Back in 2006, BMW introduced so many powertrain and chassis modes for its M5 performance sedan?279 combinations in all?that it turned off enthusiasts, including many loyal to the brand.
When we asked Wolfgang Ziebart, technical design director and the executive who oversaw Jaguar I-Pace development, why there are only two modes in the British automaker?s new electric vehicle for brake regeneration (low and high) and creep (on and off), he pointed to something that reminded us of BMW?s experience. The entire project?s philosophy, he explained, is focused around an interface that should be intuitive and choices that have an obvious purpose.
?It would have been an easy job for us to make everything adjustable,? Ziebart said. ?The very simple reason [we didn?t] is that we learned from the smartphone?any complexity which goes beyond what the normal customer is ready to handle is useless.?
Outside the two choices for regen and creep, there are just the typical Eco, Normal, and Sport/Dynamic modes, which each has its own accelerator and steering calibration (Eco also affects the climate control).
With the regeneration set to low and creep on, the I-Pace behaves much like a conventional gasoline vehicle. But with the high brake-regen mode and no creep selected you get quite the opposite?single-pedal driving in which you might rarely need to dab the brake pedal. In that high-regen mode the I-Pace decelerates at up to 0.2 g, and it still has another 0.2 g available when you use th...