2019 Jaguar E-PACE

2019 is the second model year of the first-generation X540 and carries the powertrains over from 2018, though the launch-only First Edition is gone. The volume P250 trims use the 246-hp 2.0L Ingenium turbo four, which sits mid-pack for the subcompact luxury class.

The P250's 269 lb-ft arrives low in the rev range and is competitive with the German 2.0T rivals.

Jaguar quotes 6.7 seconds for the P250, which is class-average. The roughly 4,000-lb curb weight blunts the turbo four, and MotorTrend's instrumented test of a 2019 P250 SE ran 7.8 seconds.

The Ingenium four is gruff when worked hard and shows low-rpm turbo lag and a sluggish step-off given the car's weight. It trails the smoother 2.0T engines from BMW and Audi, and there is no mild-hybrid assist to smooth the stop-start system.

The ZF 9-speed automatic is smooth when cruising but slow to kick down. It hesitates and hunts in stop-and-go traffic.

A 3,968-lb braked rating is strong for the subcompact luxury class, where many rivals are rated at 3,500 lb or below.

AWD is standard on every US 2019 E-PACE and comes with JaguarDrive Control terrain modes. The P300 adds Active Driveline torque vectoring.

About 8 in of ground clearance, Adaptive Surface Response and a 19.7-in wading depth let it handle gravel and snow. There is no low range, no lockers and no off-road trim, so like the rest of its class it is built for pavement.

US buyers get two outputs of the same 2.0L turbo four, the P250 and the P300, with no hybrid of any kind. The diesels sold elsewhere never came to the US, and electrified variants arrived only with the 2021 facelift.

24 MPG combined is below average for a 2.0T AWD subcompact luxury SUV. The P300 drops to 23.

21 MPG city is weak for the class. The heavy curb weight and standard AWD hurt it in stop-and-go driving.

28 MPG highway is mid-pack but trails rivals such as the BMW X1 xDrive28i, which is rated in the low 30s.

The pre-facelift car's tank of about 18.1 gallons (69 L) offsets the mediocre economy and gives a competitive 430-plus miles per fill.

Premium fuel at 24 MPG combined puts the annual cost near the top of the SUV band. The figure is fueleconomy.gov's current estimate at today's EPA premium-price assumption.

Every US 2019 E-PACE requires premium gasoline. There is no regular-fuel, flex-fuel or plug-in option.

NHTSA never published NCAP crash ratings for the 2019 E-PACE. Its 2019 AWD entry reads 'Not Rated' in every overall, frontal, side and rollover field.

IIHS has never crash-tested the E-PACE, so it holds no TSP/TSP+ award and no US crashworthiness results. The only independent structural data is the 2017 Euro NCAP test (5 stars, 86% adult occupant), which does not replace IIHS small-overlap testing.

Every 2019 E-PACE comes standard with forward collision warning, low-speed AEB with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, a driver condition monitor, a rear camera and parking sensors. Blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise were optional on the volume trims; for 2019 they were dropped from standard equipment on the P250 SE and P300 R-Dynamic SE.

Standard AEB is the low-speed variant: it works up to 50 mph, and pedestrian detection works up to 37 mph. High-speed mitigation is optional. IIHS never rated the E-PACE's front crash prevention, and NHTSA's 2019 record does not credit forward-collision warning, so performance is unverified.

Blind-spot monitoring and rear traffic monitor were optional on most 2019 trims and standard only on the top HSE. Blind Spot Assist with steering intervention was an extra-cost option.

Lane-keep assist is standard but works as a corrective nudge, not lane centering. Steering assist comes only with the optional adaptive cruise, and reviewers rate JLR's systems as less polished than German and Volvo rivals.

Stop-and-go adaptive cruise was optional on the 2019 E-PACE and was removed from standard equipment on the SE trims that year. Most cars carry plain cruise with a speed limiter.

No hands-free highway driving system was offered on the 2019 E-PACE or on any Jaguar. Driver assistance stops at hands-on adaptive cruise with steering assist.

