The all-electric Jaguar I-PACE successfully completed the ‘Everesting Challenge’ by climbing 8,848m – the height of Mount Everest – on a single charge. The performance SUV was driven by Olympic and World champion cyclist, Elinor Barker MBE. The Everesting Challenge is simple, yet extreme: complete a series of runs climbing an incline until achieving an elevation gain of 8,848m – equal to the height of Mount Everest. The popularity of this endurance challenge boomed among cyclists during the pandemic.

The performance SUV climbed, what the cyclists call ‘Britain’s Mont Ventoux’ - a reference to the daunting Alpine Mountain stage in the Tour de France – Great Dun Fell houses some of the highest surfaced roads in the UK. The narrow road has a series of bends and gradients of up to 20% as it climbs 547m from the start point used for the challenge to a peak of 8,848m. Elinor completed 16.2 repetitions of the 5.8km climb (11.6km loop) using the I-PACE's regenerative braking technology to generative approximately 60% of additional available energy over the total of 16 descents. Even after covering 199.6km in total, including an 13km drive to the start point, the I-PACE completed this challenge with 31% battery charge remaining, which is enough to drive 128.7km more. 

“I watched with fascination as cyclists took up the Everesting challenge during lock down – even as a professional rider, it’s a daunting feat of endurance, so I was happy to do it behind the wheel of the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE. When I found out that Jaguar Racing drivers typically need to regenerate 30 per cent of their I-TYPE's battery capacity in a Formula E race, as a competitor I naturally wanted to beat that figure! I’m delighted to have smashed that target – all while enjoying the comfort, silent power delivery and single-pedal driving of the I-PACE" says Elinor Barker MBE. 

The Jaguar I-PACE can accelerate from 0-100km in 4.8 seconds, and has a range of up to 470 km (WLTP). The Pivi Pro navigation system is advanced to locate suitable connections and route data, it can even show if a charger is available or not, what it costs and how long it may take to charge. With a 50kW DC and 100kW DC chargers, the I-PACE only takes around 15 minutes to add 63km and 127km of range respectively. 

Successfully completed the ‘Everesting Challenge’ in a single run, on a single charge, makes the I-PACE a truly exceptional car, all thanks to its regenerative braking technology!