Jaguar E-Pace Review 2023

The answer to this rather depends on what you want from your compact SUV. The Jaguar E-Pace is handsome, but feels lead-footed compared to its premium rivals, is quite pricey in its higher specifications with the stronger engines, and is less economical than other SUVs in this price range.

It trades more on its looks and the strong appeal of its badge than anything else, but the market does reflect this and there are some great deals on used and pre-registered cars. At the right money, the E-Pace starts to make a lot more sense. 

Despite the athletic looking exterior, underneath the Jaguar E-Pace is on the heavy side for a compact SUV. This means it feels slower than other cars with a similar power output, forcing you to go for the pricier engines.

That takes the entry-level D150 diesel and P200 petrol off the table. While the front-wheel drive, manual versions of the former are the most efficient, they're not the smoothest to drive, and too slow to recommend.

Instead, we would step up to the D180 paired with the optional nine-speed automatic. This combination plays to the car's strengths as a cruiser, and while not especially quick, it is more effortless than the D150 model. Pick one up in S trim and you'll have a luxurious, capable four-wheel drive car that sneaks under the £40,000 barrier - saving you a packet on road tax - but you'll have to skip the R-Dynamic pack to keep below that limit.

Few cars are closer to the Jaguar E-Pace than its sibling from sister brand Land Rover, the Discovery Sport. It unfortunately is the favourite child of the pair, with newer engines, a smarter cabin, and equally sharp looks. It's a seven-seater, though, so the Range Rover Evoque is a more comparable model. 

Further afield, the BMW X1 offers a more car-like driving experience, exceptional build quality and class-best infotainment, but generic looks, while the Volvo XC40 oozes Scandinavian style, is comfortable and practical. 

For the same money as a mid-spec D180 automatic, you could upgrade in size, getting yourself an Audi Q5. That car is lighter, faster, and more refined, along with having a bigger boot and fantastically roomy interior.

At the lower end of the spectrum, it's hard to ignore the value you get from cars like the Volkswagen Tiguan. It feels better built and more modern insider than the Jaguar, yet is cheaper to buy and run.

Although it all looks smart enough, material quality in the Jaguar is one rung below what you’ll find in most of its rivals. Lower down in the cabin in particular, the hard plastics used don’t stand up well to closer scrutiny.

Even areas that should feel really solid - the infotainment screen surrounds for example - feel hollow and will creak if prodded firmly. Not a very encouraging sign in what is supposedly a very posh, premium product.

The leather on the steering wheel and (from S trim onwards) seats feels suitably plush, and you'll find some attractive faux stitching on the chunky grab handle on the centre console. Jaguar E-Pace R-Dynamic models add some bling details like bright metal pedals and illuminated scuff plates in the doors, enhancing the sporty interior theme.

Top spec Jaguar E-Pace HSE models feature super soft 'Windsor' leather seats, but adding such opulent extras only highlights the patchy quality of other parts of the cabin, whereas German SUVs feel consistently solid.

Again, this is an area that Jaguar has improved significantly in the 2021 facelift. We'll update our review in due course.

Every Jaguar E-Pace comes with a 10-inch Touch Pro screen, punchy six-speaker Hi-Fi, DAB radio and Bluetooth. This display has clear graphics, bright colours, and fairly snappy responses. The menus are intuitive, and Jaguar anchors all the on-screen shortcut buttons to the lower edge of the screen so that they're easier to reach. Trouble is, they're little and tricky to hit.

Still, unlike the Volvo XC40 and Range Rover Evoque, there are separate physical controls for the climate and heater settings, with a large digital read out in the dials making it a doddle to fine-tune the temperature.

However, it's a little tight-fisted of Jaguar to leave smartphone mirroring (via Android Auto and Apple CarPlay) on the options list. It comes standard on S models, and allows you to hijack that nice big screen to use with your favourite navigation, streaming and messaging apps on your smartphone. This model also includes a built-in navigation system, on-board Wi-Fi and connected services like live traffic updates.

Step up to SE trim, and you get a brilliant Meridian sound system with powerful, rich sound, while top spec versions replace the analogue dials with a larger 12.3-inch digital display, although this comes as standard on rivals such as the Q3 and XC40. 

