2024 Audi-e-tron vs 2024 Jaguar I-Pace: Head to Head
By James Diaz
| Updated 3 Days Ago
The Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace came early to the luxury electric SUV market. Each is a great car. Here we put them head to head.
Electric luxury from two great marques
Luxury petrol and diesel SUVs have been with us for years now. There is a huge market for a discerning buyer. But we are now entering the age of luxury electric SUVs, and the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-Pace are two top end alternatives to traditional gas guzzlers. Just about any car maker you can think of is putting out high-end electric SUVs. It will soon be difficult to find a grand marque that does not have an electric option. Audi, Jaguar, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, and even Asian brands that are seeking luxury credentials, like Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Hyundai are chasing the bigger spending customers after electric luxe driving.
The Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace came pretty early to the challenge and they are both still more than worth serious consideration. Let’s check them out.
Brand, budget and criteria
Your choice will perhaps largely come down to brand preference and your budget, as both SUVs provide excellent performance and, all in all, a similar level of spec. But we want to help you get a fuller feeling for both these cars, without the salesman’s hype, so let’s look at them ‘grille to grille’ across key areas – price, performance, reliability, safety, comfort, space, quality and design. If you’re spending big on luxury, you want to know you’re spending well.
Price
Winner: Audi e-tron
This is not a poor man’s market, and to get either of these cars you’ll have to splash out a bit. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s the Audi that comes in cheaper, with the entry model around $500 cheaper than the Jaguar. The MSRP for both models is, however, similar, and starts at around $71,000.
Be aware that the Jaguar is generally specced better than the Audi at lower price model equivalents. To get some of the goodies that come as standard on the Jaguar I-Pace will cost extra with the Audi e-tron, and you could easily rack the Audi up to nearer $90,000 if you went for the lot. That said, the Jaguar is less flexible in enabling driver choice, and has fewer options, and for many drivers in this market choice matters. The Audi e-tron therefore offers you a more flexible pricing structure and is arguably more transparent about its pricing.
The Audi e-tron therefore wins this round by a small margin.
Reliability
Winner: Not Yet Known – but Jag warranty is a tad better
We can’t yet call, but we are confident both will prove reliable options. Neither the 2024 Audi e-tron or the 2024 Jaguar I-Pace have yet been given a J.D. Power ranking, so the normal full reliability comparison we usually offer on our ‘Head to Heads’ isn’t yet possible. Be reassured, though, that both models are offered with good warranty coverage, as you’d expect in this market. The Jaguar pips the Audi on that front.
Audi will give you a four-year/50,000-mile limited warranty and an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty on the e-tron. That’s good value. But the Jaguar covers the I-Pace with a five-year/60,000-mile limited warranty and an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty, while also offering five years, or 60,000 miles, of complimentary scheduled maintenance. That last point is likely to prove a big saving over time and indicates Jag’s confidence in the car.
Legally, car manufacturers must offer at least an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on EV and hybrid batteries under federal law. Reassuring for us all.
Seat Comfort
Winner: A tie
This was a hard call, and ultimately we couldn’t make it! Both SUVs offer great comfort.
Audi has equipped the e-tron with its customarily lavish interior style, which includes leather upholstery and heating for the front seats. Both rows offer comfortable padding that conveys luxury. The rear seat bench is a strength, and is notably nicely shaped and cleverly supportive.
The I-Pace interior is also very handsome and features Jag’s Windsor leather upholstery with heating and cooling for the front row.
Both SUVs bring seating for five, but taller passengers may find limited headroom in the rear, partly as a casualty of the sleek roof design on both SUVs, which undeniably affects interior headroom and also cargo space.
Cargo Space
Winner: Audi e-tron
The Audi wins by a notable margin here. The e-tron gives you 28.5 cubic feet of space with the back seats upright and 56.5 cubic feet with them folded down. That’s a bit larger than the I-Pace, which manages just 25.3 and 53.6 cubic feet. It may not sound a lot, but it’s visible.
Both SUVs offer a very good load-in height, but it is a pity that each loses out at the roof end of the cargo space, where aerodynamic exterior designs impede more awkward loads from getting as much space as they might need. Larger or more bizarre loads may find it a difficult fit. That said, for most loads these cars will offer enough family space.
