we get the Jaguar GT on tarmac, but on this evidence it doesn’t feel like a Porsche Taycan rival. Its character is closer to that of a Bentley, which seems a suitable place for this new breed of Jaguar to sit.

It’s always fascinating to get a glimpse behind the curtain of a brand-new car, especially when it’s something totally bespoke – and in the case of the Jaguar GT, one of the most anticipated and controversial models to be launched this year. 

The £120k four-door electric car marks the beginning of Jaguar’s new era and is in many ways a clean break from tradition – from its technical makeup to its bold design language and divisive marketing programme (as many on social media are keen to shout about). 

Ahead of the GT’s summer reveal, we were given a chance to cut through the noise and get an early taste of what it’s like to drive, by getting behind the wheel of pre-production examples at Jag’s Revi winter test facility. The Swedish proving ground comprises a number of low-grip snow and ice test tracks designed to evaluate the EV’s handling and dynamic systems, and although the prototypes we’ll be driving aren’t fully representative of the final car, they should give an idea of its overall character – and what we can expect from Jags in years to come.

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The GT has been designed from a totally clean sheet, and thus uses a brand-new platform dubbed Jaguar Electric Architecture (JEA). It runs on an 850-volt electrical system and houses a 120kWh battery pack within the floor, which powers three motors – one at the front, and a pair at the back. The front unit drives the wheels via an open differential, while the independent units at the rear enable full torque vectoring. 

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Peak power stands at around 1,000bhp, and torque at 1,366Nm – Bugatti Veyron-beating numbers – while 62mph is ticked off in the low three-second range. Despite the performance, engineers admit they haven’t tried to replicate the sportiness of a Porsche Taycan; the GT is a tourer first and foremost, with a more comfort oriented approach. 

To facilitate this there’s twin-chamber air suspension and adaptive dampers, although Jaguar hasn’t opted to fit active anti-roll bars – doing so would add weight, and the GT’s low centre of gravity supposedly negates the need. 

Speaking of weight, the GT is disappointingly heavy for a new-generation EV. At circa-2,700kg it’s around half a tonne more than a Taycan, partly due to its enormous battery pack. The pay-off is more range than the Porsche, however, with over 435 miles (WLTP) compared to 394 miles for a Taycan Turbo. The Jag is quick to charge, too, accepting rates of up to 350kW capable of adding 200 miles in under 15 minutes. 

At this point in development the GT’s hardware has been finalised but there’s still some fine tuning left for its software systems, which Jaguar says are 75-80 per cent complete. The first prototype we’re driving has its stability and traction control systems disabled to demonstrate the GT’s handling capabilities. It’s been well used, having completed many testing miles at Revi and the Nurburgring, but it’s still impressively hushed, refined and rattle-free as you move off. 

The interior is mostly hidden by fabric coverings, but even so, there’s a sense of occasion when you climb inside. You’re positioned relatively low to the ground with a laid-back driving position, while the shallow glasshouse and expanse of bonnet ahead form classic GT styling cues. Instrumentation is by a large digital dash, with a smaller portrait screen mounted on the centre console.

Once underway it’s clear the GT has a completely different character to a Porsche. The plushness of its ride and calmness of its steering are closer to a Bentley; it’s not a car that’s ultra responsive and totally keyed into the road. The body is free to move on its springs and absorb bumps in the snow-covered surface, and the controls are light, easy and intuitive. 

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Turn into a corner and there’s some roll, too. Jaguar says it was inspired by the fluidity and comfort of classic models – such as the seventies XJ-C – when setting up the GT, and there’s evidence of that in this prototype. 

It’s still designed to be dynamic and engaging, however, and the handling circuit offers a chance to deploy the full 1,000bhp and explore the GT at the limit. With so much power you need a more sensitive right foot to avoid spinning the wheels on the ice, but you soon appreciate the GTs neutral handling balance, and how deftly it can flow from one corner to the next. Torque vectoring and rear-wheel steering help the nose into corners, and from there, should you wish, you can hold the car in a four-wheel drift under power, carving smooth lines with minimal corrections of the wheel.

There are three drive modes to choose from – Rain/Ice/Snow, Comfort and Dynamic – and all of them feel rear-biased to some degree. That slippery setting gives a useful safety net in how it sends drive to the front wheels to stabilise the car if it starts sliding too much, with Comfort and particularly Dynamic being more playful. 

In Dynamic you can finely adjust the GT’s balance on the throttle, and although you often sense its considerable mass – in hard braking and fast direction changes, for example – it’s well managed and very controllable. Only at the very extremes does the GT become more challenging, occasionally sending power to the front when you need it at the rear to rotate through slow corners. 

We also tried another prototype with functioning stability systems, which demonstrates the full might of the electronics. With the car precisely metering out torque to the wheels to minimise slip, and the torque vectoring system working to stabilise the car, it’s almost impossible to spin, even on ice. At most the systems hold the car in a neat, neutral drift, and no amount of planting the throttle throwing the steering hard from left to right is enough to unsettle it. The subtlety of how the systems intervene is deeply impressive. 

There’s still much to learn about this new era of Jaguar, but the early signs are that the GT could offer a Bentley-esque EV driving experience, with comfort and refinement at the core of its character and a level of dynamism thrown in. Can it succeed where the Taycan faltered by cracking the high-end EV market? Time will tell.