One of the main reasons buyers flock to SUVs is because they offer plenty of space and versatility. Despite its relatively compact footprint, the Jaguar E-Pace feels roomy inside, especially for those up front. There's ample headroom (even for the tallest of drivers) and plenty of well-placed cubbies for your odds and ends.

Special mention goes to the cavernous glovebox, which could easily swallow a handbag, and door pockets with neat moulded cutouts for drinks bottles. If that's not sufficient, you can open up the central armrest to uncover another large cubby, with a pair of USB ports.

In the back, two adults can fit comfortably. Headroom is reasonable, but a six-footer sat behind an equally tall driver will find their knees resting on the seat backs. Unlike many rivals though, the back seats are fixed, so you can't slide or recline them to free up load space. Adding a third is a squeeze.

Ignore the Jaguar E-Pace's official 425-litre boot capacity - Jaguar measures luggage space in a different way to most brands - which means once you get the tape measure out and compare them like-for-like, it will carry less than most SUVs. At least the boot has a square shape, no load lip and some useful additional storage space under the floor.

Flexibility is not the best, though. The Volvo XC40, BMW X1 and Volkswagen Tiguan come with a three-way 40:20:40 seat configuration – so you better juggle passenger and boot space – in the E-Pace you get a far more conventional 60:40 split to maximise boot space to 1234 litres. 

In exterior dimensions the Jaguar E-Pace is smaller than the Volvo XC40 at 1648mm tall and 4395mm long but it's a touch wider at 2088mm with the mirrors folded out. 

Jaguar offers nine different combos of engine, gearbox and drivetrain. That sounds daunting, but in fact it's deceptively simple, with a pair of 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbos (one petrol, one diesel) in a variety of outputs.

Diesels are badged D150, D180 and D240. The D150 is the only E-Pace offered with front-wheel drive - but only in conjunction with a six-speed manual gearbox - all other versions send their power to all four corners.

Petrol models also come in three flavours – P200, P250 and P300. All have four-wheel drive and a nine-speed automatic gearbox as standard, that’s an option on the entry-level diesels.

Buyers who are more interested in fuel economy than performance will be fine with the entry-level D150. It has just enough grunt to make progress, but never feels quick. Avoid the manual gearbox though, it severely blunts performance and is ill-suited to the car's relaxed nature.

The nine-speed automatic is best when left to its own devices, but in R-Dynamic cars you get shifter paddles on the steering wheel if you want to take over. It's a bit dim-witted though, often taking too long to kick down.

Still, if you want to make swift overtaking manoeuvres, regularly tow a caravan, or will regularly have the car fully-loaded,, the D180 is a better all-rounder. It's stronger than the quickest petrol in-gear, but far less thirsty on fuel. The twin-turbo D240 is even more potent on paper, but in real world driving the difference is fairly marginal.

The petrol engines are impressively smooth and quiet at low revs, but sound a bit harsh when extended. If you want them to feel quick, you have to push them hard, and their already poor economy gets even worse.

These engines have been updating including a frugal new three-cylinder plug-in hybrid after 2021. 

Choose any of the diesels, and hard acceleration when overtaking or joining the motorway will be accompanied by a fairly gruff soundtrack, and vibrations through the steering wheel.

Once it settles into a cruise however, the engines quieten down, and you can make fairly serene progress. The Jaguar E-Pace generates less tyre roar than a BMW X1 or X2, although that’s not saying a great deal. 

Wind noise is less well suppressed, but rarely becomes intrusive. The petrol engines are quieter, and pull more cleanly than their diesel counterparts, although the highly tuned P300 gets a bit droney at higher revs. In Dynamic mode it pipes exhaust noise into the cabin via the speakers, but it's more irritating than sporty.

It’s also worth noting that car’s fitted with the six-speed manual gearbox suffer from more engine noise when cruising. 

As you would expect of any modern, premium vehicle, the Jaguar E-Pace received a maximum five-star safety rating from crash testers Euro NCAP. It did well in all four test categories, especially child protection.

However, a closer look at the individual scores reveals that it did worse than most rivals for adult protection. It was awarded just 87% (rivals like the Volvo XC40 get 97%) partly due to poor whiplash and driver ratings. 

These are fine margins, but another area where the Jaguar E-Pace gets edged out by its peers. It's not because of a lack of safety equipment though. Every model comes with automatic emergency braking (AEB) that senses any oncoming obstacles, will warn the driver of potential collisions, and can stop the car to help prevent one.

