Electric Jaguar E-Type Has Better Performance, Same Range As Gas Model

May. 28, 2018 12:00 PM ET by Mark Stevenson / Comments

You're looking at the future of automotive status symbols.

Earlier this week, the wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle featured the couple trotting out in an electrified E-Type. Built by JLR Special Vehicle Operations, its gasoline engine is replaced with electric components from Rimac, the electric supercar builder. But there are two more things we recently learned about Jaguar's electrified E-Types from Studio Director of Jaguar Production and SVO Vehicles, Wayne Burgess.

Jaguar Land Rover

"I think electric powertrains in classic cars kind of make a lot of sense when you can do it," Burgess said. "We demonstrated a Series I E-Type Roadster with electric power and […] because of the size and lightness of that car, the range of the car was about the same at the one with a petrol engine. The performance was about the same, but probably a little better, especially in acceleration. It handled about the same because the weight of the components was similar." A classic car with an electric drivetrain offering better performance and similar range to the original? Sign us up… and we aren't the only ones wanting such a creation. Burgess believes they will become a status symbol.

"I can see a few of them in Hollywood," Burgess pondered as he exclaimed the green benefits and classic good looks of the electrified E-Types. Before you cry foul about ruining a perfectly good E-Type, the electrified units developed by JLR are modified with care. "The great beauty of it in the case of our E-Type is at some point in the future, if you want to return the car to its original mechanical configuration, you can do," explained Burgess, though it's not likely a buyer would undertake such a project. "Interestingly, the whole thing's been galvanized by this movement to electrification and people realizing it's okay to mess with classic cars. It's like, all of a sudden, well, does it look cool and do you want it?

We've messed with it. Are you still good with that? And people generally say, 'Yeah, I definitely want it.'" Still, these are exclusive creations, so don't expect to be able to roll down to your local Jaguar dealer to buy one anytime soon.