- Almost 3,000 Jaguar I-Pace EVs are the subject of a new buyback program
- The automaker’s taking the cars back over issues tied to the SUV’s LG-produced battery pack
- It’s unclear how much the program will cost the company, or if it applies to model outside the U.S.
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Jaguar has launched a campaign in America to buy back nearly 3,000 examples of its I-Pace EV after a litany of complaints and thermal overloads of the battery unit in certain examples from the 2019 model year. According to reports, the brand has agreed to repurchase a total of 2,790 I-Pace EVs.
At issue is a battery pack that has an alleged manufacturing defect thanks to a line issue at the LG facility in which the batteries were assembled. Overheating batteries and potential conflagration have been a problem in 2019 I-Pace crossovers for some spell now, with at least three of the things catching fire even after the company issued a software update to help address the issue under a previous recall.
The most recent recall in America, issued in August ofthis year, covered roughly the same amount of model-year-2019 cars as this new buyback program. A litany of recalls – up to three of them, in fact – attempted to deal with the same issue. There’s no shortage of chatter on Jag forums and owner pages about people seeking recompense for their troubles.
Earlier this year, Jaguar informed owners of these rigs they should park the machine outside in case of fire, while also talking about furnishing an update which would limit the car’s maximum state of charge to 80%. This was not only a temporary band-aid, but also rather unhelpful, given the estimated NRCan driving range on a full battery is just 381 kilometres (236 miles). Stifling that to four-fifths capacity results in roughly 300 clicks (186 miles) of range. Grim.
It should be noted that all information available on this buyback points to the American market, with Canucks left unmentioned. We will reach out to the company on this side of the border and update this post if new information is given. While the company has sloughed off its current lineup of cars in favour of an all-EV lineup to be introduced at a later date, the official build-and-price tool on Jag’s website for this country still shows $110,680 as the I-Pace starting price for an R-Dynamic HSE.
How much will all this cost the company? As for the specific model year in question, there are numerous 2019 I-Pace crossovers on various used car websites for around $35,000, but a higher mileage example is ten grand less, putting it in company with cars originally bearing a much dearer price tag.
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