The Jaguar I-Pace forums are a truly fascinating place to peruse and then realize how much people love their cars and how much agony they will endure making those beloved cars function like a car is supposed to function. From the annoying noises that many owners find both mystery and misery locating, to defining how many hours they leave pulled-fuses out before returning them to their receptacles, the forums show ingenuity combined with desperation and faith.

We Love Its Looks

We love the looks of the I-Pace. It’s not a car that’s easy to define, and that’s great. Is it an SUV? A sedan? It’s a Jaguar, so would some call it a sports car? It doesn’t matter, the Ian Callum design looks fantastic with its short overhangs and undefinable presence. 

But electric technology can be baffling when your I-Pace won’t start, you can’t shut off the radio, or the information screen remains off for days at a time; in spite of reboots, then it magically returns overnight. You follow what the service rep tells you over the phone, or leave your car with the dealer for a week, then have the issue return on the way home. Yes, these are actual shared experiences from I-Pace forums.

Only One Recall So Far

So far Jaguar has deemed it necessary to do a single recall, but it’s a doozy. Brakes would sometimes not engage for a split second, or longer. So Jaguar recalled all I-Pace EVs to add a software fix. Unfortunately, Jaguar couldn’t do it virtually, so instead, owners needed to return them to dealers.

Usually, one’s last resort is either taking your car to the dealership or having it towed there when it is completely dead, in spite of being charged for days. But with the I-Pace that’s a problem because it seems that you might not be reunited with your car for weeks and that your loaner might not even be a Jaguar at all.

One I-Pace owner was loaned a Hyundai Tiburon for weeks at a time while desperate dealer technicians tried to repair his dead I-Pace. A Tiburon may be a fine automobile, but it’s not a Jag.

Buyers Remorse

Buyers remorse? Yeah, there seems to be some. There are a few going through a process for replacement of their $90,000 I-Pace, while others are actively seeking Lemon Law restitution. In each case, it’s a very sad end to what seemed like a wonderful EV journey with a fantastic-looking automotive full of new technology and visual delights. And it’s a Jaguar, an iconic, romantic automobile manufacturer in business for over 80 years.

If it’s been around that long, Jaguar’s not some upstart Silicon Valley startup; It’s a real, true car manufacturer, right? 

But it’s how far down the rabbit hole one is willing to travel that is truly amazing to read about when an owner finds himself continually faced with the same buggy issues he thought were behind him. The stories and examples are frustrating to read as you can imagine yourself in the same predicament trying to keep your baby running, telling yourself you didn’t, couldn’t have made a $90,000 mistake. That it’s only your car that is having these repeated issues, not the whole lot of them.

But while we are sure many I-Pace EVs are performing as intended, reading the forums gives the impression this is a doomed vehicle. Owners must wonder if it won’t be long before Jaguar recalls them all, returns their money, and hopes there won’t be a class-action lawsuit in the billions. Is this why GM destroyed all of its EV-1 cars?

Can Jaguar Resolve I-Pace Problems?

We hope Jaguar can resolve these problems in part because, as we said earlier, we really do like the I-Pace. We also hope owners are dealt a rewarding experience reinforcing their purchase decision. 

Hopefully, future EVs such as the upcoming J-Pace will be more thoroughly vetted to avoid the angry, frustrating, desperate posts on forums meant for extolling the joys and thrills of EV ownership.