I just called the two local dealers. When I asked the receptionist that I wanted information about the I-pace, the first one specially had no clue what I was talking about. She was not even aware that it was a new car. The first sales guy told me it was in November and he could take my order. When I asked him how long it would take, he said it would take about 3-4 months. He told me that all the cars they were getting were pre-sold and they may have a show room model for test drives when they got the first delivery. The second dealer salesperson was a little more informed and told me that the scheduled date for the first car to be delivered was around mid November, that a $5,000 deposit was required for new orders, and any new orders would take about 4 months to deliver (February 2019) and he was pretty firm about that time line (it will not happen till Feb 2019). Between the two dealers they had about 10 orders. If Jaguar has about 250-300 dealers, with an average of 5-8 orders each (Arizona may not be the biggest market), we are talking between 1250 to 2500 cars that have pre-ordered and will be delivered over 3 months. That means we can expect about say about 600-700 cars sold per month for the first three months. If Jaguar can do it, it will be good start but a long ways to go before they can pose a threat to Tesla. Both the sales people had to search their records to find the status, which could indicate the dealers are still in the wait and see mode. I am not sure if that is the same situation in other dealerships.
Also for the I-Pace Road Show, they have one going on in San Francisco right now and the next one is in Miami in November 8-11th. The Miami event is over 4 days while the San Francisco started on Wednesday and goes on till this Sunday (5 days). They were supposed to have it in 4 cities including New York and Los Angles, dates for which have not been announced yet. That again to me is an indicator to me that Jaguar is not ready to push the I-Pace hard yet, as if they did they would be announcing dates for LA and NY. Yesterday when I checked it, reservations for Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco were full but today when I checked, they had opened some new slots early in the morning. So clearly there is some demand to see the car if they had to start earlier Curious if anyone on this forum has actually gone to the roadshow and test driven a car. Would be interested in knowing their experiences. https://www.jaguarusa.com/electrification/jaguar-electrifies/index.html
That delivery/availability info seems to line up with what I'm seeing. Regarding the Jaguar Electrifies Experience tour, a couple people left impressions in the comments of our last post about it. Here's one from "Mike," if you'll excuse the off-topic detour: "I went to the iPace event today in San Mateo and here’s what I experienced. Inside a large exhibition hall, quite dark with dramatic lighting, black curtains everywhere and event hosts in black outfits, were samples of Jaguar’s current offerings and a separate area with a display of several iPace’s. I found this display approach a bit curious as it was so dark you couldn’t really get a good look at these vehicles. So, I figured I’d get a better look outside and expedited myself to the back of the hall where the line formed to take the test drives. The line was long so I’d recommend not wasting a lot of time in the display areas if you are time constrained. They had two driving options available. One in a parking lot area set up with traffic cones so you could practice maneuvering and handling the iPace in a not-so-real-world situation. A second area had a selection of various Jaguar vehicles (including some hot F-Types) ready for street drives. I ignored the cone option and went straight for a street drive in an iPace. After seeing all the reports, photos and videos of this vehicle, I was ready to lust after it, but my impression of the iPace was mixed. Visually, it’s an absolutely wonderful looking machine with a terrific interior, but that sleekness comes at a price. I currently drive an Audi Q5 and the iPace felt just a bit cramped. That said, I’m sure the smaller size is something I could get used to. Dynamically, the iPace has all the EV blast-off you’d expect, though another driver I talked to said he felt his Tesla has better acceleration. The ride was a bit on the stiff side but not too objectionable. What I found almost disqualifying was the almost non-existent view out the back window, which I feel would constitute a genuine safety hazard. The test drive was very short so forming a real opinion was difficult. All-in-all, it was an enjoyable event, executed well by a profession staff and they even offered food & drink, which was a nice touch. Bottom line, would I buy one? Still thinking about it."