Electric shock: Jaguar creates zero-emission E-type
Barn-find roadster restored and re-engineered to become world's most unlikely Tesla Roadster rivalJaguar has shocked (and angered) purists by re-engineering its iconic E-type roadster as a pure-electric sports car.
Revealed at the Jaguar TechFest conference in London overnight, the new battery-powered E-type is the work of an 18-month restoration and conversion by Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) Classic Works.
Called the E-type Zero, the zero-emissions roadster comes powered by a 220kW electric motor that ensures it's quicker than the original, taking just 5.5 seconds to hit 100km/h.
Top speed, meanwhile, is claimed to match the original's 250km/h.
Powered by a 40kWh lithium-ion battery, the 1960s Jag comes with a range of more than 270km.
Cleverly, the battery cells are placed in the same space that has been vacated by the 1968 E-type's 3.8-litre six-cylinder engine, while the electric motor occupies the space where the old four-speed manual lived.
Instead of a gearbox, power is transmitted along the standard car's prop-shaft to a single reduction gear in the rear axle.
In the boot, the pure-electric powertrain's inverter and electronics are packaged.
Sharing some parts with the forthcoming i-PACE, insiders at Jaguar were at pains to say the electric conversion was carried out on a particularly rotten barn-find E-type that had been left to decay, and that an original, unrestored car was not sacrificed to create the E-type Zero.
It was rmoured to have cost more than £300,000 ($A500,000) to produce,
Jaguar claims it has already received interest from prospective buyers and, if there is enough demand, Jaguar Land Rover Classic could produce a small batch of cars for customers, including those from Australia, an insider has confirmed.
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