Saar: The low-slung two-seater will receive the powertrain from Jaguar’s only pure electric vehicle in production today – the I-Pace.

British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed that the iconic E-Type will be resurrected as a pure-electric sports car. The company said it was overwhelmed with the positive response it received for the E-Type Zero Concept from September last year. Hence, the Tata-owned brand decided to take the concept, tone it down for production feasibility and launch it as a pure-electric E-Type for car connoisseurs around the world.

JLR has confirmed that the zero-emissions E-Type will borrow the powertrain prowess from the I-Pace, which is currently the only pure electric car the company makes. And the job to put everything together without ruining the essence of the original E-Type will be taken up by an internal division called as the Jaguar Classic. The responsible team will offer tailor-made, restored E-Types which will be powered by electricity alone. The electric E-Type will be put together at the Classic Works facility in Coventry, UK.

The company has also said that it will offer a conversion service for existing E-Type owners. And to preserve the authenticity of the original car, the EV (electric vehicle) conversion will be fully reversible. The confirmed set of technical specifications and pricing details have yet to surface. However, JLR said that it is likely to start the delivery of the first batch of electric E-Type cars from the summer of 2020. That’s less than two years from now.

While it is a bummer that we don’t have any confirmed details about the pure electric E-Type, we can, however, take some learnings from the E-Type Zero Concept. It is powered by a 40kWh battery, which can be recharged in six to seven hours, depending on the power source. This right here is a worry because the battery pack doesn’t seem to feature fast-charging capability. That said, it could very well feature in the production-ready specimen. Total range on a single charge? Well, Jaguar Classic is targeting it to be north of 275km (approximately).

To ensure that the electric E-Type delivers the same sort of driving dynamics as the original Series 1 E-Type from the 1960s, Jaguar has done something pretty remarkable. The lithium-ion battery pack has the same dimensions and similar weight to the standard E-Type’s 6-cylinder petrol XK engine. What’s more, the battery pack is located at the same location. The electric motor is placed just behind the battery pack, at the same location as the original car’s gearbox.

Inside the cabin, the E-Type Zero Concept gets modified instrumentation and an optional touchscreen infotainment system. The old-school headlights have also been upgraded to house LEDs. By minimising the number of changes in this conversion story, Jaguar claims that the electric E-Type drives and handles like the original car.