Jaguar says it has taken 350 deposits for its pure-electric I-PACE SUV more than 12 months ahead of the Tesla-rival going on sale.
As revealed last week on motoring.com.au, out of the 350 deposits, six were placed by Australian buyers who expect to receive their cars in the middle of 2018.
As well as the announcement of the early expressions of interest from buyers all over the world, the British premium car maker has released pictures of the I-PACE concept it will unveil on March 7.
Painted in a new Photon Red colour, Jaguar says the car it plans to reveal will not be the production model. That car will be revealed later in 2017.
Despite this, it's thought most of the late concept's design features are expected to carry over to the final car.
Set to sell in Australia for around $120,000 (before on-road costs), the I-PACE originally broke cover at the LA motor show last November.
Since then it has also been spotted being tested on public roads.
Judging by the concept, the production I-PACE will be marginally smaller than the F-PACE – by about 50mm in length, 90mm in height and 40mm in width.
Inside, Jaguar claims the I-PACE will offer more rear legroom than a BMW 7-Series, hinting at a substantially longer wheelbase than the current F-PACE.
The difference in wheelbase is down to the pure-electric SUV being based on an all-new aluminium architecture that's been created specifically for pure-electric JLR vehicles and allows engineers to significantly lower the centre of gravity by mounting the battery packs low in the car.
The I-PACE is powered by two compact electric motors that, combined, produce 295kW/700Nm, and draw power from a 90kW/h lithium-ion battery offering a range of more than 500km.
Against the clock the I-PACE will hit 100km/h in less than 4.0 seconds and top out at around 250km/h.
Charging, meanwhile, takes approximately two hours when using a 50kW DC charging system. A quicker 80 per cent charge should be accomplished in 90 minutes.