The Jaguar C-X75 is too much for its time

Jaguar’s C-X75 : XCAR drives the Hybrid Hypercar that never was

Picture the scene: it’s the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the new Bentley Continental GT has been launched; Lotus has announced a stupidly overambitious all-new, five-car lineup; Renault has revealed a concept Zoe EV. It was all good stuff, but nothing that would light your face on fire. Until you got to the Jaguar stand. You see, Jaguar had brought the C-X75 — a concept hypercar that had an all-electric drivetrain and jets to provide the electricity. JETS.

Jaguar said it was going to make it and was set to reenter the supercar market for the first time since the XJ220. The C-X75 looked unlike anything else around and the world wanted Jaguar to make it a reality. It wanted Jaguar to win.

Fast forward a little while and the C-X75 is in development. Gone are the jets and two of the electric motors. Jaguar had teamed up with Williams F1 to develop the car, ensuring the tech inside it would be top notch. Sitting over its spine is a 500 bhp 1.6-litre turbo and supercharged four-cylinder engine, as well as two electric motors which put out just shy of 200 bhp each. That means there’s nearly 900 bhp to play with.

The brief for the C-X75 was pretty complicated. It had to have the same emissions as a Toyota Prius (89g/km), the same electric cruising range as a Chevy Volt (40 miles), Veyron-esque performance, and the same look… [Read more]