Interior Quality
Winner: Audi e-tron
It’s the Audi e-tron again that takes the palm. Its interior features a tasteful and classically Audi upscale mix of materials, fabrics, colors and feel. This is a car with luxury textures. Depending on the configuration, you can choose between a good number of color schemes. Brown, black and gray are offered, and Audi will bring contrasting stitching color to the leathers. The cabin is a beautiful place to be.
The I-Pace’s cabin is also warmly and richly impressive. It, too, has high-end leather upholstery and interesting design choices for the center console and dash. The cabin construction is top quality and excellent noise insulation – maybe even better than the Audi e-tron – give it a private and nicely cocooned feeling.
Unfortunately for Jaguar, though the cabin feels beautifully quiet, the Audi snatches a tight victory in this area because of the I-Pace’s occasional cheap plastics in the cabin.
Interior Features
Winner: Audi e-tron
Both SUVs are luxurious, let’s be clear. They have luxe features and juicy tech, but the e-tron offers a few niceties that Jag can’t match. The e-tron comes standard with quad-zone climate control, 10.1 inch and 8.6 inch touch screens, and much more.
The I-Pace also has dual touch screens, but its lower screen measures just 5.5 inches, which looks comparatively small nowadays. The Jaguar also misses quad-zone climate control, offering just dual-zone instead. If you want to upgrade to that on the Jag, it’ll cost you as an option.
Acceleration
Winner: Jaguar I-Pace
The zero to 60 margin of victory here for Jaguar is larger than we expected.
The Audi e-tron features two electric motors and a 95-kWh battery that offer 355 horsepower. If you plant the car in Boost mode you get up to 402 bhp, and this will zoom you to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds.
The Jaguar I-Pace is also loaded with two electric motors, but its bhp is greater, coming in at 394 horsepower, and it will get you from zero to 60 in just 4.5 seconds. At these speeds this is a big margin.
Range
Winner: A Tie
We’re not yet in the age of great range for electric SUVs. Neither SUV offers a fantastic figure here, but the Jaguar is slightly better.
Audi promises a 226-mile range for the standard e-tron. To be honest, this is way off where other marques sit, such as Tesla, Kia and Hyundai. Using Level 3 charging, the e-tron can charge to 80% in about 30 minutes. This is also slow, by comparison with other brands.
The I-Pace is rated at 234 miles per charge, also far short of Tesla and others, but obviously a tad better than the e-tron. However, it takes longer to get to that 80% charge, and you will need to set aside 40 minutes.
For neither car is this area a strength.
Ride and Handling
Winner: A Tie
Both these SUVs are good driver cars. That’s to be expected given their price. Both offer standard air suspension systems that provide sharp handling while managing to maintain a comfortable and cosseted ride. They both benefit from low-mounted battery packs that help improve their center of gravity and handling. Clever design.
That said, both the I-Pace and e-tron are tuned more for comfort than thrilling performance.You are not buying a SUV like this for sheer racing ability. Neither offers a spectacular driving experience, so if it is a punchy and thrilling drive you are after, these are not your models. But they certainly do what they set out to do very well, which is to be lux-end SUVs.
Safety
Winner: Audi e-tron
The e-tron earned a Top Safety Pick+ designation from the Institute for Highway Safety in 2022, its last year tested. This makes it hard to beat here. It comes standard with a great list of options. Forward collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, parking sensors and automatic high beams are all offered.
Jaguar is a lower-volume manufacturer than Audi, so its full product line is not tested like others. Be aware, that’s not an indication of its vehicles’ overall safety. This is still a very safe car and it comes standard with a great list of safety features. Automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, driver-attention monitoring. This is a good safety spec, but we give the victory to Audi’s e-tron, by a small margin.
And the Winner Is?
Audi e-tron
The Audi e-tron took its wins in some central categories. It wins in Price. It wins in Safety. And it wins in Interior Features. Certainly at the entry levels, this is the car that offers more striking value and a greater range of standard luxury features. It meets our expectations of what a luxury-end electric SUV should look and feel like in 2024.
The Jaguar I-Pace is also a superb car. And if it’s acceleration and slightly better range that matter to you, you will go with the I-Pace. But in this market we feel the most important thing is the overall feeling of upper end spec and interior luxury that a SUV conveys, along with its ride and sense of comfort, with power always there when you need it. On those grounds, Jaguar loses out to Audi by a small margin.
Remember – there’s massive competition in this segment of the market. Use the site to check out multiple brands and other SUVs that offer great comfort, better range, and that are notably cheaper.