Moving the factory to Germany would help. Then Jaguars would be German.
Around here the default setting for buying a higher end car is BMW, Merc, Audi and Porsche pretty much in that order.
All German of course which is the attraction, lots of kudos attached. Very few buyers are really car minded or get oil on their hands but they have money and they buy German because if it is German then it is sehr gut. The actual level of German content may be questionable but the brand name says it all.
Jaguar ? See very few recent ones. JRL has a hard time digging itself out of a rut. The Land/Range Rover part does reasonably well but the Jaguar part seems a spent force which is a pity.

 

Over here when you've arrived you buy a $100K pickup truck. Don't see all that many sedans anymore unless they are cheap or a Tesla.
That's the mid-west of the USA though, but far as I know pickup trucks have been outselling everything for ages here. Big market, the US.


I introduced my pretty sharp 19yo step daughter who daily drives a 1993 Volvo 240, to my XJS awhile ago.
She was amused with it and agreed it was beautiful but finally said after some time with a furrowed brow "who or what is this car even made for?"
I found it amusing and a reasonable question from her position.

Someone mentioned young people and older cars a bit ago. I tagged along with my 70something Father to his Corvair Club meeting the other week,
they were pretty thrilled to see someone under 60 there and politely but noticeably asking if I was going to join up and buy one. I suspect it's not an
uncommon problem, not only are old cars expensive in both money and effort but the time it takes to learn what one needs to be able to get anywhere
with an old car is a long way from what kids are taught anymore. It's a very real question what's going to happen in a few decades when we all die off to a lot of older cars that aren't nice
enough to end up in a museum or collection but too nice to just junk.

 

The question is: when will she ask to borrow it for a date? 😂 Then she will answer her own question.

 

"I introduced my pretty sharp 19yo step daughter who daily drives a 1993 Volvo 240, to my XJS awhile ago.
She was amused with it and agreed it was beautiful but finally said after some time with a furrowed brow "who or what is this car even made for?"

Here is the offical reply:

It is a Grand Touring car, which means it is for you and your partner to climb into and drive, fast, quietly, stylishly, and in perfect comfort, with your luggage in unrestricted volume, to a destination hundreds of miles away, and at which you will have the time of your life. Drawing meanwhile the admiration and wistful envy of all who see you.

 

Yeah, I told her that, she'd never heard of a grand touring car of course. I don't think that's really a thing that happens anymore, at least over here, with young people.
She said it "sat weird", was really low and hard to get in and out of, other cars headlights blinded you, giant pickup trucks were
even scarier, it was weirdly small inside to be so long (though she was fine since she's little), but it was very pretty.
And she thought the wood was neat.

Mouths of babes and all that I guess.

I thought it was interesting. To her credit she's not looking for self-driving and infotainment even now that she has a few years of driving under her belt,
most of it in that pretty plain jane old Volvo. But she was puzzled over the XJS. Most of the "puzzling" aspects are what makes it unique
and interesting of course. I suspect she'd like an older XJ6, it being a hair more "normal".

 

If we are serious about that question the point becomes even sharper. Look at where our oil comes from now. The North Atlantic? From a multi billion dollar drill platform. Or the desert or Jungle Hauled, by an expensive and complex oil tanker to be taken into some port someplace? To be sent to some refinery to be refined into a useable product . Then shipped to the neighborhood gas station where you go get it and bring it home. Costing over? $100 to fill?
Or solar panels on your roof that create power for your faster EV. That you plug in when you get home and unplug with a full tank at the start of every day. Even on cloudy days some electricity is created. Once paid for panels provide electricity basically free. With a 20+ year life.
Our Jaguars are a wonderful bit of history of a time that isn’t going to come back. While we can use them now. They are desired now, but our grandchildren?

 

I suppose we're as guilty as anyone yet to come of only being interested in old things up to a point. The Model T is arguably
the most important and influential automobile ever made but how many of us want to actually own and regularly drive one?
I'm glad there are people that do, but not I. The XJS, and most of my other automotive kinks, are things of my era. I like a 57
Chevy as much as the next guy but I don't feel drawn to it in particular. I drove Father out to a show to pick up his 63
Corvair turbo that the local club had on display to attract attention and hopefully generate interest in the cars and the club.
They are very concerned with finding younger members. I suspect they aren't the only ones.

