Jaguar Type 01: here’s your first look inside the world’s most (in)famous EV

Perhaps the messaging wasn’t clear enough. Maybe you were too distracted by the Germans and Italians. Perchance you were too busy living vivid and deleting ordinary. In short, Jaguar is building a shiny new EV. Previously called 'Type 00', it shall in fact be called the ‘Type 01’ – representing a fresh start for the storied British carmaker – and today is your first chance to gawp inside.

Gawp! Gawp with all thine might! Gawp as though being watched by the heaving legions of angry online commenters! It’s been a hot minute since anyone’s been angry about Jaguar’s luxury electric car – perhaps they were too busy deleting their comments – so let’s dive right back into those waters.

And judging by these renders of the Type 01’s cabin, they be luxurious, minimalist waters homing in around a ‘central spine’ running from front to back with a brass-inspired finish on the top. This finish is also applied to the tops of the doors and get Jaguar’s friendly little big cat emblem.

This, it says, creates four individual spaces for four very brave individuals to sit in, and it has surrounded these occupants with a very new design aesthetic.

It has also surrounded the driver with a low-slung, GT-esque seating position, from whence said driver can access a steering wheel, a digital display, a smattering of buttons on an admittedly rather cool central tablet-thing, and lots of power. We’ll come back to that.

Jaguar talks about ‘technology on demand’, which means functionality is hidden and out of view until you need it. Keen cabin enthusiasts will have spotted this philosophy extends to the rear-view mirror. Not so: look closer and you’ll find it’s been positioned at the base of the windscreen in the middle, “at the same height as the door mirrors, to help the driver focus”.

There are “concealed compartments”, luxury materials inspired by “travertine stone and artisan textiles”, and “unexpected moments of colour”. One suspects there’ll also be unexpected moments of cursing too, because said driver can also access 1,000 electric horsies and the ability to go from 0-62mph in 3.3s. If that sort of thing amuses.

“Jaguar Type 01 is the first production car to follow our new creative philosophy,” said Jag boss Rawdon Glover. “Unmistakable from every angle, the interior is no different. With Type 01, we wanted every journey to be an occasion, from how it drives to how it looks and how it makes you feel.

“With a confidence-inspiring GT driving position, clean and sophisticated technology and dramatic styling, Type 01 has an interior like no other.”

There’ll be yet another prototype debuting in California this week, followed by the full reveal of the car that you probably didn’t get worked up about at all in New York on 6 October.

Jaguar Type 00 prototype review: “this is an XJ for the 21st century”