That's just one part of an impressive kit roster that includes a lane keep assistant, a airbag under the bonnet to protect pedestrians if they're unfortunate enough to go over the bonnet, and a clever system that will monitor your driving style, warning you to take a break if your attention is judged to be faltering.

All but the entry-level models get a traffic sign reader, that can work with the cruise control to always keep the car at or below the legal limit.

Travel up the range, and SE includes a Park Pro Pack that adds a set of 360º cameras to the usual sensors, while top spec HSE models get adaptive cruise control that can brake and accelerate the car for you. You can add the latter to cheaper trims as part of the comprehensive Drive Pro Pack, which costs just £780. Great gadgets then, but you still need to pay extra for a small spare wheel, a foam repair kit comes standard.

Jaguar ranked around midway out of 30 manufacturers in HonestJohn.co.uk's Satisfaction Index with a score of 87.5% satisfaction. Three Jaguar models featured on the top 20 worst cars from the index, however none of these were from Jaguar's SUV line-up so the E-Pace should be more reliable than other models from the brand. 

Finding cover for your Jaguar SUV will cost a little more than it would in its premium rivals. The cheapest versions are the D150 diesels with manual gearboxes. They start off in insurance Group 25 in standard trim.

The D180 model jumps up to Group 29, while the brawniest D240 is right up in Group 35. Compare that to the BMW X2 or Volvo XC40, which both start off three bands lower in Group 22 in a similarly spec diesel car.

Picking a petrol means steeper premiums. The P200 starts off in Group 31, the P300 is right up in Group 39.

Things look even worse for the Jaguar E-Pace when you compare it with, say, a Volkswagen Tiguan. The fastest 240PS twin-turbo diesel version of this car sits almost ten groups lower than the equally powerful D240.

Roughly half of the Jaguar E-Pace range manages to sneak in under the £40,000 barrier. These cars will all pay the standard £165 fixed rate of road tax (VED) owed by all petrol and diesel cars costing less than this new.

Any that rise above this cutoff (including with options) are liable for a higher Premium rate, not just the regular one. That means they'll cost you an extra £325 during the first five years of ownership.

High CO2 outputs mean all E-Paces are in the maximum 37% BIK tax bracket for company car users. That inefficiency pushes up the on-the-road costs too, since buying a new car from a dealer involves a first-year payment based on emissions. In most versions it’s more than £1,300.

The first thing you'll need to decide when picking your own Jaguar E-Pace is how you'd like it to look inside and out. Where some brands separate styling by each trim level, Jaguar gives two options, standard or R-Dynamic.

The latter acts as a ready-made sporty makeover. It packs in different alloy wheel designs, glossy black interior trim, and sharper bumpers to help it stand out.

To either of these starting points, you can then add either the S, SE, or HSE specification pack. Every car is already fairly well equipped. The baseline trim includes LED headlights, 17-inch alloys, a heated screen and front seats, reversing camera, climate control, plus a six-speaker stereo with a slick 10.0-inch touchscreen.

Add the Jaguar E-Pace S pack (which we recommend doing) to get leather seats with electric adjustment, sat-nav and full Apple and Android smartphone integration via CarPlay and Auto software, and a handy traffic sign reader.

Mid-range Jaguar E-Pace SE could be worth stretching to though, as it includes useful convenience features like a powered tailgate, a rather nifty 360 degree parking camera, and a Meridian Hi-Fi with amazing sound quality.

We would stop short of the top Jaguar E-Pace HSE though, as it’s prohibitively expensive. Although it benefits from softer leather, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, keyless entry, and a comprehensive suit of driving aids.

Jaguar introduced the Chequered Flag special edition in 2019. It takes the sporty styling of the Jaguar E-Pace R-Dynamic, and weaves in lots of choice goodies from higher up in the range. It's available in three colours, grey, white, or a striking photon red, a colour that is unique to this model, but it's priced above the already expensive SE.

Apart from the kit we've already mentioned, options such as the £990 fixed panoramic glass roof that let more light into the cabin, additional USB power sockets in the rear (£160) plus a set of loadspace dividing storage rails for stopping stuff rolling about in the boot (£295) are worthwhile upgrades.