When buyers shop for an electric car, the total driving range often plays a major role in their purchasing decision. Many automakers agree that buyers should not be worried about range anxiety but offering a vehicle that can travel further on a charge certainly can't hurt. The 2020 Jaguar I-Pace currently offers an electric all-wheel-drive producing 394 horsepower and 512 lb-ft of torque with a driving range of 234 miles courtesy of its 90 kWh lithium-ion battery.

This range is about on par with the lowest range Tesla Model X, but the longest range version can travel 328 miles on a charge. Jaguar may not be able to match the Tesla on total range but it does have an update that will make it a closer fight.

According to Electrek, Jaguar will send I-Pace owners an update that will increase their driving range. I-Pace owner Malcolm Bird sent in an email he received about Jaguar's "Range Enhancement Program" for the I-Pace. In the email, Bird was told: "These software enhancements will be provided free of charge and will deliver up to 8% range improvement."

Calculating an 8% increase on the I-Pace's 234-mile range, the SUV should now be able to travel 252.7 miles on a charge. This isn't a world-changing difference but it is pretty impressive for a software update.

Jaguar says the update was developed through the I-Pace e-TROPHY race car development. "Changes to the torque distribution of the permanent all-wheel-drive system will deliver greater efficiency when driving in ECO mode, while refinements to thermal management control will see the active radiator vanes close more often to enhance aerodynamics. The battery will also run to a lower state of charge than previously without affecting driveability, durability, or performance," Jaguar said.

"In addition to the racing-derived enhancements, analysis of real-world data has enabled us to recalibrate the Regenerative Braking system to harvest energy more efficiently when the battery is in a high state of charge and recover more energy at lower speeds. Changes to the predictive range calculation algorithm will deliver a more accurate and consistent estimate of vehicle range while being more reflective of an individual's driving style," Jaguar added.

I-Pace owners will also receive "an updated instrument panel cluster graphics pack which will refresh the appearance of your vehicle's instrument display." The update needs to be installed at the dealership but it should also add the ability for over-the-air software updates, meaning the next big change may not require a trip to the dealer.