Jaguar has finally revealed the Type 01, an all-electric luxury grand tourer that marks a complete break from the modern Jaguar the market has known. The car's arrival follows an unusually long and heavily publicised development period, and it carries the weight of the brand's entire reinvention.
The Type 01 is not merely a new model. It is a new start for its maker, with no link to the Jaguar that buyers have come to recognise. The company has asserted that the previous era of Jaguar had no brand equity, and the new car is intended to establish a fresh identity aimed at wealthy buyers.
Yet the market has changed substantially since the project was first conceived. Going all-electric was in tune with industry sentiment at the start of the 2020s, but Tesla remains the only successful electric-only car company. Most established manufacturers have long since abandoned commitments to go fully electric by a fixed date, and no start-up has managed to replicate Tesla's success. Jaguar will have to buck that established trend, and a bold-looking car alone will not be enough.
The Type 01 has retained much of the dramatic styling of the earlier Type 00 concept. Autocar's editorial team offered mixed assessments. Rachel Burgess praised Jaguar for keeping the final car so close to the bold concept, arguing that between legacy brand cachet and dramatic new looks, it is primed to entice a new era of owners, provided quality and driving dynamics meet expectations.
Felix Page found it difficult to detach the new-era Jaguar from the one that went before, noting that it is easier to think of it as a new company with a familiar name. He described the Type 01 as a proper world-beater but questioned whether a six-figure luxury electric vehicle, of the type that VIP buyers are resolutely not flocking to purchase, can provide strong enough foundations for the marque's commercial renaissance.
Illya Verpraet was more sceptical, arguing that retaining so many concept car features is not necessarily a good thing. He noted that the car is enormous yet does not seem to have much interior space, appears to have barely any tyres, and features tiny windows. He questioned whether it will hold up on real roads and suggested owners may end up treating alloy wheels as a consumable. He also pointed to limited demand for big, expensive electric GTs, and observed that Jaguar has placed the batteries exactly where an engine and gearbox would traditionally sit, rather than exploiting electric propulsion to create more occupant and luggage space.
Ben Summerell-Youde took a different view, saying Jaguar has nailed its «copy of nothing» brief. He described the car as one that buyers will either desperately want or completely reject, with nothing rational about the purchase. The GT's sci-fi looks make a spectacular modern statement, and its brash, monolithic design and massive proportions will be divisive but will command attention wherever it goes.
The cringey marketing campaign that accompanied the Type 00 concept two years ago still lingers in the wider public consciousness. Opinions have been formed, and sentiment towards the car and the reimagined Jaguar brand has not been generally positive. That will need to change, not least to convince the wealthy buyers Jaguar now courts that it is a brand to be seen in.
Time also heals. Previously the discussion concerned a concept and the future; now Jaguar can at last be appraised in the present. The relief that the Type 01 has finally arrived should not obscure the risks still inherent in this relaunch. Decisions taken in one era of the car market may not work in another, and the success of the Type 01 will depend on whether the brand can convert dramatic design into genuine commercial traction.