It's a forgone conclusion that mass consumer use of fossil fuels is going away, the when and how is up for debate though.
They aren't anywhere near where regular folks will switch to electric yet though, one's life and living situation has to
fit the model now, and it must be the other way around. An electric vehicle today is as much an enthusiast endeavor
as an XJS is, and that's probably normal and fine. To be frank most people aren't smart enough to plan ahead
and charge a car battery such that it will not interrupt their lives. It would be a bloody circus as things stand right now.

There's also the question of what will happen to the countries whose economy is built on providing the world
fossil fuels when the money ceases to flow. I'm thinking a lot of anger and violence will be the end result unless
steps are taken. Rather not live to see that either.

As for the questioning teenager, she would lose her mind if she had to mix remembering to charge her car and factoring range
into whatever she's up to on a given day. Learning how to "adult" isn't easy for a lot of kids. Most of them seem to get it
before they are 30. Most. The tech will accommodate eventually, we moved past hand cranks to start and manual oil pumps
for the valvetrain too after a bit.

 

The fossil fuel producers will be fine, everyone except the woke west will refuse to i;poverish themselves and keep on using it. That is why Saudi Arabia is pivioting to China and the BRICS.

 

You are right it’s expected to take a decade from now until there is 50% of the vehicles electric. With Tesla’s proposed $25,000 New EV Minus the $7500 rebate perhaps it will actually be achieved. That means a new car will sell for $18,500 !! 300 mile range and 15 minutes to add another 150 range to it.
As for getting your granddaughter to plug in the charger, it’s a 30 sec job now. Only slightly more time than it will take to close the door after they get out.
In the event she needs to charge the car, the video game in the center will tell her how far it is before she runs out and where the nearest charger is. In Much of England they are already only a few miles apart. 15 miles is a stretch.
Here in America we are slightly behind but they are going up like popcorn. Besides AAA will come out and provide a charge, forcing her to wait an hour or more. ( and giving her a point to complain about in her tweets which is how her friends will actually learn)

 

My decades of dealing with the automotive public have left me somewhat less optimistic I'm afraid.

 

Sorry Mguar, you are misinformed. Finding a charger that works, let alone one that fits your car, is a nightmare in the UK. The charging network is very very poor. There are a great many regretful EV owners and sales are falling as a result. Those that are selling are company cars, not private purchases.

 

We had a really really cold snap this past winter here in Oklahoma City. Not that this is a huge city as far as such goes, but it's not a small town either by any stretch. My Wife showed me a thread
that had started on Reddit of Tesla owners that were parked in a line trying to get charged since the cold had zapped the battery capacity and half the chargers in the city were either broken
or had no power. It did not look like a good time.

There it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge...the_entire_15/

I'll grant you a lot of places are likely less oil focused economically and more keen on the uptake. I do see a boat load of Tesla's here though.
But there's going to have to be a heck of a lot of work and engineering and management done to keep this from happening.

 

My neighbors with EV’s almost never need to plug in anyplace but home. That is where the cost of electricity is lowest. And you can recharge the battery the slowest ( which adds significantly to the life of the battery). Here in America most homes and a lot of apartments have garages and since the average American drives 12,000 miles a year, which is 32 miles a day, even the shortest range car has many multiples of 32 miles range.
The Chevy Bolt has a 270 mile range while the Nissan Leaf has a 245 mile range. If due to cold weather their range is reduced severely they still have plenty of mileage left.
It’s true that Tesla’s have 3-400+ miles of range and it takes only 15 minutes to add another 150 miles to that. We are starting to get into more than a days worth of driving.
As a professional traveling salesman it would be extremely easy for me to be just as productive traveling 65,000 miles a year. On a gas car that averages 22 mpg that’s over $ 12,000 for gasoline and and about $2400 in electricity.

While that may happen occasionally most people once they get more than a few hundred miles from home, fly rather than spends days driving.

