New Jaguar Type 01 unveiled: Bold 1,015bhp GT kicks off Jag’s EV-only era
Jaguar has unveiled the production version of its radical Type 01 at a gala event in New York, almost two years after it was previewed as the controversial ‘Pink Jaguar’ 00 concept car.
Jaguar Type 01 exterior design
While the Jaguar design team said the Type 01 is “a copy of nothing”, several design elements hark back to Jags of yesteryear: The long nose and back-set cabin are reminiscent of the E-Type, its successor, the XJS, and the lesser-spotted XJC.
Measuring 5.2 metres long and 1.4m high, Jaguar’s latest is a big car and its standard 23-inch wheels only accentuate its dimensions. The ‘luxury gap’ is also key to the Type 01’s imposing stance. At 90cm long, the luxury gap is the length between the front wheel and front door, and serves no purpose other than to amplify the car’s presence and sense of luxury.
The Jaguar Type 01 draws on the Type 00’s front end, courtesy of a strikethrough ‘grille’, a series of horizontal strikethrough lines embossed over sheet metal, and a low-set cooling aperture.
Towards the back, a three-metre-long pressing comprising the roof rail, bodyside, and a curved shoulder that hints at more muscular Jags of yore is dubbed “the impossible panel”. This is because Jaguar’s computer and tooling modelling systems said that the unit would be impossible to forge from aluminium, the Type 01’s proprietary material.
The engineering team took 22 weeks to tool and deliver the panel, instead of the usual four for a more conventional unit.
At the rear, the strikethrough theme carries over from the grille and houses a pair of rear light bars. A rear windscreen is notably absent – in its place is a Polestar 4-esque reversing camera.
The hefty rear end also hides a three-stage active spoiler, climbing to 7 inches, the optimum angle to cut drag, and then onto a maximum of 21 inches to generate 75kg of downforce for high-speed stability.
Interior design: No wood and leather here
The Jaguar Type 01 seeks to court a new, younger buyer demographic, and with this shift in customer base comes a shift in interior design.
Gone is the wood and leather synonymous with “old-era” Jags, and the minimalist interior is dominated by a chunky central spine and a slim, two-tiered dashboard designed to emphasise the cabin’s space and its dimensions.
The four slimline seats are upholstered in neograin ultrafabric and Kvadrat duoweave, a material blending 30% wool with polyester.
The inner door finishers, despite being brass-coloured, are dyed, embossed aluminium to add colour and tactility. Using actual brass would add unnecessary weight. Outside, the luxury gap’s Jaguar leaping cat logo is made the same way.
Jaguar has broken with the current automotive trend of reviving physical buttons, incorporating all of the Type 01’s controls into a modestly sized, centrally positioned touchscreen rising from the centre console. The Type 01 cabin has no buttons at all, not even for the sound system or climate control.
Behind the ’70s-esque two-spoke steering wheel is a 24-inch digital driver’s display, and the strikethrough design element rears its head once again in the form of a full-width soundbar featuring a digital rear-view mirror in its midst.
Speed and power aplenty with 1,015bhp on tap
With a tri-motor setup, the Jaguar Type 01 generates an enormous 1,015bhp. On the rear axle, two motors producing around 900bhp sit in a single casting and provide 70% of the car’s torque.
A torque-vectoring system controls how much power is sent to each wheel to improve traction and handling, and the rear motors can be switched off to optimise efficiency on a motorway drive.
The Jaguar Type 01 has a top speed of 150mph, placing it firmly in Polestar 5 territory. The 0-62mph run is dealt with in 3.2 seconds, and 62mph to 112mph is achievable in less than four seconds.
Jaguar Type 01 battery, range, and charging
The Type 01 is the first Jaguar to ride on Jaguar’s JEA, or ‘Jaguar Electric Architecture’, which cost £2.25 billion to develop. The platform is almost 75% aluminium to keep weight down and the chassis stiff.
Jaguar says the Type 01’s 850V JEA system gives the 120kWh battery a fast-charging rate of 350kW, which adds 200 miles of range in 13 minutes. With slower chargers, the battery adopts a Mercedes EQS-style system that divides the pack into two 250kW units to reduce charging times.
With a drag coefficient of 0.23, the Type 01 is the most aerodynamically efficient Jaguar ever. With active aero features such as a flat underbody, aero wheels, and an air suspension that lowers the car at speed, Jaguar’s latest has a WLTP range of 435 miles.
Jaguar Type 01 pricing and availability
Entry-level Type 01s are expected to be priced from around £120,000, while better-appointed versions will start at around £150,000. Jaguar, however, is yet to make an official pricing announcement.
Jaguar says it will encourage its newly-found demographic to get stuck into the options list, meaning some cars are likely to cost in excess of £200,000. Order books are expected to open in February 2027, and the first cars are due to be delivered to customers by the middle of the year.