LED headlights are standard on most trims, with matrix LEDs and auto high beams on upper trims or as options. IIHS has never rated the E-PACE's headlights, so their performance is unverified against rivals with Good-rated lamps.

The coupe-like roofline, thick C-pillars and small rear window restrict the rear three-quarter view. Front/rear parking sensors and a rear camera are standard, and a 360-degree camera was optional.

LATCH anchors on the outboard rear seats plus top tethers are workable. The compact rear seat and modest door openings make rear-facing seats and three-across fitment tight compared with roomier rivals like the GLB and X1.

Every 2019 E-PACE is a two-row, five-seat SUV. The X540 never offered a third row.

The published 2019 figure of 38.4 in sits in the lower half of the SUV band. Cars without the panoramic roof gain about 0.8 in.

40.1 in of front legroom is at the bottom of the SUV band, so the cockpit is snug for tall drivers.

The measured rear headroom is respectable on paper. The tapering roofline still makes the back seat feel tight for taller adults.

35.1 in of rear legroom is tight. KBB says two adults may feel cramped on long trips, and the X1 and GLB are roomier in back.

It is a strict two-row SUV with no third-row option on any trim, so it scores in the bottom band by rubric.

24.2 cu ft behind the rear seats is below the SUV band floor and trails the XC40, X1 and GLB.

52.7 cu ft with the seats folded is below the SUV band floor and class-trailing in absolute terms.

Door bins and a deep center bin are usable, but the 2019 car predates the 2020 console rework that added storage. It has no wireless charging pad and no underfloor tricks.

The front seats are supportive. The base car gets 8-way power seats, the volume S and SE add leather and more adjustment, and 18-way seats are optional. The firm, short-cushioned rear bench and tight legroom cap the score.

The ride is composed but has a firm edge, and it stiffens further on the 19- and 20-inch wheels the SE and R-Dynamic trims carry. Most cars run passive dampers, so it sits slightly below the class median.

The cabin is reasonably hushed at cruise, but the Ingenium four is gruff under load. The pre-facelift car lacks the extra sound insulation Jaguar added in 2021.

Dual-zone climate is standard. Heated and ventilated seats, a heated wheel and memory seats come from option packs or upper trims, and the 2019 base car still had less seat equipment than the 2020 model.

The 2019 US lineup opens with the P250, which has the 246-hp 2.0T Ingenium, a 9-speed automatic and standard AWD. Base pricing carried over essentially unchanged from the 2018 launch year.

The mid-level P250 SE is taken as the volume configuration, since dealer stock leaned to SE spec with navigation, leather and parking aids. The P300 R-Dynamic trims ran $47,395–$53,845.

Complimentary scheduled maintenance for 5 years/60k miles keeps the first-five-year cost moderate. Repair costs rise steeply once the coverage ends.

Jaguar residuals are among the weakest in the luxury class. A 2019 P250 SE is now about seven years old and worth about 34% of its sticker price, which is consistent with roughly 41% retention at the five-year mark.

EliteCare's 5-year/60,000-mile new-vehicle limited warranty beats the 4-year/50,000-mile coverage of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

The powertrain is covered within the same 5-year/60,000-mile limited warranty, with no longer separate term. That puts it at the bottom of the 5–10-year band.

EliteCare bundles 5 years/60,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, 5-year 24/7 roadside assistance and InControl connected services. That is among the strongest packages in the class: BMW gives 3 yr/36k of maintenance, and Audi and Mercedes give none.

$44,495 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (41% retained, or about $18,243) leaves about $26,252 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,191 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $31,443 in total.

2019 is the second model year of the 2018 X540 generation, a pre-facelift carry-over. Consumer Reports shows no detailed public model-level rating, and the 2019 What Car? reliability survey named the E-PACE the least dependable family SUV on sale. Used-car guides group 2019 with 2018 as years to avoid, though it is less of an outlier than the launch year.

Jaguar and its sister brand Land Rover sat in the bottom tier of the J.D. Power VDS and Consumer Reports brand rankings during this model's run. That is one of the weakest dependability records among luxury makes.

