Jaguar has finally pulled the covers off the car it has been teasing for what feels like an eternity, and the Type 01 is a proper statement, if nothing else. It’s a long, low, monolithic, four-door grand tourer with a short nose, a hood that runs on for days, a tail that looks decidedly industrial and humongous 23-inch wheels. The proportions are relaxed, yet athletic, and it feels like something a comic book villain would drive. Prices start from $170,000, with orders opening in 2027 and deliveries set to start from later on in the year.
Zoom in and you start to notice the details. The surfaces are clean and almost uninterrupted, the Jaguar leaper sits proudly on the front fenders, and the rear has stacked tail lights poking through the vertical fins that make up the tail. Underneath, three motors make up to 1,030 horsepower, enough to hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds.
A 118kWH battery promises up to 400 miles on the EPA cycle, and a 350kW charger can add 200 miles in about 13 minutes. Inside a 24-inch OLED display greets the driver while brass-toned trim runs the length of the cabin.
Now for the awkward part: is it a Jaguar? We genuinely can’t decide whether that’s the Type 01’s biggest problem or its smartest trick. Nothing about it says old money or leather and walnut wood trim nostalgia. That is clearly deliberate. If Jaguar wanted to shake off its image as the brand of a well-heeled gentleman of a certain age, and court a younger crowd, this is one way to do it.
It’s certainly a brave way to do it. But it also feels like a rebrand that has arrived a little late. Big electric sedans are not exactly flying out of showrooms, though the BMW i7 and Rolls-Royce Spectre are trying their best to prove the segment still has life left in it. A 1,000+ horsepower GT is a hard sell in a segment that has gone cold.
Worse, the Type 01 is all Jaguar has to offer at the moment. The plan is to spread this design language across other body styles eventually, with Jaguar telling us to expect at least two spin offs on this platform. Meanwhile, buyers young and old are queuing up for SUVs, and Jaguar has nothing to offer them, at least not yet.
Still, credit where it is due: in an age of lookalike crossovers, the Type 01 shows Jaguar has the courage to be different. Some even say to fail interestingly is better than to succeed quietly, though we’re not sure the accountants at Jaguar would agree. Whether buyers see it is Jaguar’s bravery or foolhardiness remains to be seen, but if the Type 01 can at least convince people it drives like what the expectations of a Jaguar are, all hope may not be lost after all.
