Jaguar unveils new electric car after 'woke' ridicule.
"Jaguar has revealed its new Type 01 electric car two years after its controversial rebranding sparked a backlash with the firm accused of going "woke".
The unveiling of the all-electric Type 01 is a gamble for parent company JLR, which has invested billions reinventing Jaguar and is facing mixed reactions over the new car's design and the brand's all-electric strategy.
The car itself is an imposing four-door "Grand Tourer", with a long bonnet that deliberately harks back to Jaguar's emblematic 1960s E-Type.
But it comes at a hefty price tag with a minimum cost of £130,000 in the UK and $130,500 in the US.
The new model's electric motors are potent, producing about 1000 horsepower and allowing it to accelerate from 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds. JLR says it has a range, at "sustained highway speed", of up to 320 miles.
The company describes it as the "most technically advanced, powerful and aerodynamic Jaguar ever engineered".
However, the unveiling of the Type 01 on Tuesday was met with mixed reactions on social media.
"Looks like a Cybertruck and a Bentley Continental had an illegitimate child," Facebook user Ken Katch said, referring to the Tesla pick-up, known for its divisive design.
(At 2 metres wide and 5.2 metres long it is too big to fit into any standard UK car parking space).
Craig Kinnersley, who runs a luxury car consultancy, wrote on LinkedIn that the new design was an "unmitigated catastrophe" that looked like a hearse and lacked any "memorable Jaguar flourish".
But car journalist Steve Fowler said the Type 01 looked "incredible" and made him "proud to be British".
The GT is expected to be the first of three new electric designs from Jaguar.
JLR has since parted ways with the agency behind the rebranding campaign, and the company also has a new chief executive.
But the future of Jaguar itself still hangs in the balance.
"I think it really is a last throw of the dice," says journalist Steve Fowler. "JLR has struggled to make serious money with Jaguar in the past, and that's what it's all about."
https://www.bbc.co.u...s/c6je50ydld31o