The NHTSA feed matches no recall campaign to MY2019. The 2018 fuel-rail and brake-hose campaigns ended with MY2018, and the airbag, brake-pad-warning and DC-DC converter campaigns start at the MY2021 facelift. Infotainment-freeze and drive-mode complaints carried over from 2018 keep the score in the typical band.

The volume P250 uses the 2.0L Ingenium turbo-four (246 hp) with a ZF 9HP 9-speed automatic. Turbo coolant hose failures and harsh 9-speed shifts recur in owner reports for this year, and the Ingenium has known timing-chain and oil-dilution issues. The 2018 fuel-rail fire-risk defect was fixed before MY2019.

The pre-facelift cabin has decent upper surfaces, but reviewers widely criticized its hard, cheap-feeling lower plastics and dated switchgear against the Audi Q3, Volvo XC40 and BMW X1. The 2021 facelift was aimed at exactly that.

JLR assembly quality trailed the German luxury benchmarks in J.D. Power initial-quality results in 2019. Owners of early E-PACEs report trim rattles, squeaks and electrical gremlins, but no assembly defect reached a MY2019 recall.

Jaguar has roughly 150 US retailers, a thin network next to BMW (~340) and Mercedes-Benz (~380). Its service satisfaction scores have sat below the premium-segment average.

E-PACE parts are mostly dealer-only, with little aftermarket support. Repair costs are above the class average, and with production ending in 2024 long-term parts support for this low-volume nameplate is uncertain.

InControl Touch Pro with a 10-inch touchscreen became standard on every E-PACE for 2019. The 11.4-inch Pivi Pro screen arrived only with the 2021 facelift.

The 2019 interface refresh helps, but Touch Pro is still slow to boot, laggy and convoluted, and KBB says it takes some learning. Physical climate knobs help.

On the 2019 E-PACE, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto came only through the optional Smartphone Pack, and only as wired connections. They became standard for 2020 and wireless with Pivi Pro.

Navigation arrives on the S and up, and voice control for navigation was new for 2019. Touch Pro nav and voice are slow, and owners usually bypass them for phone projection when the pack is fitted.

The base and S trims get a plain 6-speaker system. The SE adds an 11-speaker Meridian system with a subwoofer, and Meridian Surround is an upgrade.

Most 2019 trims, including the volume S and SE, keep analog dials with a small center TFT. The 12.3-inch Interactive Driver Display is optional or reserved for the top R-Dynamic HSE.

The Touch Pro-era E-PACE has no meaningful over-the-air software capability, so updates are dealer-performed. JLR's SOTA arrived with Pivi Pro at the 2021 facelift.

The InControl Remote app covers lock and unlock, vehicle location and status, with climate pre-conditioning on Remote Premium. It has no phone-as-key, and the app is widely criticized as slow and unreliable.

USB ports front and rear plus 12V sockets are adequate, but the 2019 E-PACE has no wireless charging and no AC outlet.

Push-button start is standard, and the volume SE adds a power liftgate. Keyless entry, a gesture tailgate and the waterproof Activity Key are options. There is no phone-as-key.

A rear camera and front and rear parking sensors are standard. Park assist and a 360-degree surround camera are optional or on upper trims.

A full-color head-up display is offered only as a cost option and isn't standard on any 2019 E-PACE.

With 35.1 in of rear legroom, a modest rear door opening and 24.2 cu ft behind the seats, rear-facing car seats and stroller duty are a squeeze. It handles family use with compromises next to the GLB or XC40.

Neither NHTSA nor IIHS has ever crash-tested the E-PACE. Low-speed AEB and lane-keep assist are standard, but blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise were optional on the volume trims for 2019.

The front seats and cabin are comfortable, but the rear bench is tight for adults on long stints and rear amenities are thin. 24 cu ft of luggage space fills quickly with four aboard.

It is compact and easy to place, with standard AWD. Low-speed throttle lag and the ZF 9-speed's hesitation in stop-and-go traffic make town driving less relaxed than in the German rivals.