 

There are an additional 250,000 charging stations being added in rest stops and on Federal highways . Plus Warren Buffet just invested a big chunk of money ( hundreds of millions) in a Company that will be adding charging stations to gas stations all over the country.
Right now, less than 1% of vehicles in the roads are EV’s. It’s not expected to reach 50% for another 10 years!!!!!
So yes there are all sorts of Newbies confused and can’t figure out how to use the chargers. Trying to use a Tesla Super charger on their Nissan or Chevy. Or trying to pay cash when an account needs to be set up. Etc.
They just started standardizing all that stuff this year.
This is really the first year EV’s account for 1% of sales. Yes it’s true there are some who deliberately ruin chargers. Because they like to roll Coal or vandalize things. Want everyone to drive a Ford ICE Pickup. ETC.

 

Greg in France. Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer is China. But Saudi Arabia’s biggest supplier of weapon systems and the only Country That came to defend Saudi Arabia when Iraq attacked was the United States. Iran is a real threat to Saudi Arabia. The question is no longer if they go to war but when.

 

I'm sure it'll all work itself out eventually, but it's going to take a loooooong time unless everything goes way better than every other endeavor mankind takes on.
At least in the USA. The coasts and cities can do shortish range(pretty ideal for urban areas really as long as you can charge em), a lot less so the interior where things are spread out.
One of the problems, and strengths, with this country is from state to state and often even inside a given state, the living experience can be drastically different.
We've all seen what happens when you try to tow with an EV pickup currently, that's going to go over like a ton of bricks with one of the largest sections of folks buying new vehicles.
Even if they don't use them for anything, pickups are a huge seller here.
Another issue is, most stuff on the road is used cars, 12ish years old is the figure I generally see. If you figure there are 200 million cars on the road here, and 1 mil new ones sold a year,
that sounds like a long time to get much in the way of market saturation regardless of how much of the new ones that are selling are EV's or not. I think we're going to see used gas cars
and trucks on the road for a very, very long time unless gasoline dries up somehow. I'd love to have an EV, to remove the drivetrain and put it in something I'd actually like to drive, batteries
aren't there yet though.

I look forward to observing it all
myself, it's going to be a heck of a comedy show for awhile.

 

I see it working flawlessly here in Minnesota. Yes you need to pick an EV with your maximum daily range. But even as a traveling salesman who covered 65,000+ miles a year it would work.
Averaging 250 miles a day with cars capable of 400 +, plus a 15 minute charge adds another 150 miles of range.
Potential savings of over $10,000 a year in fuel costs and another $1,000 a year in oil changes. That is considerable. Plus according to neighbors the regenerative braking means brakes don’t ever wear out. Some of them are well over 200,000 miles on the original brakes.
I’m semi Retired and 50 miles a day is my max.
But the ability with a basic Chevy Bolt of 270 miles / day. Means it will cover all my needs without any real costs. ( they start for a new one at $18,500 after rebate)
Tesla’s S is in the fastest class for Autocross and I understand That’s a winner!!! The S plaid is busy beating up on all the Corvettes and such in drag racing. I hear it’s not even close.

 

If it works for a given person, it works. Lot of people couldn't stand driving an XJS either, but we can. Situation, preference and perspective.
I've worked from home for years and I drive about 90 miles every weekend round trip so technically most any of them would be sufficient.
But I can't think of any reason to bother as long as fuel is under eight or ten bucks a gallon and available.

Comparing electric stuff and gas stuff power is about like comparing an XJS v12 to a modern car, fairly apples and oranges.
I'm a "built not bought" kinda guy so none of that off the showroom floor stuff is of much interest really. If it's not 20 years old with
a quarter million miles under its belt it's like a young woman to me, pretty and of some utility to be sure, but ultimately not very interesting.

 

Brilliant analogy. True for me too.

 

Well said Wolf. My Daily driver is either my 1953 MGTD or my 1972 Jaguar XJ12 ( yes I know the factory didn’t make an V12 until 73 but that doesn’t mean I can’t).
However my Wife wants one •••• yes, Happy wife, happy life)
The nice thing is the few times mechanics touch my neighbors Tesla’s they come to their home. Most “service work” is done on line while it’s being charged.
While I have a few Jaguars my real love is Vintage sports car racing. ( Jaguars). I’m building a Group 44 tribute XJS V12 now and next will be a series 1 XKE with the rare V12 option ;-)