24 mpg combined on required premium fuel makes it one of the costlier commuters in the class, at about $3,350 a year in fuel.

At 173 in long with a roughly 38-ft turning circle, it is easy to place in town. Thick C-pillars and a small rear window hurt visibility, and front and rear sensors are standard.

A 3,968-lb braked tow rating is strong for a subcompact luxury crossover and handles a small boat or utility trailer. The small cargo hold limits real work use.

The leather-lined luxury interior, Jaguar's bottom-tier reliability record and documented Ingenium engine issues make an early-production E-PACE a poor candidate for hard use.

It has basic cargo tie-downs, an optional tow hitch and accessory roof cross bars. There is no onboard AC power, no washable load floor and no upfit ecosystem.

A reasonably quiet cabin, supportive front seats and about 430 miles of range make it a decent tourer. Adaptive cruise is optional, and the tight rear seat limits long trips with passengers.

Standard AWD, terrain modes, about 8 in of ground clearance and a 19.7-in wading depth make it more capable on gravel and snow than most rivals. KBB notes good off-road manners. It has no low range or lockers.

The rear bench folds, the SE has a power liftgate, roof rails and a hitch are optional, and the 3,968-lb tow rating handles bike racks or a small trailer. The 52.7 cu ft maximum makes bulky gear a squeeze.

KBB calls it sporty in tight corners and says it doesn't feel heavy despite weighing over 4,000 lb. Brake-based torque vectoring is standard and Active Driveline is optional. It still carries more mass than the X1.

The electric steering is quick and precise but gives limited feedback, which is typical of the class.

The brakes are firm and consistent with no reported fade, and the S and up get bigger front brakes. The car's weight puts instrumented stops mid-pack.

Low-speed turbo lag, the 9-speed's slow kickdowns and a non-hybrid stop/start keep it behind the smoother German 2.0T rivals. Response improves at speed.

The Ingenium 2.0T is quiet at cruise but gruff and coarse when worked hard, so it is less refined than the GLA or XC40 under load.

A turning circle of about 38 ft is average for an SUV and fine in parking structures.

The driving position is sporty, with physical climate controls. The base 8-way seats are less adjustable than the optional 18-way units, and short front legroom, a poor rear three-quarter view and the fiddly Touch Pro screen detract.

It is agile for a crossover, and the P300's 296 hp adds some character. The volume P250 is pleasant rather than thrilling.

Standard equipment includes AWD, the 246-hp 2.0T, a 9-speed automatic, the 10-inch Touch Pro screen, LED headlights, AEB and lane-keep assist. The base car is still thin for a near-$40k luxury SUV, and navigation, leather and parking aids push buyers up to the S/SE trims.

It is priced in line with the X1 and Q3, but its roughly 4,000-lb curb weight blunts performance and efficiency per dollar, and its rear seat and cargo space trail the class. Jaguar's 5-year maintenance and warranty package partly offsets this.

There are six US trims (P250 base/S/SE and P300 R-Dynamic S/SE/HSE) across two engine tunes (246 hp and 296 hp), plus a deep options list. The launch-only First Edition was dropped for 2019, and AWD is standard everywhere, so there is no cheaper FWD entry.

2019 was the E-Pace's best US year, but even that peak of 4,782 units was a fraction of BMW X1 or Audi Q3 volume. Sales later fell to a few hundred a year before the model was discontinued.

Jaguar carries a premium British design image. Its weak reliability and resale reputation and its thin US dealer network drag on it next to BMW, Audi and Mercedes.

Jaguar routinely backed its slow-moving models with lease cash, low-APR financing and loyalty/conquest offers, and E-Pace buyers could negotiate well below MSRP.

2019 is the second model year of the X540 generation, launched for 2018. Its infotainment and driver aids were current, and the facelift was not due until 2021.

Reviewers praised its styling and handling but criticized its heavy curb weight, sluggish base engine, cramped rear seat and interior quality. It did not win major comparison tests or awards against the X1, Q3 or XC40.